Exhibition match highlights young, local talent
BEAULIEU – Several Beaulieu hockey players featured in the U18 Gauteng Gryphons Invitational side against the national squad for an exhibition match at Cliffview Primary School.
Young hockey players were treated to an exhibition match between Gauteng Gryphons Invitational side and South Africa indoor men’s team at Cliffview Primary School on 1 November.
A number of players of the Beaulieu Hockey Academy were called up for the Gauteng Gryphons side. They were Taheer Isaacs, Keenan Wax, Travis Krumples, Dalpiarro Langford, Sanele Mchunu and Phemelo Ramatlotlo.
The match took place during a PSI Gryphons All Stars event involving junior teams, and young players with upcoming matches watched eagerly. Keeping with Covid-19 regulations, spectators were not allowed in the indoor court.
On 30 and 31 October, two more exhibition matches were hosted at the school with the national side playing against the U23 All-Stars and a Mpumalanga team. Both matches ended in a victory for the SA team also known as the Blitzstokke.
In the Gryphons match, Blitzstokke’s Keagan Hezlitt opened the scoring for his team and two more goals from captain Jethro Eustice and Marvin Simons saw the SA side 3–0 up at halftime.
The second half brought more goals for the SA team with Eustice and Simons scoring another goal each, and Stephen Paulo and Melrick Maddocks adding their names to the scoresheet.
Gryphons managed to get on the scoreboard with two goals from captain Langford and Ryan Mann with the match ending in a 7–2 victory to the SA men.
SA captain Eustice said it was great to be back on the field for the first time in six months.
“I think we played against a lot of talented youth which was good for us to try and see if we can compete with the youth.
“This match definitely could have gone either way, it seemed really close. It just proves that there is pretty exciting youth coming through the ranks,” he said.
Gryphon captain Langford said the scoreboard was not a true reflection of how his team played and felt it was still a great match despite the loss.
“I think it went pretty well for a young group. It has been a while since we played last. We had more short corners than them, so I do think we did really well,” he added.
