Close match for Beaulieu hockey team

The men’s A side from the Beaulieu Hockey Academy took part in a riveting match at the Gauteng Cup, an inaugural pre-season tournament.

The tournament held its first fixtures on 15 February at St Alban’s College in Pretoria.

The Beaulieu men took to the field with their opponents, Wanderers A, starting the play at the sound of the whistle. With the match being divided into 12-minute chukkas, Wanderers got their first goal coming from a penalty corner from Brandon Panther. The score stood at 1–0 to Wanderers with two minutes left in the first chukka, when the Wanderers team scored another goal from a penalty.

Four minutes into the second chukka, former SA player Melrick Maddocks scored a goal, finally putting the Beaulieu team on the scoreboard.

The second half and third chukka showed intense play from both sides, with Beaulieu coach Allistar Fredericks screaming instructions at his players from the bench. There were many chances by both teams to score, with a short corner going Beaulieu’s way, but no change to the score at the end of the 12 minutes.

With 12 minutes left in the match, a short corner came to Wanderers’ rescue to extend their current lead. Panther struck again with a goal to put his team two goals ahead of Beaulieu’s single one.

Former SA forward Julian Hykes came to Beaulieu’s aid in scoring a stunning field goal four minutes after Panther’s goal, to have the scoreboard read 3–2. One minute later, another goal was by Wanderers player Spencer Botes, and extended his team’s lead by two goals again.

With nine minutes gone in the fourth chukka, Hykes came forth and brought his team closer to closing the deficit. The electronic scoreboard now read 4–3 with Wanderers still ahead.

Once again, it was the experience of Hykes to bring his hat-trick goal and Beaulieu to level the score with 45 seconds left on the clock.

Spectators and other teams watching on the side cheered loudly, with both teams now at four goals each.

Coach Fredericks praised his players for an outstanding comeback after only having a goal at the start of the second half. “We played well and did amazingly to come back the way we did. What a game of hockey,” he said happily.

Hykes also applauded is teammates on their exceptional play in the last two chukkas.

The Gauteng Cup invited male and female teams from Johannesburg, Potchefstroom and Pretoria to take part, and are placed in two pools.

Teams from both pools placed first and second will play in the semi-finals and finals taking place in late March at the Randburg Astro.

The next round of fixtures will be on 22 February at Beaulieu for the men and at Crusaders Hockey Club for the women.

ALSO READ: Beaulieu College stumps Linden Hoërskool in hockey