Success for local team
BEAULIEU – Following a narrow loss in a previous match, the Beaulieu men’s A-side impressed against a young Shumbas side.
The Beaulieu men’s A-side beat Randburg-based Shumbas 10–1 on 13 June at Beaulieu College in the Southern Gauteng Hockey Association outdoor league.
The Beaulieu team bounced back after a 4–2 loss a week prior, where the experience of former national players worked with the developing talent in the side. The first 15 minutes started with a few chances for the home side being narrowly missed, thanks to the defence of the Shumbas. With six minutes left in the chukka, a penalty corner awarded to Beaulieu brought the first goal of the match, courtesy of striker Julian Hykes.
In the second chukka, another corner was awarded to Beaulieu, but was narrowly off target. Chances by Shumbas were saved by keeper Kavesh Karunakaram. Assisted by Sanele Mchunu, Dalpiarro Langford extended Beaulieu’s lead with a minute left in the half.
Coming into the third chukka, a motivating pep talk by senior Beaulieu players brought a fighting spirit in the remainder of the match. Two corners awarded to Beaulieu saw a goal come from the second from Hykes.
Two minutes later, Reza Rosenberg added his name to the scoreboard for Beaulieu making it 4–0. Shumbas had a chance from an overhead ball, but was expertly cleared by Beaulieu defender Fiso Mazibuko. Another goal came five minutes into the chukka from Hykes from another penalty corner. With one minute left, Rosenberg and Hykes worked together to score another goal.
The final chukka had just as many goals scores for Beaulieu. Five minutes in saw another goal from Hykes, and another from him two minutes later bringing the score to 8–0. A penalty stroke was awarded to Beaulieu, which was then scored by Langford. Another goal for the home side came from Travis Krumples in a penalty corner.
The final goal in the match was scored by Shumbas forward Thabo Masemola after dodging the keeper with 10 seconds left in the match bringing a 10–1 for Beaulieu.
Shumbas coach Colin Fielding praised the team’s centre back Adam McLean for his work in the Shumbas defence throughout the match. “It was a tough one for us. I thought the first half was quite competitive and we were in it. We’re a very inexperienced side with a lot of youngsters in the second half, which is when the experience for Beaulieu came in.
“Even though it was a 10–1 loss, we are looking to improve at a game-by-game rate,” he said.
With the increase in Covid cases in the province, the league has been suspended to start again in July.
