Beaulieu and Southern Warriors were involved in a Southern Gauteng Hockey Association indoor league men’s thriller at Cliffview Primary School on February 21.
The first 10 minutes of the match saw an early goal by Julian Hykes for Beaulieu but shortly after the Warriors equalised thanks to Bradley Mann.
Seconds later, a penalty corner was awarded to Beaulieu and they were awarded a penalty stroke. Hykes again stepped up and extended the lead. With two minutes left in the chukka, the Warriors were awarded a penalty stroke and Ross Breytenbach made no mistake.
Going into the chukka with the score at 2–2, it was Hykes who broke the deadlock with his hat-trick from a penalty corner. And he was at it again to add his fourth after another penalty corner conversion. Two minutes to half-time, Beaulieu goalie Sizwe Mthembu pulled off a great save but Warriors player Brandon James pounced on he rebound to take the score to 4–3 at half-time.
Ten minutes into the second half Warriors’ Robin Franklin equalised but Hykes would have none of it and added his fifth for 5–4.
Goals from Warriors’ Ryan Mann and Beaulieu’s Dalpiarro Langford in quick succession took it to 6–5.
The last chukka saw a match-winning performance from Warriors goalie Matthew Pretorius. Two quick goals from both teams made it 7–6 to Beaulieu but Warriors’ Franklin and Breytenbach had the last say to give their team an 8–7 victory.
Lorenzo Thompson, coach of the Southern Warriors said the match was very close with both teams being almost equal in skill and experience.
“It was a very tight and difficult game to watch but very exciting. These are the type of premier league games we would define as a premier league game
“Yes, we scored eight goals but hockey remains the real winner today as that’s what we have gathered here for. We always enjoy playing against Beaulieu.”
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