From varsity hockey to premier league

After securing their second successive varsity hockey title, the University of Johannesburg (UJ) men’s hockey team will immediately switch their focus to other objectives when they return to the Southern Gauteng Premier League.

“We will actually be playing in the league again this week, against Wits, and then we begin the build-up towards the University Sports South African Tournament,” said UJ coach, Garreth Ewing. The tournament will take place in Johannesburg from 4 to 9 July where the University of Pretoria will defend their title.

“We only came fifth last year. We had a tough pool and didn’t get through it. It is a difficult tournament with only eight sides, so it’s a bit of a hit-and-run affair. It will be interesting, but playing in Johannesburg will be to our advantage.”

UJ men who won the inaugural biennial Varsity Hockey Tournament in 2014, defeated Tuks 4–2 in a thrilling and tense final at the UJ Astroturf that year. Leading 3–2 with just minutes remaining, UJ conceded a penalty corner, but the home team’s Le-Neal Jackson stormed out in the first wave, blocked the ball and set off on a run upfield. His shot was blocked by Tuks substitute goalkeeper, Keagan du Preez, but the rebound fell to Tyson Dlungwana, who buried the ball in the back of the net to make it 4–2 with just seconds remaining.

Reflecting on the tournament, Ewing said they were thrilled to win the title once again. “I think it’s really good for us in terms of momentum for the rest of the season and it’s nice to know that the consistency of what we do is still paying off. We work really hard at getting good players in and at our conditioning, so it’s nice to have that pay off for us.”