SA vs Namibia hockey match report

It took a while for the hosts to find the back of the net with the Namibian defence standing up to the early pressure and at the end of the first quarter it remained 0-0.

But a short-corner variation saw Nicole Walraven break the deadlock and put South African 1-0 up at halftime. Given that they enjoyed the lion’s share of possession and created numerous chances it should have been more.

The home side managed to get out of second gear by the time the third quarter started and began to expose the defensive weaknesses down the flanks as they created a number of short corner opportunities.

Lillian du Plessis made it 2-0 with a powerful drag flick before Walraven netted a second with a deflection from the near post.

Namibia’s goalkeeper, Petro Stoffberg was immense between the posts and managed to keep the South African attackers at bay on a number of occasions with a host of fantastic saves.

Lisa-Marie Deetlefs scored two identical goals with a slap shot off a short corner to help South Africa to their second win of the tournament.

They got the job done as required but will probably be disappointed that they allowed a side like Namibia – who do not feature in the official world rankings – to keep them from adding a couple more goals.

They will take on Zimbabwe at the same venue On Wednesday while the men’s side – who have amassed 46 goals in their two games so far – will take on Ghana at 7pm.