Steinhoff Maties’ Dylan Swanepoel was named Player of the Series in the 2014 Varsity Hockey. It was a consolation prize for the Steinhoff Maties Men’s team after losing in the final of the series against UJ in a penalty shoot-out.
The final weekend of Varsity Hockey was held at the University of Johannesburg. Steinhoff Maties won their last group match against Rhodes by 5-3. Steinhoff Maties finished third on the log and played in the semi-final against Tuks and won 1-0. The other semi-final was contested between UJ and Kovsies. The home team won 2-0.
The final was a revenge match for UJ who was beaten by Steinhoff Maties during the second weekend of the series in Stellenbosch. Tempers were high in that match. In Monday’s final Steinhoff Maties took the lead early on with a goal from speedster Shannon Boucher. Swanepoel followed up with a magic piece of individual brilliance to give Steinhoff Maties a 2-0 lead. But UJ came out fighting in the second half of the match and with 15 minutes left scored the equaliser. The title was decided with a penalty shout-out that UJ won 2-0.
It was of little consolation for Swanepoel when he was awarded the Player of the Series award. He was nominated along with Tuks’ Matthew Guise-Brown and Clinton Panther from UJ. The disappointment was visible for Steinhoff Maties. “It is disappointing that we could not get the win tonight. It is heart sore to lose in a penalty shoot-out. But we have to move on and focus on the rest of the season,” said Swanepoel. His captain Robert Edwards added: “It is disappointing to lose in this way, but we have grown so much as a team and we have worked really hard. We still have a long season ahead to focus on.”
Swanepoel and his Steinhoff Maties teammate Pierre de Voux joined up with the South African national team in preparing for the Hockey World Cup in The Hague, Netherland. The tournament stars on 31 May and the final is on 15 June.