MATIES HOCKEY CLUB

Four players of the Steinhoff Maties Men’s hockey team will play for the Western Province team in the upcoming national tournament in Durban.

Dylan Swanepoel, Jacques le Roux, Pierre de Voux and Daniel Bell will be in action for WP from 26-30 August. It will be Swanepoel and Bell’s first time playing for the WP senior team. De Voux and Le Roux were part of the team that won the national title last year in Cape Town.

Seven of the Maties will play for WP Peninsula.

The WP men’s team: Andrew Cronje, Ashlin Freddy, Clive Terwin, Cuan Burton-Moore, Lloyd Norris-Jones, Matt Botha, Rhett Halkett, Wade Paton (all WPCC); Austin Smith (Pinelands); Craig Haley (Fish Hoek); Daniel Bell, Dylan Swanepoel, Jacques le Roux, Pierre de Voux (all Steinhoff Maties); Grant Robertson (UCT); Lungile Tsolekile (Langa).

Matie players in the WP Peninsula team: Brad Logan, Dave Agar, Keenan Horne, Marc Fourie, Matt Anderson, Rob Edwards and Shannon Boucher.

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.

A fiery war of attrition ended by a goal from red-hot red head Matt de Sousa is the best way to describe the Varsity Hockey match between Maties and the men from UJ.

De Sousa, who made his debut for Maties only a few weeks ago, scored the only goal in the 1-0 victory over the current USSA champions. The match against UJ was the third of the weekend. Maties won the Intervarsity match against Ikeys 4-0 and followed it up with a win over NMMU with 3-2.

After the second weekend of the 2014 Varsity Hockey series UJ, Maties, Tuks and Kovsies are all on 20 points after four victories from six matches. UJ is at the top thanks to a better goal difference.

De Sousa, James Drummond (2) and Charles Bowren scored the goals against Ikeys, while De Sousa and Shannon Boucher (2) kept the scoreboard ticking against NMMU. In both these games De Sousa were awarded the Super Striker of the Match title. Boucher took the honours against UJ. Dylan Swanepoel was the man of the match against Ikeys. Daniel Bell was the best player on the field in the games against NMMU and UJ.

The match between UJ and Maties was labeled the highlight of the weekend in Stellenbosch. And the players did not disappoint. In the first of three chukkas Maties controlled most of the play. They had a few penalty corners but could not capitalise. The second and third chukkas were very tense and tempers were high especially from the UJ players.

When De Sousa scored, some of the UJ players lost their tempers and no less then three players were send off in the final minutes.

This while Maties kept their cool in front of some 600 fans.

The final round is this weekend in Johannesburg. Maties will play Rhodes on Saturday and the semi-finals between the top four teams are on Sunday. The final and play-off for third and fourth places is on Monday. The Sunday and Monday games will be broadcasted on television.

For more information visit www.varsitysportssa.com.

Teams from around the country battle it out for top honours

 10 May 2014 – The excitement generated during the first leg of this season’s Varsity Hockey programme, which got off to a compelling start at Wits University last weekend, has continued unabated throughout today’s events.  Held at the campuses of both UFS-Kovsies and Stellenbosch Maties this weekend, the eight teams from universities around the country continue to battle it out for top honours. Today’s action saw strong and dominating play, with clear and convincing victories from the winning teams.

The opening matches saw huge wins for both UP-Tuks and Maties, playing at UFS-Kovsies and Maties respectively.  Amidst some brilliant goal scoring all round, Michael Murdoch-Eaton scored to give UP-Tuks a 4-0 lead by the end of the first chukka.  A display of great skill by both Stephan Cant and Kewan Harries saw UP-Tuks finish with a resounding 5-1 victory over Rhodes.  Maties gave the local Stellenbosch crowd a reason to scream and cheer.  With an opening goal by Charlie Bowren, Maties enjoyed a strong and dominant start which led them to a convincing 4-0 win against UCT.

The second half of the day heralded more of the same – decisive play and energetic excitement, from participants and spectators alike. At UFS-Kovsies, the home team got off to a compelling start which saw them enjoying a 4-0 lead against Wits rivals by the end of the first chukka. Despite a valiant effort from Wits, it was ultimately UFS-Kovsies who thrilled home crowds with a 6-4 win. The second game of the day in Stellenbosch saw UJ continue their winning streak with a 2-0 win over NMMU’s Madibaz.

FNB’s Man of the Match awards went to Dylan Swanepoel, Maties; Ross Gonsalves, UP-Tuks; Xander van Biljon, UFS-Kovsies and Gareth Heyns, UJ.

 With one more day of non-stop and explosive hockey action to look forward to, get yourself down to Maties’ hockey field to witness the excitement first hand. Matches commence Monday 12^th May at 17h00 at Maties.

 And for those living further afield, be sure to watch all the drama unfold by following non-stop Varsity Sports action on SuperSport channel 210, broadcast live from  Maties on Monday.

After a bag of mixed emotions on the first weekend of the Varsity Hockey series the Steinhoff Maties men’s hockey team are raring to go when they play on home soil this coming weekend.

 Steinhoff Maties won, draw and lost their first three games of the exciting series last weekend at Wits. Coach Neville Rothman and his team beat Wits 5-1, followed it up with a tense draw against Tuks (2-2) and then lost against Kovsies (1-3).

 Jordan Turnbull was the Player of the Match against Wits and Keenan Horne got the honours against Tuks.

 One of the Steinhoff Maties senior players Dylan Swanepoel believes this series might be one of the biggest moments in SA Hockey. “It’s an exciting time for hockey in South Africa and a tournament like this just adds to growth of the game,” said Swanepoel.

“I think that the change in rules will bring about major changes in the game. As teams will have to adapt the way they play. The rules are new for everyone so it will be interesting to see what tactics teams come up with. As a Maties team we want to go all the way and win the tournament. We’ve had a really good pre-season and started off the local league really well.”

 This weekend promises to dish up some super excited hockey. Games are played in Stellenbosch and Bloemfontein. Teams playing in Stellenbosch are Steinhoff Maties, NMMU, Ikeys and UJ. Matches are on Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

 UJ, the USSA Champion, is currently on top of the log followed by Maties, Tuks and Kovsies.

 Weekend’s schedule: SATURDAY – 14:00: Steinhoff Maties vs Ikeys; 15:45: UJ vs NMMU. SUNDAY – 17:00: Steinhoff Maties vs NMMU; 18:45: UJ vs Ikeys. MONDAY – 17:00: Ikeys vs NMMU; 18:45: Steinhoff Maties vs UJ