Despite enduring an all-night drive from East London to Pretoria that began on Wednesday, the Buffalo Flats Primary School U13 boys’ hockey side started off their national championship campaign on a high note yesterday.The determined group, representing the Eastern Cape, managed a narrow 1-0 victory against Limpopo courtesy of a wonderful strike banged in by the reliable Junaid Ruiters less than five minutes from time.
Their coach, Ismail Jogie, was not a happy man at all, saying his team could have done better, but a “win is a win”, especially after the challenging circumstances his young charges had to overcome before the match.
According to Jogie, the boys were fatigued following the more than 12-hour drive from East London to the country’s capital.
Among other factors that contributed to the hockey team’s not- so-convincing showing, continued Jogie, was the extremely hot weather in Tshwane.
However, a win was a good start, he said, and the boys would deliver an improved performance in their next match.
“Yes, we won, but man that was nerve-wracking because it was a narrow win that came very late,” said Jogie.
“But I must commend my boys because we had a lot of challenges prior to this opening match, hence we will take a win, even though it did not go the way we had expected.
“Going forward, we definitely need to jack up our performance and win convincingly to show just why the Eastern Cape dominates in hockey nationwide.”
According to Jogie, his boys had also suffered stage fright, which he believed stopped them from unleashing their full potential.
For their next three round- robin matches, said Jogie, his charges needed to merely play their own game without worrying about external factors.
Restructuring of the starting line-up was on the cards, especially after some players who were scheduled to start the first match had to be dropped following several cases of nose-bleeding due to the heat.
Jogie stated that they were looking to win all of their four group matches, and to qualify for the semifinals starting on Monday.
Their remaining matches are against Mpumalanga, Western Cape today and Free State tomorrow to conclude the group stages.
Only two teams of the five in the pool will advance to the last four.
The Eastern Cape side are the favourites to top their group, with only the Western Cape posing a threat. But the other teams stand no chance.
Jogie underplayed this fact: “We are taking it one match at a time and we respect all our opponents because we believe the playing field is level. The same number of players are on the field for both sides, so anyone can win.”
Homeboys are up for task
The determined group, representing the Eastern Cape, managed a narrow 1-0 victory against Limpopo courtesy of a wonderful strike banged in by the reliable Junaid Ruiters less than five minutes from time.
Their coach, Ismail Jogie, was not a happy man at all, saying his team could have done better, but a “win is a win”, especially after the challenging circumstances his young charges had to overcome before the match.
According to Jogie, the boys were fatigued following the more than 12-hour drive from East London to the country’s capital.
Among other factors that contributed to the hockey team’s not- so-convincing showing, continued Jogie, was the extremely hot weather in Tshwane.
However, a win was a good start, he said, and the boys would deliver an improved performance in their next match.
“Yes, we won, but man that was nerve-wracking because it was a narrow win that came very late,” said Jogie.
“But I must commend my boys because we had a lot of challenges prior to this opening match, hence we will take a win, even though it did not go the way we had expected.
“Going forward, we definitely need to jack up our performance and win convincingly to show just why the Eastern Cape dominates in hockey nationwide.”
According to Jogie, his boys had also suffered stage fright, which he believed stopped them from unleashing their full potential.
For their next three round- robin matches, said Jogie, his charges needed to merely play their own game without worrying about external factors.
Restructuring of the starting line-up was on the cards, especially after some players who were scheduled to start the first match had to be dropped following several cases of nose-bleeding due to the heat.
Jogie stated that they were looking to win all of their four group matches, and to qualify for the semifinals starting on Monday.
Their remaining matches are against Mpumalanga, Western Cape today and Free State tomorrow to conclude the group stages.
Only two teams of the five in the pool will advance to the last four.
The Eastern Cape side are the favourites to top their group, with only the Western Cape posing a threat. But the other teams stand no chance.
Jogie underplayed this fact: “We are taking it one match at a time and we respect all our opponents because we believe the playing field is level. The same number of players are on the field for both sides, so anyone can win.”
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