Blyde River Bunters and Drakensberg Dragons claim Premier Hockey League titles

THE Blyde River Bunters claimed their second CTM Premier Hockey League (PHL) women’s title, beating the Madikwe Rangers 1-0 at Randburg Astro yesterday.

The women’s final was a repeat of the 2016 final with the Bunters underlining their class to bag their second title in three years.

The Bunters have been the best women’s team since the competition was launched two years ago, winning 17 out of 21 matches over the three campaigns.

The Rangers have boxed above their weight this season after sneaking through to the semi-final where they caused an upset by beating the defending champions Orange River Rafters 3-1 after a penalty shootout on Saturday.

Yesterday’s match was evenly poised for most of the first half before Izelle Verster landed a shot into the back of the net to give the Bunters the lead in the 29th minute, which they duly held on to for the victory.

The Drakensberg Dragons claimed the men’s title, beating the Addo Elephants 2-0 in the final match of the tournament yesterday.

They broke the Maropeng Cavemen’s grip on the competition, beating the two-time champions in the semi-final on Saturday. The Dragons were deserved winners as they showed consistency throughout the campaign, winning four consecutive matches in the group stage despite a loss in their opening encounter against the Elephants.

They got some sweet revenge yesterday, claiming a comfortable victory over the Elephants, who battled for ascendancy.

The Dragons got the early advantage when Nqobile Ntuli landed the first blow three minutes into the match from a penalty corner. Richard Pautz doubled the scores in the 20th minute to give the Dragons a firm hand on their first PHL title.

It would be double delight for the Ntuli siblings with coach Sihle Ntuli coaching the side to victory and brother Nqobile leading the charge as a player.

The Dragons dominated the match, getting seven shots on target while the Elephants could not get in range.

In the third-place playoff, the Garden Route Gazelles beat the Cavemen 2-0 in a shoot out from the penalty spot after the match finished 2-2 at the end of regulation time.

The St Lucia Lakers finished third in the women’s competition after a comprehensive 3-0 defeat of the Orange River Rafters.