Cavemen, Rafters won’t give up their crowns easily
The Maropeng Cavemen and the Orange River Rafters will be taking vastly different round-robin form into the finals weekend as they look to retain their respective men’s and women’s titles in the Premier Hockey League at the Randburg Astro.
In the women’s competition, the Rafters became the first team in PHL history to achieve a perfect five-from-five record in the group stages and they will be heavily favoured to beat the Madikwe Rangers, who scraped into the play-offs but are now without star player Kristen Paton in today’s semifinals.
The Cavemen, in contrast, finished fourth in the men’s league and face the Drakensberg Dragons, the leading scorers, in their semifinal. In the Cavemen’s favour, however, they have never lost a PHL play-off and the winners of the first two events beat the Dragons in last year’s final.
The other women’s semifinal is between the Blyde River Bunters and the St Lucia Lakers. Both are strong defensively.
While the Lakers have been superb in defence, the Bunters boast the national goalkeeper in Phumelela Mbande and the short-corner rockets of Carmen Smith, the tournament’s leading scorer, might just prove the difference.
The dynamic Addo Elephants take on the Garden Route Gazelles in the other men’s semifinal, with the Elephants boasting the two leading scorers in the three-year history of the event in Ignatius Malgraff and Julian Hykes.
But the Gazelles are a smart, well-balanced side, with 11 different players scoring their 16 goals, the second-most this year, and Siya Nolutshungu is in superb form in goal.