Ze Germans treat SA to a feast

OLYMPIC men’s hockey gold medallists Germany dominated from start to finish to record an emphatic 6- 2 victory against South Africa at Hartleyvale yesterday afternoon.

The Germans, ranked third in the world, were too slick for the 15th- ranked South Africans who tried their best but were schooled in all departments.

The first of three internationals in the Private Property Summer Series attracted a fair crowd who were treated to a feast Germany dished up.

The visitors entertained with an exhibition of highclass play, brilliant stick-work and speed of execution when in the scoring circle.

They needed only a few minutes to stamp their authority on proceedings with a move down the left flank leading to Oliver Korn’s goal.

Goalkeeper Rassie Pieterse was given little chance as his line of sight had been blocked by a wall of players.

Pieterse was kept busy in the opening 15-minute chukka and needed to pull off several good saves to keep the score down. But late in the second chukka, Pieterse had his line breached twice in quick time.

The first came from a penalty corner with Jonas Gomoll on point for the visi- tors before Korn collected his brace with a field goal, making it 3-0 at the break.

The second half produced a sharp response from the hosts early on, and they were rewarded for their efforts when Daniel Sibbald cut back the deficit with a shot that took him off his feet as the ball found the back of keeper Nicholas Jacobi’s net.

It was much better stuff from the South Africans, and it was game on when JeanPierre de Voux scored in the 44th minute after some sustained pressure deep in German territory.

But hopes of a comeback win were dashed when Lukas Windfeder found the mark just before the end of the third chukka to put the Europeans 4-2 ahead with 15 minutes left on the clock.

Gomoll then converted a penalty corner before Windfeder struck again to break the hearts of the hosts and their fans.

The two nations meet again today and on Monday.

● The SA women’s hockey team play Scotland for the second time in four days at Hartleyvale today and will be aiming to lock up a Test series win after easing to a 2-1 victory in the first encounter on Wednesday.

It was a tough first outing for the women in green and gold currently ranked 11th in the world outdoor rankings.

It was also the 250th international appearance for striker Shelley Russell, while Tarryn Glasby,

made her debut. South Africa owned the turf for large chunks of the 60- minute clash against a young and inexperienced Scottish side, who grew in stature and fought back at the death in the second half to come close to nabbing a share of the spoils with a shot at goal that narrowly missed going in.

South Africa worked the ball patiently up the field and got into the scoring circle with ease on numerous occasions, but lacked the venom in their strike force to round off. So head coach Sheldon Rostron is hoping that won’t be the case second time around.

“It’s all good and well to create chances, that’s always pleasing, but we must be more clinical when it counts most,” he said. “The girls must make their advantage count by burying teams off when in the ascendancy without giving them a sniff of a chance to rally back and take the game away from us.”

The Scots will be buoyed after pushing the South Africans in the latter stages in midweek with a side that presented four players with their Test debuts – Amy Costello, Claire Hill, and Nicola and Kate Holmes.

“We are, like our opponents, in a rebuilding phase. We have lost several key personnel to Olympic Games duty for Team Great Britain and others have retired, so it opens the door for a new wave of players to stake a claim for national duty,” said Scotland coach Gordon Shepherd.

“We will push SA harder and harder and hopefully get a better return to keep us in the series.”