Dragons put on tough fight in Hockey Junction final

Outdoor hockey matches hosted throughout the weekend culminated in the finals at Beaulieu College’s AstroTurf on 29 November.

The U12, U13 and U15 boys’ and girls’ teams played in the Hockey Junction Series One finals in front of spectators at the college.

Southern Gauteng Hockey Association president and organiser of Hockey Junction, Allistar Fredericks said next year U16 and U18 teams would take part.

“The franchise-based competition started this year and runs in various parts of the country. This was the Gauteng series and currently we’ve got 10 franchises based in Johannesburg. As time has gone by, it has just exploded,” he added.

Both the U15 boys’ and girls’ matches went to penalty shoot-outs after both games ended in a stalemate during normal time. The U15 Dragons girls’ team were successful and were crowned champions of the Hockey Junction Series One.

The U15 boys’ game was a tense affair between Tshwane Sables and the Dainfern-based Dragons team. Dragons created many chances to score but the defence of Sables was incredibly solid. With the match ending in a 0–0 stalemate, penalty shoot-outs were taken.

Sables’ Harold Baker and Nico de Villiers slotted their penalties with Dragons replying with one. However, Dragons’ Tristan Fredericks narrowly missed the goal to the delight of Sables goalkeeper Kyle Edwards with Sables winning 2–1 in the shoot-out.

Coach of the Sables, Chadwin Peterson gave credit to the Dragons’ side after putting up a good fight. “I think the match went really well. They put us under quite a bit of pressure but the boys did well to absorb it and making the most out of the small moments.

“We really pride ourselves on defending well. Once we defend well, we could really build on that in the game and play well,” he concluded.