The opening fixtures of the 2020 Bank Windhoek National Indoor Hockey League (NIHL) recently took place in Windhoek, which saw exciting matches in both the premier men and women leagues.
Competition was stiff as the league set the bar higher than ever before as teams came out to compete and left everything on the field of play. 

Men’s Premier League
On Friday, Saints, who are the current champions, took on Windhoek Old Boys Sports Club (WOBSC), whom they defeated 7:3. Saints’ Fagan Hansen scored his first hat-trick for the season. 
The Men’s Premier League also saw a match between Wanderers and Deutscher Turn und Sportverein (DTS). The latter dominated this fixture from the start, which resulted in a penalty goal in the first fifteen minutes of the match. 

A new signing at DTS, Josh van der Merwe, scored his first goal for his new club after he stepped forward to take the penalty. Despite its home turf advantage, Wanderers could not register a single goal on the score sheet as it went down 11:0 at the final whistle. 

On Saturday afternoon DTS and Saints gave the crowds an exhilarating match as they battled for supremacy. Both sides struggled to score due to tight defensive tactics displayed by the teams, accompanied by excellent goalkeeping. As a result, the final fixture ended in a 2-all stalemate.
Wanderers also faced WOBSC. The ever-prolific Syabonga Martins, from WOBSC, showed up hungry as ever and registered his first hat-trick for the season. The final score was 5:0 in favour of WOBSC.

Women’s Premier League
In the first women’s game of the season, the defending champions Saints took on WOBSC. From the start, Saints launched the attack immediately with a penalty corner perfectly placed by Caitlin Gillies. The penalty was followed by another field goal scored by Azaylee Philander. WOBSC could not retaliate, and the Saints once again showed its dominance by winning 6:0.

Like its male counterpart, DTS was in top form as it scored two quick goals against Wanderers during the first half. Wanderers tried its best, but DTS stubbornly refused to budge. The final result ended in a 2:0 win for DTS.

Motivated by their previous win, DTS went head to head during its encounter with Saints. At halftime, the scoreline was zero for both sides. In the second half, however, Azaylee Philander managed to break through the DTS defence to score the solitary goal of the game. Saints narrowly won the match 1:0 at the end. WOBSC dominated its game against Wanderers and won 5:1. 

The Bank Windhoek National Indoor Hockey League will host its second round of fixtures in Windhoek at the showgrounds, the Wanderers (WAP) Indoor Hockey Hall. Swakopmund will stage the coastal matches at The Dome. All second-round matches start tomorrow and run until Sunday.