WINDHOEK - The Saints men’s team were crowned champions of the Bank Windhoek National Field Hockey Premier League at the league’s finale played over the weekend in Windhoek.
The feat sees them secure a third win this season after they won the Night and Indoor League championships earlier this year.
Saints’ head coach Ruan Oosthuizen, said that winning three leagues is a fantastic achievement for his team and that they are still overwhelmed by it.
“All the hard work has paid off. But our plan for the future is to maintain our level of play and competitiveness, continue building the Saints brand of play and developing our players – more especially from our lower leagues as spots are opening up in the Premier League since most of our players will be leaving to further their studies abroad,” he said.
With the Men’s Premier League done and dusted, the Women’s League will only be concluded this coming weekend as some player’s recently returned from Argentina after representing Namibia in the Youth Olympic Games. The Reserve League was also wrapped-up during the same time.
Men’s Premier League
The final table standings of the Men’s Premier League sees former champions Windhoek Old Boys (WOBSC) finish second for the third time this season, while Deutscher Turn und Sportverein (DTS) scoops up the third spot. BDO Wanderers and Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST), occupy the fourth and fifth spot on the log.
Men’s National Reserve League Finals
The coastal based X-Team took on WOBSC whom they defeated 9-3 to book a spot in the finals. Masters and Saints battled it out in the second semi-final of the Men’s division. The latter eventually beat the former in an epic one-on-one shootout to progress to the final with a 4-3 victory.
Masters kept their spirits high as they defeated WOBSC 6-4 in the third and fourth playoff game to grab the third spot – cementing WOBSC to the fourth position. The final match saw Saints and X-Team deliver quite a show piece as Saints convincingly beat the men from the coast 5-0 to win the reserve league title.
Women’s National Reserve League Finals
The X-Team and BDO Wanderers faced each other in the first semi-final. The final score of 6-4 was in favour of BDO Wanderers. Saints 1 and DTS fought for dominance in the second semi-final which turned out to be a closely contested encounter - Saints won 3-2.
The X-Team beat DTS in the third and fourth playoff match. As a result, DTS took up the third spot while X-Team secured the fourth. BBO Wanderers and Saints gave it their all during the finals. However, BBO Wanderers showed more hunger for the win as they took the game 6-4.
Oosthuizen concluded that Saints will continue to work hard next season in defence of their championship titles. “I believe we have now proven ourselves to be a dominant force in the men’s hockey,” he said.
The remaining fixtures will be concluded at the Windhoek High School’s hockey fields in Windhoek this coming weekend.