This past weekend saw the Glenwood 1st XI hockey team participate in the inaugural Belgotex Sport Kearsney Hockey Fives tournament. Hockey Fives is the latest format of the game that has been introduced by FIH. It is a fast paced exciting version of the sport that encourages players to show their skills and flair.

Glenwood started off their tournament poorly with a loss to St Andrews School from Bloemfontein. This result was a big shock for the team and we realised the difference from the 11-a-side format. We returned to the drawing board, changed a few things and came out with a different mind-set for the rest of the tournament.

We managed to get our tournament back on track and secure a semi-final spot at the end of the round robin stage of the competition.

The semi-final was a gruelling encounter against Westville with the full time score ending in a 4-4 draw leading to 1-on-1 showdowns. At the end of the showdowns the scores were still tied 1-1. In the sudden death it was the Glenwood Captain, Clayton Saker, who held his nerve to score the winning goal and take the boys into the final.

The final saw us take on hosts Kearsney in what was to be a great battle. Kearsney took an early 2 goal lead at halftime. They continued to score and went 0-4 up. A late fight back by the Glenwood team was unfortunately not enough to take control of the match. Kearsney were crowned champions with a 2-4 victory.

A special mention must be made to a few boys that picked up Man of the match performances throughout the weekend; Lungani Gabela, Daniel Arinze (2) and Clayton Saker (4). However, a great team effort was on display and all the boys certainly played their part in the team’s success.

A massive thank you to Know for hosting this exciting tournament and we look forward to participating in the next episode of the Belgotex Sport Kearsney Hockey Fives tournament.

Glenwood Results

GW 2-7 St Andrews 1st

GW 6-4 Crawford North Coast 1st

GW 7-3 Kearsney Invitational

GW 7-7 Westville 1st

GW 3-3 Kearsney 1st

GW 6-3 Clifton 1st

GW 20-1 DHS 1st

Semi-final: GW 4-4 Westville 1st, won 2-1 on showdowns

Final: GW 2-4 Kearsney 1st

Report and photos by Mr B Futter (MIC Hockey)

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