Namibia’s men’s team got a rude awakening when they lost 13-0 to South Africa in their opening match at the Afcon Hockey Championships in Accra on Monday evening.
After managing to limit the deficit to 4-0 at half time and 6-0 by the third quarter, Namibia were taken apart in the final quarter as South Africa added seven more goals to complete a one-sided romp.
South Africa dominated possession throughout and it was just a matter of time before the goals came.
Ignatius Malgraff opened their account with an acute shot, while Tim Drummond made it 2-0 when he put a rebound into the net.
Namibian keeper Robin Kambinda brought off a fine save from a SA short corner in the second quarter, but two field goals within two minutes by Richard Pautz and Nicholas Spooner put SA firmly in charge as they led 4-0 going into half time.
Namibia managed to restrict SA for most of the third quarter, as they only added two more goals by Matthew Guise-Brown and Taine Paton, but the floodgates opened in the final quarter as SA laid siege to Namibia’s goals.
Pautz and Spooner both added their second goals, Guise-Brown scored two more to complete his hat-trick; Bradley Sherwood scored a brace; and Leneal Jackson one goal as they completed an emphatic victory.
For Namibia, Nicolai Hilbert and Josh van der Merwe put in some good runs in attack, while Matu Kavikairiua and Baggio Karigub worked hard in midfield and launched some promising counter-attacks, but they received little support and Namibia never troubled SA’s defence.
It was South Africa’s biggest victory against Namibia in recent years, beating an 11-0 victory in 2015, although the South African team was much more experienced, led by Jethro Eustice with 133 caps and Taine Paine with 120 caps, while Keenan Horne, Ignatius Malgraff, Nqobile Ntuli and Daniel Bell had all won more than 50 caps.
Namibia’s experience paled in comparison, with Baggio Karigub and Percy Barthram their most capped players with 11 caps each, while nine players were making their international debuts.
