Times Of Swaziland: CENTRAL, SOUTHERN AFRICA QUALIFIERS: ESWATINI UNFORTUNATE IN OPENERS

CENTRAL, SOUTHERN AFRICA QUALIFIERS: ESWATINI UNFORTUNATE IN OPENERS
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Melusi Mkhabela on 18/08/2024 14:37:00


MBABANE – Both the Eswatini National Hockey teams suffered defeats in their
debut on the international stage.
The ladies’ national team was first to play at 10am against the Namibian
Ladies’ side at the competition hosted in Harare, Zimbabwe. Eswatini, without
experience on an international stage, showed that they are at the competition to
garner as much experience as possible. With that in mind, Namibia’s Ladies
side did not hold back as they are in bid to qualify for the African Cup of
Nations (AFCON). Eswatini Ladies showed character by stringing a few passes,
holding possession, however, ultimately failed to translate into any goals.
Namibia eventually won their opening encounter of the qualifiers with a
commanding 20-0 victory over the Eswatini Ladies’ side. Meanwhile, the
Eswatini males’ national team played their first game against Namibia as well.
The Eswatini men’s team has the same level of experience as the ladies’
team; however, they continuously showed a spirited performance in the game
dominated by Namibia.
Exceptional
The first quarter showed some exceptional goalkeeping from Eswatini’s shot
stopper, who kept the opening quarter fairly close. Namibia, with much more
experience, took advantage on the minimal errors Eswatini made in the opening
quarter, to extend their lead to 3-0. The second quarter was slightly more
challenging for the Eswatini Ladies, where Namibia capitalised from a penalty
corner as well as exceptional combinational play from the flanks into
Eswatini’s circle. Eswatini trailing 10-0 did not lose hope in playing at
their level, as they were able to keep possession in certain moments of the
second quarter, but were unfortunate as it did not amount to goals.
The Namibian male side at this moment were playing an all-round good game, with
their precise varied passes from either side of the astro turf and eventually
into Eswatini’s goal.
Eswatini continued to show character as they displayed some good rush defending
in the second quarter in bid to get back into the game. Unfortunately Namibia
concluded the quarter leading 14-0.
Defence
Seconds into the third quarter, Namibia had won them a short corner. Fortunately
for Eswatini, their defence was much better than their attacking proficiency,
hence defending the short corner very well. With nine minutes left of the third
quarter, Namibia had stretched their lead to 17 and counting, while Eswatini
still struggled to find their feet in the game. Eswatini should be commended for
the resilience and character they showed throughout the game, as their biggest
challenge was losing the ball in decent attacking positions. The third quarter
concluded with Eswatini trailing 22-0. Namibia looked to close of the fourth
quarter with their applied dominance from the first quarter.
However, that was not the case as Eswatini played their best quarter out of the
four. They showed much more confidence, showing the experience they are picking
up in the international competition. Eswatini got their best chance of the game
with 30 seconds left on the clock, where their combinational play opened up
space for them up front. They were able to beat Namibia’s goalkeeper but
failed to hit the target, ending the game 28-0 in favour of Namibia.