Argentina’s Noel Barrionuevo – who top scored at the recent Champions Trophy tournament in Nottingham, England – netted the first goal of the game, sending a penalty corner effort into the goal in the 16th minute. However, Pietee Coetzee marked her return to World Level events with a penalty corner of her own in the 22nd minute.

The second half of the match exploaded into life early when Luciana AYMAR scored the first of her three goals, firing in from open play in the 37th minute to spark jubilant celebrations from the fans. Two minutes later, AYMAR scored again from open play before completing her hat-trick in the 63rd minute with a blistering penalty corner strike. South Africa’s Vida RYAN pulled a goal back for her team with a fierce strike into the roof of the net from the top of the circle, but the result was put beyond all doubt when Marine RUSSO netted from open play with just over a minute remaining.

The result was good enough to put Argentina at the top of Pool B, ahead of England and Korea – also winners on day 1 – on goal difference. 

Match Review 3 – Argentina v South Africa 5-2

> Las Leonas started their 2010 World Cup campaign with a win over South Africa. This victory marked their first win over SA in World Cup, Champions Trophy and Olympic competition.
> Luciana Aymar scored a hat-trick today to become the first player since Maria de la Paz Hernández in the 2006 Bronze medal match to score three goals in a World Cup match.
> Argentina go top in Pool B after day 1, leading England and Korea on goal difference.
> Seven goals were scored in this match. At the 2006 World Cup only two matches saw 7 goals being scored: CHN-NED 1-6 and KOR-AUS 3-4.
> Noel Barrionuevo scored her 13th goal in all FIH tournaments since the 2008 Olympics.
> Barrionuevo is the first ARG player to score against South Africa since Rosario Luchetti at the 2006 World Cup (2-2).
> Pietie Coetzee scored her 17th goal in 17 World Cup matches. She is the competition top scorer among players present at the 2010 World Cup.

Source: www.worldhockey.org

HAYDEN JONES (Sunday Independent)
in Port Elizabeth

THE final of the South African Men’s Interprovincial Hockey Tournament was won by defending champions KZN Coastal Raiders on Saturday afternoon in a Port Elizabeth that lived up to its Windy City reputation.

The Raiders beat Northerns Blues of Pretoria 2-1 after the scores were 1-1 at the interval.
Raiders flicker Gareth Carr’s first half penalty corner was matched by Northerns’ set-piece ace Justin Reid-Ross’s penalty stroke – the big man in black and white again proving why he is the IPT leading goalscorer.

The match was marred by the howling wind, as play on the turf was difficult to pull off, and both teams resorted to using the overhead as the prime attacking weapon to highflying forwards.

The second half did not see the wind let up, and Reid-Ross suffered the mortification of witnessing a rocket penalty corner flick crash into the crossbar. Not more than a couple of minutes later the outstanding midfield general Timothy Drummond ensured the Raiders went 2-1 up after receiving the ball from forward Michael Botha.

This Northerns squad under coach David Viney was like a breath of fresh air and intent on winning a trophy they had not got their hands on since player/coach Chris Pio’s line-up 15 years ago.

That Northerns line-up included player/coach Gary Pio, and the national players Grant Fulton (his brother Craig was injured), Ally Fredericks, goalkeeper and captain Mark Ray, and provincial stars Lloyed Clarke and Shaun Hopkins.

The Raiders went into the final on the back foot, carrying the burden of coping without Wade Paton.

The Raiders captain suffered a recurrence of his old shoulder injury when he fell awkwardly during the tempestuous semi-final against Kaspersky Southern Gauteng, which was won in a sudden-death penalty stroke competition. Southerns were arguably robbed of a berth in the final when the superb Tebogo Lerole’s seemingly legitimate goal was disallowed.

Compounding Raiders coach Brendon Carolan’s problems was the niggling injuries carried by halfback Shanyl Balwanth and forward Sihle Ntuli, but heartening for the Durban side was the return of SA midfield fetcher Taine Paton, who missed the semi-final through suspension.

Southerns were involved in the fixture that nobody wants to be part of, the bronze medal match. Captain Miguel da Graca’s team were mediocre by their standards against 2007/08 champions Western Province, who won 1-0 through an Austin Smith penalty corner in the fifth minute.

In the battle for 5th place KZN Inland defeated Eastern Province 5-3 on penalty strokes after the full time score was locked at 4-4.

The relegation battle was won by WP Pens after they defeated Amathole 5-4 on strokes. The full time was 3-3.

JONATHAN COOK
Port Elizabeth

WITH a few lopsided scores aside, the closest of pool rounds between the A Section teams and the most dramatic semi-finals have come to a close at the SA Men’s Inter Provincial Hockey Tournament, and the title match will feature Northerns Blues and defending champions KZN Coastals Raiders at the KC March Stadium in Gelvandale, Port Elizabeth late Saturday afternoon.

Western Province and Northerns Blues met in the first semi-final and SA skipper Austin Smith put WP in front through a neat penalty corner just before half-time.

Further penalty corners by Justin Reid-Ross and Francois Pretorius and a Michael Sykes action goal gave Northerns a 3-1 lead. David Wilson got one back for WP with a minute left but a few moments of frenetic action at the end wasn’t enough to stop Northerns’ title march.

In a replay of last year’s final, KZN Coastals Raiders were up against 2009 finalists Southern Gauteng in the other last-four match and won 7-6. The scores were 2-2 at full-time and then 4-4 on penalty strokes when it went into sudden death, and Gareth Carr netted the decider. Carr had scored both Raiders’ goals in regulation time with penalty corners. Miguel da Graca and Ricky West had done the same for Southerns.

In the fifth to eighth place playoffs, KZN Inland will meet Eastern Province for fifth on Saturday after they beat Peninsula 8-1.

EP beat Border 3-2 with the East London fellows netting through Ashwin Betchoo and Julian Hykes but EP captain Peter Bailey, Caleb Syce and Darren Kimfley prevailed for the home province..

Border and Pens are in the relegation match Saturday.

The B Section promotion match will be between Wits and KZN Mynahs.

RESULTS

A Section playoffs (5/8): Eastern Province 3 Border 2; KZN Inland 8 WP Peninsula 1. (1/4): Western Province 3 Northerns Blues 2; KZN Coastal Raiders 7 Southern Gauteng 6.

B Section: SA Country Districts 5 KZN Inland B 2; Free State 9 Mpumalanga 0; North West 4 Northern Cape 2; EP Settlers 6 Southern Cape 0.

Southerns’ 6-1 defeat of Western Province Peninsula in their final Pool B match gave them second place with Ricky West hitting a hat-trick and the others coming from Thornton McDade, Brandon Panther and Sean Landsdale.

The other Pool B semi-finalist is Western Province after they beat hosts Eastern Province 3-0 to top the pool.

Western Province will play Northerns Blues in the remaining last-four clash after Northerns held on to their nerve and fought back for a vital 2-2 draw with KZN Inland.

Pool A was won by KZN Coastal Raiders with Northerns Blues second.

WP dashed the hopes of EP with a field goal before half-time from national captain Austin Smith and two more after the break from former KZN Raider Matthew Botha and former Beijing Olympian Lungile Tsolekile.

Northerns netted against KZN Inland through a Kyle Rhodes penalty corner and Justin Reid-Ross’s penalty stroke, while the Pietermaritzburg side scored two goals before halftime through a brace of Karl Oftebro penalty corner drag-flicks.

Inland were rocked back at the death when Oftebro’s penalty corner after the final hooter hit the post.

In the fifth to eighth place playoffs, Inland face Pens and EP meet Border.

The B Section final on Saturday will be contested between Southern Gauteng’s second string, Witwatersrand, and KZN Mynahs, the winner of whom gets promoted to next year’s top eight A Section.

Wits beat Eastern Province Settlers 8-2 and KZN Mynahs won a key match against Free State 2-1.

RESULTS

A section: KZN Coastal Raiders 9 Border 1; Kaspersky Southern Gauteng 6 WP Peninsula 1; Northerns Blues 2 KZN Inland 2; Western Province 3 Eastern Province 0

B Section: KZN Inland B 3 Southern Cape 1; Northern Cape 4 Mpumalanga 2; KZN Mynahs 2 Free State 1; Witwatersrand 8 EP Settlers 2.

WP had a 2-1 half-time lead through Jean-Pierre de Voux and Clive Terwin after Ricky West opened the scoring. Southerns leaked another when Cuan Burton-Moore netted past Rassie Pieterse. Southerns came back soon after when Tebogo Lerole followed up a penalty corner.

Southerns drew 0-0 with Eastern Province on Tuesday. They must beat Peninsula in their last pool match Thursday for a possible place in the last four.

KwaZulu-Natal Raiders’ title defence is still on track. They drew 2-2 with Northerns Blues. Raiders need only draw with Border Thursday to reach the semi-finals. Raiders scored first when Lloyd Norris-Jones was brought down and Gareth Carr’s penalty flick was spot-on. A Northerns penalty stroke by Justin Reid-Ross was the equaliser. Jonty Robinson put Northerns in the lead, but two minutes later Tim Drummond scored the equaliser.

KZN Inland striker Gavin Jelley scored a hat-trick and Dalan Phillips, Karl Oftebro, Jethro Eustice, Duzo Khanyile and Tommy Hammond got one each as the Maritzburg team revived their semi-final hopes with a 8-0 drubbing of Border, who were promoted last year..

In the late game EP played to their second successive goalless draw when they couldn’t get the better of a plucky Western Province Peninsula.

Witwatersrand are on course for a return to the A Section after a 10-0 B Section win over SA Country Districts.
The B Section has no semi-finals. The best team in each pool meet in the final on Saturday.

Free State had a big win while KZN Mynahs scored an important win over last year’s demoted A Section team, North West.

RESULTS

A Section: KZN Coastals 2 Northerns Blues 2; KZN Inland 8 Border 0; WP 3 Southern Gauteng 3; EP 0 WP Peninsula 0.
B Section: Free State 9 Northern Cape 0; Witwatersrand 10 SA Country Districts 0; KZN Mynahs 4 North West 1; EP Settlers 3 KZN Inland B 1.

Wits demolished Southern Cape, 11-0 while KZN Mynahs struggled to settle into a rhythm before beatinbg Mpumalanga 7-1.

North West looked good, and three field goals was enough to give the Potchefstroom-based province victory against Free State.

Home province EP Settlers did everything right but score the number of goals they should have, as the men in red and balck dominated territory and possession against a hard-running SACD squad, and in the end it was a penalty stroke that made the difference.

Tuesday sees the beginning of the A Section tournament and first up is the KZN derby between defending champs the KZN Raiders and KZN Inland, followed by Western Province against WP Peninsual, Northerns versus Border and
Kaspersky Southerns against EP.

Most of the B Section matches take place at Grey High School.

RESULTS

KZN Mynahs 7 Mpumalanga 1; Witwatersrand 11 Southern Cape 0; North West 3
Free State 0; Eastern Province Settlers 1 SA Country Districts 0.

(9-12) NFS 5 – Eastern Gauteng 0
(9-12) Limpopo 2 – KZN Mynahs 2 (Limpopo won 5 – 4 on strokes)
(5-8) Mpumalanga 3 – Eastern Province 1
(5-8) Western Province 1 – Northern Gauteng 3
(1-4) KZN Coastal 0 – Southern Gauteng 2
(1-4) KZN Inalnd 1 – Southern Cape 3

DAY 3 & 4

POOL A

Southern Cape  0 – KZN Coastal 1
Southern Cape 1 – Northern Gauteng 0
Southern Cape 3 – Eastern Gauteng 0
KZN Coastal 2 – Limpopo 0
KZN Coastal 1 –  Southern Cape 0
Limpopo 1 – Mpumulanga 4
Mpumulanga 2 – Northern Gauteng 1
Northern Gauteng 3 – Eastern Gauteng 1

POOL B

Southern Gauteng 1 – KZN Inland 2
Southern Gauteng 3 – Eastern Province 0
Southern Gauteng 1 – KZN Mynahs 0
KZN Inland 2 – Western Province 1
Western Province 2 – NFS 0
NFS 1 – Eastern Province 2
Eastern Province 2 – KZN Mynahs 0

DAY 1

POOL A

Southern Cape 5 – Mpumalunga 1
KZN Coastal 5 – Eastern Gauteng 1
Limpopo 0 – Northern Gauteng 2
Limpopo 2 – Eastern Gauteng 1

POOL B

Southern Gauteng 4 – NFS 3
KZN Inland 2 – KZN Mynahs 0
Western Province 1 – Eastern Province 0
Western Province 3 – Mynahs 2

DAY 2

POOL A

Southern Cape 3 – Limpopo 0
KZN Coastal 2 – Mpumalanga 1
KZN Coastal 1 – Northern Gauteng 0
Eastern Gauteng 0 – Mpumalanga 5

POOL B

Southern Gauteng 4 – Western Province 0
KZN Inland 5 – NFS 2
KZN Inland 2 – Eastern Province 2
NFS 5 – KZN Mynahs 0