The Northern Blues U21 men’s hockey team and the Western Province U21 women’s team were crowned as South African champions at the respective National U21 Tournaments in Pretoria and Durban on Saturday evening.

Northerns, under the guidance of coach Craig Fulton and captained by Benjamin Raymond, beat Western Province 2-0 in the final at Tuks after leading 1-0 at half-time, the goals going to Emile Odendaal and Ross Gonsalves.

At Queensmead, Western Province’s 2-0 win over North West came through a brace of goals by Tarryn Glasby in the second half. The WP team was under the guidance of coach Andi Bernstein and captained by Taryn Mallett.

A power failure in Durban caused a delay in the evening matches.

FINAL RESULTS

Men

(11th/12th) Witwatersrand (5) 7 (Thobani Moyo 2, Senna de Abreu, Werner Marquardt 2, Rob Morris 2) Eastern Gauteng 0
(9/10) EP (1) 4 (Libongo Vatyi, Steven Dent, Own Goal, Curtis Samboer) Namibia (0) 1 (Luke Bolton)
(7/8) North West (3) 4 (Ignatius Malgraff 2, De Wet Coetzen 2) Southern Gauteng (0) 2 (Brynn Cleak, Own Goal)
(5/6) KZN Inland (1) 3 (Damian Kimfley, Le-Neal Jackson, Lloyd de Kock) WP Peninsula (0) 2 (Rushin October, Dirk Truter)

(Bronze medal match) KZN Coastal Raiders (2) 4 (Davyn Keuter, Richard Pentecost, Daniel Sibbald, Ryan Wallace) Free State (1) 3 (CJ van Wyk, Dylan Swanepoel, Achmat Richards)

(Gold medal match) Northern Blues (1) 2 (Emile Odendaal, Ross Gonsalves) Western Province 0

Women

(11th/12th) Witwatersrand (2) 6 (Annene Janse van Rensburg 2, Bianca Viljoen, Schemoné Swanepoel, Own Goal, Kayla van der Walt) Eastern Gauteng 0
(9th/10th) Namibia (2) 3 (Marian Laubscher, Marcia Venter, Dunell van Taak) WP Peninsula 0
(7th/8th)Eastern Province (1) 4 (Keisha Arnolds, Cassandra Lister, Talia Nomdoe, Tristian Schroder ) KZN Coastal Raiders (1) 1 (Amy Visagie)
(5th/6th) Free State (6) 10 (Izelle Lategan 3, Tanya Britz 3, Lisa Hawker, Cornelle Botha, Line Malan, Nicole Walraven) KZN Inland (1) (2) Caitlyn Seegers, Vicki Jonker)

(Bronze medal match) Northern Blues (1) 2 (Kylie Oosthuizen, Amoné Mouton) Southern Gauteng (0)

(Gold medal match) Western Province (0) 2 (Tarryn Glasby 2) North West 0

In the women’s U21 semi-finals at Queensmead in Durban, Kaspersky Southerns were beaten 8-0 by Western Province while North West edged Northern Blues 3-2 on penalty shootout after the scores were locked 1-1 at full-time.

In the men’s U21 semi-finals at Tuks in Pretoria, Northern Blues shaded Free State 2-1 and KZN Raiders lost 2-0 to Western Province.

The gold medal matches will be at 6.30 pm Saturday.

MEN’S CROSS-POOL RESULTS

Namibia (0) 2 (Penda Nambala 2) Kaspersky Wits (0) 1 (RD Strauss)

Eastern Province (5) 8 (Jason Bigara 3, Malikaya Mdutyana 2, Curtis Samboer, Winchester Scott 2) Eastern Gauteng 0

WP Peninsula (1) 3 (Michael Daly 2, Charles Plimsoll) Kaspersky Southerns (0) 2 (Johan Smit, Brynn Cleak)

KZN Inland (3) 7 (Travis Hardnick 2, Damian Kimfley 3, Le-Neal Jackson, Dumi Mncwango) North West (1) 2 (Cerezo Comerasamy 2)

First semi-final: Northern Blues (0) 2 (Dirk du Toit, Nic Berichon) Free State (1) 1 (Dylan Swanepoel)

Second semi-final: Western Province (1) 2 (Niel Roode, Robert Edwards) KZN Raiders 0

MEN’S CLASSIFICATION MATCHES

8.30 am (11/12) Kaspersky Wits vs Eastern Gauteng

10.30 am (9/10) Namibia vs Eastern Province

12.30 pm (7/8) Kaspersky Southerns vs North West

2.30 pm (5/6) WP Peninsula vs KZN Inland

4.30 pm (Bronze medal match) Free State vs KZN Raiders

6.30 pm (Gold medal match) Northern Blues vs Western Province

WOMEN’S CROSS-POOL RESULTS

WP Peninsula (4) 13 (Micaela Diedericks 3, Teagan van der Wath 2, Nicole Bartsch 3, Ashleigh Ratcliffe 2, Rhoni Gericke, Karla Petersen 2) Eastern Gauteng 0

Namibia (1) 2 (Nicola Heathcote, Anri Krugel) Kaspersky Wits 0

Free State (1) 2 (Tanya Britz, Izelle Lategan) KZN Raiders 0

KZN Inland (0) 2 (Nadia Stella 2) Eastern Province (1) 2 (Cassandra Lister, Toni Marks)
KZN Inland won penalty shoot-out 4-2

First semi-final: Western Province (4) 8 (Toni McCann 2, Quanita Bobbs 3, Jenead Brodell, Taryn Mallet, Tarryn Glasby) Kaspersky Southerns 0

Second semi-final: North West (1) 1 (Tiffanie Jones) Northern Blues (1) 1 (Jacintha Jubb)
North West won penalty shoot-out 3-2

WOMEN’S CLASSIFICATION MATCHES

8.30 am (11/12) Eastern Gauteng vs Kaspersky Wits

10.30 am (9/10) WP Peninsula vs Namibia

12.30 pm (7/8) KZN Raiders vs Eastern Province

2.30 pm (5/6) Free State vs KZN Inland

4.30 pm (Bronze medal match) Kaspersky Southerns vs Northern Blues

6.30 pm (Gold medal match) North West vs Western Province

In Friday’s women’s U21 semi-finals at Queensmead in Durban, Kaspersky Southerns tackle Western Province at 4.30 pm while North West face Northern Blues at 6.30 pm.

In Friday’s men’s U21 semi-finals at Tuks in Pretoria, Northern Blues meet Free State at 4.30 pm and KZN Raiders face Western Province at 6.30 pm.

DAY 5 RESULTS

Men

Kaspersky Wits (2) 3 (Thobani Moyo 2, Morgan Dekker) Eastern Gauteng 0

WP Peninsula (4) 6 (Dirk Truter 2, Seb Golding 2, Frank Slabbert, Michael Daly) Namibia (1) 1 (Stephan Calitz)

Eastern Province (2) 6 (Winchester Scott, Libongo Vatyi, Curtis Samboer 2, Kevin Carrol, Kyle-Dean Davidson) KZN Inland (1) 3 (Le-Neal Jackson, Mzamo Cele, James Gearing)

Western Province (1) 4 (Rob Edwards 2, James Drummond, Daniel Bell) Free State 0

KZN Raiders (1) 4 (Ross Hetem, Andrew Manson 2, Davyn Keuter) North West (1) 2 (Ignatius Malgraff 2)

Northern Blues (1) 2 (Stephen Cant, Grant Glutz) Kaspersky Southerns (0) 1 (Lloyd Nicholson)

MEN’S FINAL LOGS
(all played 5, goal difference, points)

Pool A: 1 Northern Blues (GD 33) 15 pts; 2 KZN Raiders (GD 15) 12 pts; 3 Kaspersky Southerns (GD 16) 9 pts; 4 North West (GD 8) 6 pts; 5 Kaspersky Wits (GD -25) 3 pts; 6 Eastern Gauteng (GD -47) 0 pts

Pool B: 1 Western Province (GD 20) 15 pts; 2 Free State (GD 2) 8 pts; 3 KZN Inland (GD 8) 7 pts; 4 WP Peninsula (GD 4) 7 pts; 5 Eastern Province (GD 9) 6 pts; 6 Namibia (GD -43) 0 pts

Women

Eastern Province (4) 7 (Toni Marks 4, Keisha Arnolds, Tristian Schroder, Leigh Paulsen) Namibia 0

Northern Blues (3) 5 (Jacintha Jubb 2, Kylie Oosthuizen, Zelke Slabbert, Lilian du Plessis) WP Peninsula 0

North West (0) 2 (Jessica de Bruyn-Smith, Sinalo Jafte) Kaspersky Southerns (1) 1 (Catherine Morris)

Western Province (0) 1 (Toni McCann) Free State 0

KZN Inland (1) 3 (Nadia Stella, Vicki Jonker, Amy Greaves) Kaspersky Wits (1) 1 (Jade Pinnock)

KZN Raiders (4) 9 (Stacey Hiron 2, Timon Botha, Gina Laurie, Amy Visagie 4, Nolwazi Mkhize) Eastern Gauteng 0

WOMEN’S FINAL LOGS
(all played 5, goal difference, points)

Pool A: 1 North West (GD 28) 15 pts; 2 Kaspersky Southerns (GD 14) 10 pts; 3 Eastern Province (GD 11) 10 pts; 4 KZN Raiders (GD 7) 6 pts; 5 Namibia (GD -11) 3 pts; 6 Eastern Gauteng (GD -49) 0 pts

Pool B: 1 Western Province (GD 26) 15 pts; 2 Northern Blues (GD 13) 12 pts; 3 Free State (GD 11) 9 pts; 4 KZN Inland (GD -13) 6 pts; 5 WP Peninsula (GD -8) 3 pts; 5 6 Kaspersky Wits (GD -29) 0 pts

Results and logs after day four of the SA U21 men’s and women’s interprovincial hockey tournaments in Pretoria and Durban respectively:

RESULTS

Men

Eastern Province (5) 10 (Jason Bigara, Winchester Scott, Kevin Carrol, Curtis Samboer 3, Kyle-Dean Davidson, Libongo Vatyi 2, Chad Cairncross) Namibia 0

Western Province (0) 2 (Own Goal, Dylan Swanepoel) WP Peninsula (1) 1 (Rushin October)

Kaspersky Southerns (3) 5 (Taylor Dart, William van de Velde, Brynn Cleak, Gerald Mpopo, Johan Smit) Kaspersky Wits (1) 1 (Tebogo Tsiloane)

North West (1) 5 (Ignatius Malgraff 2, Own Goal, Cerezo Comerasamy, Mathew Taberer) Eastern Gauteng 0

KZN Inland (3) 3 (Damian Kimfley 2, Philip Smerdon) Free State (2) 3 (CJ van Wyk, Michael Baiden, Daryll Sutherland)

Northern Blues (2) 2 (Emile Odendaal, Own Goal) KZN Raiders 0

MEN’S LOGS
(all played 4, goal difference, points)

Pool A: 1 Northern Blues (GD 32) 12 pts; 2 Kaspersky Southerns (GD 17) 9 pts; 3 KZN Raiders (GD 13) 9 pts; 4 North West (GD 7) 6 pts; 5 Eastern Gauteng (GD -26) 0 pts; 6 Kaspersky Wits (GD -28) 0 pts

Pool B: 1 Western Province (GD 16) 12 pts; 2 Free State (GD 6) 8 pts; 3 KZN Inland (GD 11) 7 pts; 4 WP Peninsula (GD -1) 4 pts; 5 Eastern Province (GD 6) 3 pts; 6 Namibia (GD -38) 0 pts

Women

Free State (1) 4 (Tanya Britz 2, Marizen Marais, Nicole Walraven) WP Peninsula (0) 1 (Ruby Tlhapane)

Kaspersky Southerns (1) 2 (Georgina Crisp, Catherine Morris) Eastern Province (0) 2 (Toni Marks, Tristian Schroder)

Northern Blues (1) 2 (Lilian du Plessis, Jacintha Jubb) Kaspersky Wits 0

Namibia (4) 8 (Nicola Heathcote, Jocelle Deysel, Anri Krugel, Marcia Venter 2, Marian Laubscher, Own Goal 2) Eastern Gauteng 0

Western Province (4) 7 (Jenead Brodell 3, Quanita Bobbs, Tarryn Glasby 2, Bronwyn Kretzman) KZN Inland (0) 1 (Ros Flint)

North West (0) 2 (Tiffanie Jones, Sinalo Jafte) KZN Raiders 0

WOMEN’S LOGS
(all played 4, goal difference, points)

Pool A: 1 Western Province (GD 25) 12 pts; 2 Free State (GD 12) 9 pts; 3 Northern Blues (GD 8) 9 pts; 4 WP Peninsula (GD -3) 3 pts; 5 KZN Inland (GD -15) 3 pts; 6 Kaspersky Wits (GD -27) 0 pts

Pool B: 1 North West (GD 27) 12 pts; 2 Kaspersky Southerns (GD 15) 10 pts; 3 Eastern Province (GD 4) 7 pts; 4 KZN Raiders (GD -2) 3 pts; 5 Namibia (GD -4) 3 pts; 6 Eastern Gauteng (GD -40) 0 pts

Men

Free State (4) 6 (Dylan Swanepoel 3, Leon de Kock 2, Michael Baiden) Namibia (1) 1 (Penda Nambala)

WP Peninsula (1) 3 (Kyle Miller, Jordan Turnbull, Chad Conlon) Eastern Province (0) 1 (Curtis Samboer)

Western Province (4) 6 (Keenan Horne 3, Chris Fourie, Jaco Olivier, Matt Williams) KZN Inland (2) 5 (Mzamo Cele, Travis Hardnick 2, Damian Kimfley, Zamo Ngubo)

North West (1) 5 (Ignatius Malgraff 2, Cerezo Comerasamy, Ruan de Jong, Mathew Taberer) Kaspersky Wits 0

KZN Raiders (2) 5 (Davyn Keuter 3, Ryan Wallace, Ross Hetem) Kaspersky Southerns (2) 4 (Brynn Cleak, Matt Brown, James du Plessis, Own Goal)

Northern Blues (7) 15 (Dirk du Toit 2, Michael Marki, Stephen Cant 2, Emile Odendaal, Nic Berichon 2, Chris van der Burgh, Kewan Harries, Tim Guise-Brown, Ross Gonsalves, Andrew Buckley 2) Eastern Gauteng 0

MEN’S LOGS
(all played 3, goal difference, points) 

Pool A: 1 Northern Blues (GD 30) 9 pts; 2 KZN Raiders (GD 15) 9 pts; 3 Kaspersky Southerns (GD 13) 6 pts; 4 North West (GD 2) 3 pts; 5 Eastern Gauteng (GD -21) 0 pts; 6 Kaspersky Wits (GD -24) 0 pts

Pool B: 1 Western Province (GD 15) 9 pts; 2 Free State (GD 6) 7 pts; 3 KZN Inland (GD 11) 6 pts; 4 WP Peninsula (GD 0) 4 pts; 5 Eastern Province (GD -4) 0 pts; 6 Namibia (GD -28) 0 pts

Women

Western Province (0) 5 (Quanita Bobbs, Tarryn Glasby 2, Bronwyn Kretzman, Taryn Mallet) WP Peninsula 0

North West (2) 5 (Sinalo Jafte, Lenthea Kamffer, Own Goal, Schani Moore, Carli Gericke) Eastern Province (2) 2 (Talia Nomdoe, Tristian Schroder)

Free State (3) 7 (Izelle Lategan 2, Shevaun Botha, Cornelle Botha, Tanya Britz 2, Line Malan) Kaspersky Wits 0

Kaspersky Southerns (6) 9 (Catherine Morris 2, Ashleigh Tarr, Casey Cowell 2, Georgina Crisp 2, Claudette Nepgen 2) Eastern Gauteng 0

Northern Blues (2) 7 (Jacintha Jubb 5, Kylie Oosthuizen, Lilian du Plessis) KZN Inland (0) 1 (Chiree Coetzee)

KZN Raiders (0) 4 (Varetia Pillay, Amy Visagie, Stacey Hiron 2) Namibia 0

WOMEN’S LOGS
(all played 3, goal difference, points)

Pool A: 1 Western Province (GD 19) 9 pts; 2 Free State (GD 9) 6 pts; 3 Northern Blues (GD 6) 6 pts; 4 WP Peninsula (GD 0) 3 pts; 5 KZN Inland (GD -9) 3 pts; 6 Kaspersky Wits (GD -25) 0 pts

Pool B: 1 North West (GD 25) 9 pts; 2 Kaspersky Southerns (GD 15) 9 pts; 3 Eastern Province (GD 4) 6 pts; 4 KZN Raiders (GD 0) pts 3; 5 Namibia (GD -12) pts 0; 6 Eastern Gauteng (GD -32) 0 pts

Women

North West (3) 5 (Tiffanie Jones 2, Carli Gericke, Carissa Vorster, Lenthea Kamffer) Namibia 0

Western Province (0) 3 (Jenead Brodell, Quanita Bobbs 2) Northern Blues (1) 1 (Jacintha Jubb)

Eastern Province (2) 6 (Dayna Barlow, Toni Marks 2, Leigh Paulsen, Rebecca Pope, Elan van Vught) Eastern Gauteng 0

WP Peninsula (4) 7 (Kaira Day, Ashleigh Ratcliffe 4, Micaela Diedericks, Karla Peterson, Keren Dugmore) Kaspersky Wits (Gauteng) 0

Free State (3) 4 (Nicole Walraven, Maria Wessels, Tanya Britz, Izelle Lategan) KZN Inland 0

Kaspersky Southerns (Gauteng) (1) 4 (Kerry Trebble, Georgina Crisp, Ane Kilian, Nika Nel) KZN Coastal Raiders (1) 1 (Petti Yorke)

Photo by: GAVIN NEL

Men

Kaspersky Southerns (Gauteng) (7) 12 (Keegan Kieck, James du Plessis, Brynn Cleak 3, Johan Smit 3, Gerald Mpopo, Jaryd Powell, Caleb Martin, Thabang Dikgale) Eastern Gauteng 0

Western Province (5) 13 (Matt Williams, Dayne Samboer 2, Rob Edwards, Marc Fourie 2, Jaco Olivier 2, Keenan Horne, James Drummond 3, Chris Fourie) Namibia 0

Free State (0) 1 (Dylan Swanepoel) Eastern Province 0

KZN Inland (2) 4 (Damian Kimfley 3, Dumi Mncwango) WP Peninsula (1) 2 (Chad Conlon, Jordan Turnbull)

KZN Coastal Raiders (3) 5 (Davyn Keuter 2, Marco Lopes, Mohammed Mea, Dayne Naidoo) Kaspersky Wits (Gauteng) 0

Northern Blues (3) 4 (Nic Berichon, Andrew Buckley 2, Grant Glutz) North West (2) 3 (Ruan de Jong, Sinoxolo Mbekeni, Ignatius Malgraff)

Women

Kaspersky Southerns (Gauteng) (3) 5 (Georgina Crisp, Lanne Rossouw, Claudette Nepgen, Catherine Morris, Kerry Trebble) Namibia (1) 2 (Dunell van Taak, Marcia Venter)

Northern Blues (1) 4 (Jacinta Jubb 3, Lilian du Plessis) Free State (0) 2 (Izelle Lategan, Shevaun Botha)

North West (7) 17 (Tiffanie Jones 5, Sinalo Jafte, Schani Moore 2, Amore de Wet, Mariska Fourie 2, Lenthea Kamffer 2, Jessica de Bruyn-Smith, Own Goal, Stephanie Baxter, Carissa Vorster) Eastern Gauteng 0

Western Province (6) 12 (Quanita Bobbs 2, Tarryn Glasby 3, Toni McCann 3, Jenead Brodell 2, Taryn Mallett, Catherine Winter) Kaspersky Wits (Witwatersrand) 0

KZN Inland (2) 4 (Vicki Jonker 2, Confidence Mashau, Caitlyn Seegers) WP Peninsula (2) 3 (Ashleigh Ratcliffe, Rhoni Gericke, Ruby Liebetrau)

Eastern Province (2) 2 (Tristian Schroder, Demi Harmse) KZN Coastal Raiders (0) 1 (Stacey Hiron)

Men

KZN Coastal Raiders (5) 9 (Ross Hetem 3, Andrew Manson 4, Richard Pentecost, Dayne Naidoo) Eastern Gauteng 0

Kaspersky Southerns (Gauteng) (3) 5 (William van de Velde, Lloyd Nicholson 2, Gerald Mpopo, James du Plessis) North West (2) 3 (Esek Mbekeni, Ruan de Jong, De Wet Coetzen)

Western Province (0) 3 (Marc Fourie 2, Jaco Olivier) Eastern Province (1) 2 (Jason Bigara, Kyle Dean-Davidson)

KZN Inland (5) 11 (Mzamo Cele 2, Zamo Ngubo, Damian Kimfley 3, Philip Smerdon 3, James Gearing, Dumi Mncwango) Namibia (0) 1 (Baggio Karigub)

Free State (2) 4 (Shelton Mollentze, Nic Wanliss, Dylan Swanepoel, Petrus Erasmus) WP Peninsula (1) 4 (Michael Daly, Chad Conlon, Frank Slabbert, PJ Wentzel)

Northern Blues (7) 14 (Grant Glutz 7, Emile Odendaal, Keegon Nicol, Ross Gonsalves, Andrew Buckley 2, Stephen Cant 2, ) Kaspersky Wits (Witwatersrand) 0

South Africa – Chile 6-1 (halftime 3-0)

Photo by: LuValiatti

South Africa rebounded from a 4-2 loss against Argentina on Sunday in grand fashion, posting a lopsided 6-1 victory against Chile. The win was enough to lift the South Africans into second place in the final standings and gave Chile a respectable third-place finish.

Miguel De Graca gave South Africa the quick 1-0 lead when he struck on a short corner in the fifth minute of action. After the first South African goal Chile came back strongly and forced a couple of penalty corners. Despite the rest of his teammates showing signs of nerves, South African goalkeeper Erasmus Pieterse was a tower of strength keeping the lively Chileans at bay. Matt Guise-Brown’s penalty corner strike in the 31st minute visibly calmed the South Africans’ nerves.

Three minutes later, that lead increased and gave South Africa some breathing room at the break when Jonathan Robinson scored from the field. From there on, they never looked back.

The teams exchanged goals five minutes apart to open the second half scoring, but Chile could not close the first-half gap in any significant way. In the end, Lloyd Norris Jones ended any thoughts of a Chilean upset with his two field goals late in the half that sealed the 6-1 win.

Argentina – USA 9-0 (7-0 halftime)

Argentina put the finishing touches on a perfect Hockey World League Round 2 performance with a 9-0 drubbing over the United States. Argentina had already secured its spot in the Hockey World League Semi-Finals on Sunday, but the victory was a icing on the cake for the dominant South American nation.

Having got off to a fortunate start when an American defender put through his own goal in the third minute, Argentina added six more field goals from Matias Parades in the 6^th minute, Matias Vila in the 10^th minute, the imperious Rodrigo Vila in the 16^th minute before a brace from Augustin Mazzili in the 18^th and 23^rd minutes and finally the always dangerous Guillermo Schickendatz concluded the first half’s scores in the 26^th minute.

The Americans seemed to find their legs in the second half and put in a better effort, but they still had no luck finding the back of the net as Argentina was able to add another pair of goals later in the second half action to bring the final score to 9-0.

Argentina joins South Africa, India and Ireland as the teams that have moved on to the Hockey World League Semi-Finals through Round 2. There are still three spots up for grabs for the June Semi-Finals which will be determined in the Round 2 tournaments in Russia and France later this Spring.

Source: www.worldhockey.org

Photo by: Herald Jobin

World number 12 SA must now beat world 25 Chile in their final match on Tuesday to ensure second place in Rio and with it a berth in the World League semi-finals in Malaysia.

It was a 150^th Test match cap for captain of Argentina Lucas Rey in heat of 40 degrees Celsius on the pitch and it was also a perfect start for the South Americans when Enrique Paredes crossed brilliantly from the left and Augustin Mazzilli connected first-time from close to put the Argentines 1-0 up after four minutes (1-0).

With Argentina piling on the pressure and SA losing the ball too quickly on the first touch, Rodrigo Villa showed stunning stickwork along the right-hand baseline to net his side’s second goal in the 10^th minute (2-0).

A crisp interchange of passes between the Argentine forwards had SA stretched to the limit. Argentina seemed to have players to spare in the first half and the extra space saw Guillermo Schickendantz force Rassie Pieterse into a great reflex save in goal.

In the 18^th minute Julian Hykes intercepted 35 metres out and slipped a great pass to Austin Smith but the SA midfielder was very heavily tackled. A shout for a penalty stroke went up but to no avail, although SA did win their first penalty corner, Smith’s drag-flick gloved past the post by keeper Juan Vivaldi.

In the 25th minute SA’s best chance of the half occurred with a fluid move up the right wing after Tim Drummond’s square pass started it from the left but Hykes’s shot flashed past the wrong side of the far post.

Lloyd Norris-Jones’s rasping reverse-stick shot brought a fine save from Vivaldi before SA defended two penalty corners very well in the last five minutes of the first half, Ricky West also making a top-class sliding tackle just before Argentina went into half-time leading 2-0.

The second half started with SA transferring the ball at pace and running intelligently off the ball, but SA then lost the ball and Argentina pounced, Guillermo Schickendantz crossing from the left and a full-length dive by Facundo Callioni deflecting the ball into the backboard (3-0) in the 40th minute. SA hit back and Norris-Jones found the target after good build-up play in the 42nd minute (3-1).

On the 23-metre line, Jethro Eustice then intercepted and passed square left to Clint Panther who smashed into the net on the backhand (3-2) in the 47th minute.

In the 53rd minute Argentina break away and Lucas Vila fed Pedro Ibarra who finished with exquisite skill, the ball rocketing past Pieterse in goal (4-2).     

Argentina finished strongly but the scoreline remained unchanged.

There was a huge upset in the early match in what was probably the most exciting contest so far, when Trinidad and Tobago, ranked 34th, beat 29th-ranked USA 4-3 on sudden-death penalty shootout after the score was 1-1 at full-time.

The hero was T&T goalkeeper Andrey Rockey, who was a collossus in goal.

USA captain Pat Harris netted a penalty corner in the 22nd minute of regulation time while Akim Toussaint equalised a minute from full-time to rapturous applause from the T&T fans, who were magnificent.

In the middle match, Chile beat an heroic yet badly depleted Brazil 3-1 after the score was 0-0 at half-time.

Chile had to wait till the 62nd minute when an own goal opened the scoring. 

Then two minutes later Sven Richter made it 2-0 from field play before Sebastian Kapsch made it 3-0 in the 69th, but the most celebrated goal of the day for Brazilian fans was the penalty corner goal by Matheus Borges in the last minute of the exciting match.

Source: www.worldhockey.org