Day 3
By: Kim Hubach
Day 3 in China started with breakfast which is always a bit of a lucky packet on what you are going to get, but the girls are getting used to the food and starting to be a little more adventurous with some tasting the duck head – Turns out it tastes just like chicken!
We had a training session from 9:00 – 11:00 where we concentrated on the strikers leading in the circle and the defenders defending tighter and more physically. This training proved to be very successful in our match later in the afternoon. We played some really good hockey in the first half creating many opportunities and one resulting in a fantastic goal by Dirkie Chamberlain who perfected what was learnt at training. The half time score was 2-1 to China.
The second half was not as good as the 1st but SA showed a lot of guts and determination as was seen by an almost goal again from Dirkie Chamberlain off a rebound from a short corner flick from Kim Hubach. Other goal scoring opportunities were created by SA threatening the Chinese circle, but unfortunately the Chinese proved to be the better team on the day by defeating South Africa 4 goals to 1.
Exciting times lie ahead though for the next 10 test matches that the 2 teams face against each other and South Africa learning some new tactics and tricks from newly appointed coach Giles Bonnet.
