Gauteng A are South African Champions

The weekend of the 25 September 2011 saw the South African National Championships been held in Cape Town. The team were Gauteng A, Gauteng B, Western Province A and Western Province B.
The first games of the tournament were played the week before with Gauteng A taking on Gauteng B in Johannesburg. The A team was the favoured team to get a result in this game as they were made up mainly of players who represented SA at the World Championships in 2011. The B team however was not without their experienced players although it be not many. Nick Graf, a well versed player with the SA Senior team and Junior Teams and played a bit of hockey in Switzerland was the man who the team looked for leadership.
Nick has a great capability to lead from the blue line as one of the best offensive defensemen in the country. There were also a number of Junior (U18 and U20) national players on the B team. It was a great experience for them to play against the senior teams at this tournament. Unfortunately on this day, the A team were far too experienced and this showed with them trouncing the B team 11-0.
On the other end of the scale Western Province A took on Western Province B in Cape Town. Western Province, coached by Ronnie Woods, the senior national team coach showed their class. They are however largely made up of a strong contingent of international players from Switzerland, America, Canada, Russia and Namibia.

Western Province A came out on top.
The following weekend saw both Gauteng sides travel to Cape Town for the remainder of the tournament. On the first day in the morning Gauteng A took on Western Province B and did the same as they had done a week before and trounced them. Thus showing Western Province A that the Guateng team was there to win. The following game saw Western Province A taking on Gauteng B and once again the Western Province team was too strong for a young and inexperienced Gauteng B team.
That night saw the clash of Western Province B vs Gauteng B what was to be much more evenly skilled game. On this night however the Western Province B team emerged as 4-2 victors.
After that game the main game of the tournament took place with Gauteng A taking on Western Province A what promised to high paced, physical and intense game. The feud between the two teams has been long time running and last year the Gauteng A team emerged victorious and champions so Western Province had a point to prove.
Ashley Bock in goals for Gauteng A had an excellent game and managed to keep the game close. At the end of the game, it was 4-2 to Gauteng A much to disappointment of the Western Province supporters.
This set up the 3rd and 4th place and finals playoff with the 3rd and 4th place game been between WP B and Gauteng B. Farrell Foy in goals for the B team played one of his best games and the Gauteng team had a renewed source of motivation from the nights previous performance of their A team. They came out firing and led by Nick Graf, Trevor Jones and Clinton Foy who pushed the junior players to match their performance. This showed as the Gauteng B team beat Western Province 9-0 and thus taking 3rd place in the SA Championships.
At 8pm that night the two A teams would face off and this promised to be more intense then the night before.
Cape Town led by Marc Giot and their international contingent were out to prove a point, but so was Gauteng A. With A.Bock in goals for the Gauteng team, it was always going to be a tough one for Western Province.
The teams managed to keep the game close and at the end of 2 it was 3-2 to the Gauteng team but then Gauteng A came out in the third period with all guns blazing. Damian Cardoso and Kyle Labuschagne each notched up a goal for the Gauteng team in the 3rd period. Western Provinces Russian import Ivan Tchekashkine got a break away and scored to make the score 4-3. With that Damian Cardoso scored on a wraparound with 12 seconds left in the game to make it 5-3.
As the refs were about to start the game a fight broke out with all the players on the ice having a go at each other. Once the fight was stopped and under control, Western Province decided to walk off the bench and not finish the game thus making the refs call the game null en void which eliminated the result for Gauteng A.
However they still won the gold and retained their champion status.

Final Results:
1st: Gauteng A
2nd: Western Province A
3rd: Gauteng B
4th: Western Province B

Individual awards:
Best Goalkeeper: Ashley Bock – Gauteng A
Best Forward: Chris Engelbrecht – Gauteng A
Best Defencemen: Nick Graf – Gauteng B
MVP: Dean Magmoed – Western Province A.
Now the build-up to the world championships next year begins. The South African squad will be announced shortly so keep your eyes open for that one.

 

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