The South African U21 women’s hockey team started their preparation for the next U21 World Cup (to be held in 2009) in Stellenbosch yesterday, when the junior SA team took on the Australian U21 team, in the first of four test matches to be played at the Steinhoff International Stellenbosch Astro Complex.
The match saw the SA U21 team, coached by Fabian Gregory, lose 0-1 to the Australian girls. From the very first whistle it was clear that the South Africans would have their work cut out for them, with the visitors camping in the SA defensive quarter, launching one attack after another.
In the tenth minute the Aussies forced the first of numerous penalty corners of the match, only to be successfully defended by the SA team, lead by Lisa Deetlefs.
But the first ten minutes set the trend for the rest of the first half, with the Australians displaying why they are a top-ranked team, clearly very well-drilled, organised and used to playing together, in contrast to a very young and inexperienced SA squad, playing together for the first time.
The SA girls first half performance can be described as the typical "nervous start", their play being dominated by unforced errors while playing the ball out of defense, failure to capitalise on turnover possession, and an inability to connect with each other by stringing passes together.
The constant attack launched by the Australians lead to desperate defense at times, but to their credit the SA girls managed to get numbers behind the ball in their defensive circle, not allowing Australia to score what would have been a well-deserved goal.
The defensive effort saw captain Lisa Deetlefs lead from the front, and together with goalkeeper Sanani Mangisa, she proved that experience is vital at this higher level. Both Deetlefs and Mangisa used all the experience gained as members of the SPAR SA women’s team during the past 11 months to the fullest, staying composed when needed the most.
While Deetlefs made telling tackles in defense, including a definite goal-saving dive tackle in the dying seconds of the half, Mangisa pulled off crucial saves to keep her team in the game.
The Australian pressure persisted throughout the half. Good passing and leading helping them create holes in the SA defense for scoring opportunities while in defense, they never allowed SA to do much with the ball in the brief moments of possession, only to be turned over again by the well-organised Australian unit.
Towards the end of the half the South Africans started string some passes together, leading to a rare circle entry. SA’s only chance of the half was a good shot at goal going just wide.
The second half started with another Australian onslaught forcing three penalty corners in the first five minutes, and once again Deetlefs stepped up to the plate, with some good short corner defense. Mangisa also continued to entertain the crowd with a very good goalkeeping display.
Despite their efforts, Australia managed to sneak a goal in the 13th minute of the half, after a somewhat dubious baseline set-up for an unmarked player to score past Mangisa.
Shortly after this the Australians were on attack again and nearly doubled the score after Mangisa was drawn out of goals and beaten by an Australian attacker, only for the ever present Deetlefs to save the ball off the line.
However everything was not one-way traffic in the second half. Sporadic attacks by the girls in green got the crowd excited, only to be broken down close to the Australian 25 yard line.
Encouraging for the young SA team is that vice-captain, Jade Mayne, kept growing in stature and confidence in the midfield throughout the half, and was at the head of many of SA’s most threatening attacks, which will excite coach Gregory for the remaining matches.
Throughout the second half the Australians kept the pressure on the SA back four defenders, preventing them from playing the ball around freely. The pressure put on especially the more inexperienced outside halves paid off for Australia as they managed repeated turnovers and counter attacks.
As in the first half, SA saved their best for last. The last six minutes saw SA play their best hockey of the match, briefly dominating the Aussies and creating three good scoring opportunities.
The SA flame was ignited with 6 minutes to go, when strong on-the-ball play by Jade Mayne resulted in a free hit outside the circle. The hit set up Kerry Gaze right in front of goals, her shot forcing a good save from the Aussie keeper.
A minute later Roxanne Turner’s good work rate in the last quarter paid dividends when a threatening baseline attack by Turner resulted in South Africa’s first and only penalty corner of the match. Unfortunately Lisa Deetlefs slap hit from the set piece could not find the necessary deflector on the far post, and the chance went begging.
SA almost had the last say when Kerry Gaze received the ball unmarked in the 25-yard area with 15 seconds to go, the goal in sight but two Australian defenders to beat. Gaze’s aerial skills could not fool the Australian sweeper who managed to make the tackle just out side the circle, ensuring the win for Australia.
South African can be encouraged by their second half performance. They were much more convincing when in possession of the ball in the midfield and looked like they wanted to attack. They were more creative when playing the ball out the back in attempts to cope with the Australian press.
Despite being turned over often the experience gained from trying different things will be very valuable in the following tests. In defense they still allowed the Australians to get away from their markers and in behind too easily, forcing themselves having to make desperate tackles in their circle and conceding penalty corners.
To their credit, the SA short corner defense team coolly defended anything Australia through at them. For such a young unit they seemed composed and confident in what they were doing and it made them successful throughout the game.
South Africa also finished stronger that Australia in both halves. This is something that they can take confidence from in order to help them to control longer periods of play during the next three matches.
Despite losing by one goal the U21’s coach, Fabian Gregory, is satisfied with his girls’ performance. "We are not going to do everything right, but if we get one or two things to fall into place this week we will be successful."
Gregory was also more pleased with the team’s second half performance once they settled down and started to implement better tactical play on and off the ball.
The SA girls have proven that they can also put Australia under pressure and that they can deal with the Aussies in defense. Now that the ice has been broken and numerous players have shown glimpses of their potential, the rest of the series will prove to be a real test for these young Proteas.
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