The third day of the 2024 Nkosi Cup saw the tournament complete the group stage in the mens tournament, while the womens tournament saw the two finalists secured despite a couple of group stage games remaining.
MEN – Namibia 3-4 New Zealand
In the first real upset of the mens tournament it was New Zealand who came out on top against Namibia in the days opening game. The Black Sticks were good value for their win but had to hold on from a late Namibian charge in the end.
New Zealand scored one in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd quarters unanswered as the combination of Maks Wyndham-Smith, Luka Clark and Benedict van Woerkom took advantage of an underpar Namibian performance.
Namibia would pull one back through Ernie Jacobs but almost immediately van Woerkom re-established a 3 goal lead for the men from Oceania. Fagan Hansen and Ernie Jacobs would score to set up a frenetic finish but it was the New Zealanders who secured their first victory in their third outing against New Zealand.
The two will meet again on Monday in the Semi-Finals having finished in second and third.
MEN – South Africa 7-3 Ireland
And South Africa and Ireland will meet in the semi-finals as well after the hosts confirmed a full house of points following a good win against Ireland in their first ever meeting. Ireland may have though early on that a surprise would be on the cards scoring the first goal of the game. But by the end of the first quarter they trailed thanks to Mustapha Cassiem and Justin Domleo.
The second quarter also was won 2-1 by the South Africans with Cassiem and Dalpiarro Langford scoring for the hosts while Ross Canning pulled one back for the visitors. There was only one goal in the third quarter, not surprisingly to Cassiem, finishing his 9th international hat-trick.
Cassiem made it a goal in each quarter with his fourth of the game and Hans Neethling then made it 7 for South Africa. Oliver Kidd would get a consolation for Ireland who will have just under 24 hours to work out how to stop the South Africans in the semi-final tomorrow.
WOMEN – Ireland 1-4 South Africa
The SPAR Sponsored South Africans came out firing knowing that a victory would secure them a spot in the final before their final group game. Despite dominating the early exchanges South Africa found themselves trailing when Orla Fox produced a superb penalty corner strike.
South Africa struggled to assert themselves but were level thanks to Tegan Fourie’s goal. But it was an incredibly tight game with a disallowed goal for Kayla de Waal and a few frustrated decisions and the game remained on a knife’s edge heading into the final five minutes.
Kayla de Waal broke the deadlock finishing after great counterattacking work from Den Bakker, who then turned goal scorer a minute later. Den Bakker would get her second just after Ireland pulled off their keeper and it was a 4-1 victory for the hosts which secured a place in the final.
Nkosi Cup 2024 – Fixtures – Monday 16 December
Women – Group Stage – 12:45 – Namibia v Ireland
Men – Semi-Final – 17:15 – South Africa v Ireland
Men – Semi-Final – 18:30 – New Zealand v Namibia
Women – Group Stage – 19:45 – South Africa v Namibia
by South Africa
