Cape Town - The South African men’s hockey team continues to find the going uphill in their debut FIH Pro League stint, but they have started showing improvement even though they suffered a 6-1 defeat to Germany in Potchefstroom on Thursday night.
South Africa started superbly and matched the No 5 world-ranked Germans in all facets of the game. SA (12th in the world rankings) staged several attacks deep into the opposition territory and created several scoring chances.
At halftime, the teams were level-pegging at 1-all.
Germany upped the ante in the second and launched countless attacks. This brought the best out of the SA defence but in the end, they ran out of steam and Germany scored five more goals.
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Experienced campaigner Dan Bell, who was a member of the team at last year's Olympics, said it was evident that the team was benefitting from playing against some of the world's strongest teams.
“We were very competitive in the first half, and we took them by surprise as we played some really good hockey," said Bell.
“In the second half, when it comes to top-level sport, you need to take your opportunities when they present themselves. When you don’t capitalise, and instead concede, then there’s a big shift in momentum. I think that that was the case for us in the second 30 minutes. We learnt a lot of lessons and I think that we are getting to the point that we’re playing competitive hockey.”
Bell said that the team are still learning many lessons.
“We know that we can compete. It’s about squeezing out these small margins but obviously, have such a massive impact on the game.
"We’re looking forward to a few days off and promise to come back stronger for the last two games.”
It was a good first half, but the Germans were outstanding in the second half and ran out victorious. More of the same from the first half will see some great gains for our lads! #FIHProLeague pic.twitter.com/VTty2zdbv8
— SA Hockey (@SA_Hockey) February 17, 2022
Another seasoned campaigner, Sowetan-raised Owen Mvimbi, said the team was showing greater composure and were patient in the build-up work.
“The game (against Germany) was a tricky one after we ended the first half strong," said Mvimbi. ”We were fighting to get goals and create opportunities.
"When we were attacking, they were in their deep defensive zone. They were good at putting their bodies on the line and getting the stick contact.
"They were good at breaking play down and getting numbers behind the ball which made it difficult to get either a short corner or any sort of clear opportunity.”
Mvimbi added that Germany controlled the game and starved South Africa of possession.
"When you get the ball again, you find that you don’t have the same momentum as previously, which makes it a bit tricky to remain focused.
"We have learnt to stay patient, and our build-up was better. We were calmer, but tactically there is still a lot to improve on. It was all in all a more mature performance as a team.
"Once again, we struggled to shut the back door. We cannot be leaking so many goals and need to recover better from our mistakes."