ATLASVILLE, SOUTH AFRICA – On Sunday 23rd August 2010 the Pretoria Warriors took on the Western Wildcats in their 4th meeting of the season and a match once again pitting the two brothers Ashley Bock and Gary Bock in opposite nets. The Warriors were triumphant in this meeting taking the head to head tally to 3-1 against their rivals; they still have 2 more meetings before the SA Championships take place on the weekend of 24th September to 27th September 2010 in Pretoria, South Africa.
The game started off lively with the Warriors captain Andre Marais having a break away within in the first 3 minutes of the game. He picked the puck up off a long pass from Jacques Booysen and skated down on Gary Bock the wildcats netminder, he was up to the challenge though and robbed Marais with a great glove save.
Within the next minute the Warriors had their second opportunity with their playmaker Zayne Du Plessis controlling the puck behind the Wildcats net, he sent out a pass to the left hash-mark and Marais fired a one time shot which was saved by G. Bock again with his glove hand.
The first period saw a lot of action but more so down the Wildcats end. When the Wildcats first line of Jack Valadas, Chris Engelbrecht and George Lyon found some momentum their efforts were haltered either by the shots been blocked by Warriors defence or the pucks missing the net. Eventually when they had their first scoring opportunity on the Warriors net, their netminder Ashley Bock was up to the task.
With 18:00 minutes on the clock, Valadas broke down the right of the rink and tried to stop and step inside the defenceman, unfortunately he slipped and lost control of the puck, thus giving the Warriors their opportunity for an odd man rush. The defence made a pass to Marais who broke in with his left wing Warwick Du Preez on a 2-on-1. Marais faked the shot and made a pass across to Du Preez who got the slightest of touches and created a deflection which beat the Sprawling G. Bock. First Period was 1-0 to Warriors.
The second period begun much the same as the first with the Warriors controlling the game. Within the first 5 minutes the Wildcats had a penalty which they successfully killed off with G. Bock taking a bit of a battering. As the play resumed to 5-on-5 the Warriors gained control in the zone and Marais made a back door pass to Jacques Booysen, who gave G. Bock no chance on getting across; he tapped it in for a 2-0 lead.
At 13:59, once again the Warriors playmaker maestro, Zayne Du Plessis took the puck into the corner and cycled it with Marias and Booysen, Booysen slipped to the front of the net and was picked up but Marais was left all alone. He stepped out of the cycle and picked the puck up which he fired past a screen of the massive Warriors defenceman, Joe Olivier who is an unmoveable force in front of net. G. Bock could not see a thing and tried to find the puck but as he moved to right to open his view up, Marais fired a quick snap shot into the topshelf over the netminders glove.
2nd Period ended 3-0.
Wildcats came out in the third period with a vengeance but could not beat A. Bock. Once again he faltered the attempts on his net and his defence were putting their bodies on the line blocking shots.
A penalty at 9:20 in for the Wildcats meant they were once again short handed. They opted to use their second penalty killing line against the Warriors first Power Play unit. Zayne Du Plessis once again controlled the puck in the corner with his pin point turns and immaculate control of the puck, Marias who had snuck in from the point was left all alone right in front in high slot, he called for the puck and received in duly from Du Plessis, he then let a mighty wrist shot go which went into top corner over G. Bocks’ blocker.
The last few minutes turned into a shooting frenzy but G. Bock, held his ground to keep the score respectable considering his team did not have one of their better games of the season.
The score ended 4-0.
The Wildcats had a few stand-out players in the game and those were Ian Ashworth, who is a workhorse and never gives up, their Captain Jack Valadas and their little playmaker Chris Engelbrecht.
The Warriors players who deserve a metion are Defenceman Joe Olivier, Playmaker Zayne Du Plessis, Young gun Warwick Du Preez and the seniors on their team Alan Verwey and Jacques Booysen.
Players of the match for each team were:
Warriors: Andre Marais F
Wildcats: Gary Bock GK
Their next match is this coming Sunday, 29th August at 17:00 in Pretoria.
Hopefully the Wildcats return with a renewed spirit.
Contact: Gary.Bock@prohockeynews.com
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