ATLASVILLE, SOUTH AFRICA – Sunday the 29th August 2010 saw the Western Wildcats take on the Pretoria Warriors in a rematch from the previous week.
After going down 4-0 last week, the Wildcats worked on a few things at training with their new coach Nicky Beukes. As an international referee he has officiated at many world championships and he also played hockey for South Africa in his younger years, so he brings a lot of experience to the table.
Once again the two massive Bock brothers were in net for the teams. Ashley who stands at 6’9 (2.02m) and Gary who stands a little bit shorter at 6’7 (1.98m).
With the South African championships approaching, the players from each team need to start showing what they are capable of to be selected to represent the province. After a dismal performance last week by the Wildcats, their first line on Chris Engelbrecht, George Lyon and Jack Valadas showed why they are a formidable force within South African Hockey. Right from the first face off, they looked completely different players from last week controlling the game. The Warriors first line of Andre Marais, Zayne Du Plessis and Warwick Du Preez were kept quiet, as the Defence from Wildcats figured out how to slow down the little playmaker, Du Plessis. The first period was full of end to end action with neither G. Bock or A. Bock been beaten at either end. A couple of big hits at either end by the defence men made it a hard hitting game and the period ended 0-0.
The second period started much the same as the first, the Wildcats duo of Engelbrecht and Valadas applied the fore-check, turned the puck over and this resulted in a penalty been drawn. With a much improved power play with Valadas dropping back to the point with Ryan Marsh, this allowed for the two hardest workers and playmakers on the team, Engelbrecht and Ian Ashworth to pair up with Lyon up front. This seemed to work as within the first minute they had a great opportunity. Ashworth and Engelbrecht cycled the puck in the corner, the puck was carried out by Ashworth who hit Lyon at the backdoor with a great pass. A. Bock made a fantastic post to post butterfly slide and shut the door on Lyon. The deadlock was eventually broken though at 08:50 into the second with the Warriors breaking in down the right, the wing took a shot on G. Bock which seemed harmless, but it butterflied on him, as he went down in a half butterfly to cover his near post, the puck struck his upper thigh and slipped through his legs into the net. 1-0 to the Warriors.
This seemed to spur the Wildcats into action once again and not long after Valadas answered back with a goal of his own and the scores were tied at 1-1. With 20seconds left in the second period the Wildcats won the face-off in their own end and a great breakout pass from Justin Harman to Valadas sent him down the left wing, he took the puck wide, turned on the gas and beat the defence on the outside, stepped across the goals, but A. Bock denied his effort, Valadas picked up his own rebound and with 2 second left put the puck in to make it 2-1 for the Wildcats. End of the period the Wildcats had a lead.
This spurred a few new feelings of anger within the Warriors camp as this was a position they haven’t found themselves in for a long time. They came out fighting in the third period but found a reluctant defence for the Wildcats and G. Bock stood firm and saved a few great chances from the Warriors. With 10 minutes left on the clock, A. Bock pulled off a few great saves but the puck found its way into the back of the net. The refs converged to discuss as one disallowed the goal and the other allowed it. Thanks to the honesty of Wildcats forward, Engelbrecht, who admitted the puck was kicked, the goal was disallowed. This kept the score at 2-1. With 7 minutes left the Warriors forward, Warwick Du Preez took a 10+2 for butt-ending. With the Wildcats pushing for a goal to make it 3-1, Warriors Captain, Andre Marais got a break, Valadas, who was on point at that time, found himself on defence, a very unfamiliar position for the left wing; he let Marais make the first move and poke checked the puck, Marais took a 2 minute roughing penalty for throwing a punch at Valadas after they came out of the corner. With 2 minutes left in the game and Wildcats on the power play, the Wildcats wing Martin Combrink took an elbowing penalty which made the last 2 minutes a 4 on 4. Wildcats held solid and the game ended 2-1 in favour of the Wildcats.
A well deserved victory and a completely different team showed up on the night from the week before.
Stars of the match were:
Warriors: Ashley Bock GK
Wildcats: Gary Bock GK
Next match for the Wildcats sees them taking on the Scorpions on Monday 6th September 2010.
Due to some unforseen circumstance the National Championships which were scheduled to take place over the weekend of 24th to 27th September have been postponed and will now take place over the weekend of the 8th to 10th September.
Keep an eye out for this as it’s sure to bring a lot of excitement to Johannesburg and will be very competitive.
Contact Gary.Bock@prohockeynews.com
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