Netherlands’ women thrash Investec South Africa: Women Hockey Recap
Netherlands thrashed Investec South Africa by six goals, 8-2 in the first Test that took place on June 14, in Amsterdam. It was the best show from Netherlands, which is also the defending Olympic Champion.
The only cheering moment for South Africans was when Pietie Coetzee notched her 216th goal of her professional career. The South African player is just five goals away to beat the world record of Natella Krasnikova, the Russian hockey player. Coetzee, so far, has scored 216 goals in 220 games.
Both the teams looked aggressive from the start of the game. It was South Africa that drew the first blood in the very first minute of the game. With 16 seconds into the first half of play, Jen Wilson deflected a pass from Tarryn Bright and unleashed a powerful shot into the Dutch goal. However, this goal fuel aggression for the home side which ruined the defence-line of South Africa and scored five goals in the first 35 minutes of play.
Following the opening goal, the South African side was facing enormous pressure from the opposite side. The Dutch women carried out back-to-back strikes. Marilyn Agliotti managed to take the ball at the top of the circle and struck a powerful shot that moved comfortably into the net to level the scores at 1-1. Mariette Rix, the custodian from South Africa, did not have a chance to stop the ball.
In the later time, Kim Lammers scored a classical goal from the field to take the lead for the Netherlands. Eva de Goede scored a couple of goals to put her team ahead on the scoreboard. The South African side though received a short-corner, but they failed to avail the opportunity. A well-coordinated shot went over the bar that could have boosted the spirit of the South African players.
Kim Lammers and Maartjie Pauman added one goal each and expanded the lead up to four goals after the first half of play.
However, Giles Bonnet, the coach of the South Africa, changed the playing style of his squad in the second half that helped them to reduce the scoring. They fought brilliantly in the second period and scored a single goal, while restricting the scoring of Netherlands for only three goals.
In the second half of play Claire Verhage and Agliotti scored two and one goal respectively, and expanded the lead of up to seven goals. In the dying moments of the game, Coetzee scored her 216th goal but unfornately South Africa lost by 8-2.
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