NAMIBIA got off to a great start in their school boy hockey test series against Zimbabwe winning both their matches in convincing fashion at the WHS field on Thursday night.
Namibia u16 beat Zimbabwe u16 4-1 in the opening match of the series while Namibia u18 turned on the style to beat Zimbabwe 5-0 in the second match.
In the u16 encounter Namibia took an early lead through Henco Rieckert and although Zimbabwe did most of the attacking they couldn’t find the net.
In the second half Zimbabwe opened their account through Andrew Simon Marchussen but Namibia finished stronger and two goals by captain Nico Neethling and a second for Rieckert saw them completing a comprehensive victory.
In the u18 match Namibia gave an impressive performance to run out 5-0 winners after leading 5-0 at half time.
Liam Hermanus had a great game, scoring a hat-trick while Cody van der Merwe scored two goals.
Hermanus opened the scoring on 11 minutes, deflecting a cross by Van der Merwe into the net and two minutes later the roles changed as Van der Merwe deflected Hermanus’s shot in.
Zimbabwe had more of the possession in the first half, with Tatenda Kanyangarara and Greg Sprake coming close, but on the whole they were kept in check by Petrus Theron and captain Nico Jacobs in Namibia’s defence.
In the second half Namibia increased the tempo and Hermanus put them 3-0 ahead when he pounced onto a loose ball to score in the box, while two goals from short corners Hermanus and Van der Merwe sealed an impressive win for Namibia.
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