Day 2 of the Belgotex Sport Fairmont Hockey Tournament

Day 2 expectations completely exceeded

Sometimes you go to a restaurant, and you have a meal. Its sensational as it tickles your taste buds, lingers on your lips and maybe even settles on your hips. It’s even inevitable that you may go to sleep at night and dream about that meal, maybe running around a field of baby steaks reminiscing about the meal. You then go back for that meal another time and it just so happens that your expectations are unable to be met. It sometimes happens that the expectation created form your first experience cannot be matched. Of course, that was not the case at day 2 of the Belgotex Sport Fairmont Hockey Tournament as the expectations created from day one was not just lived up to, they were bettered in a quality day of hockey at the Belgotex Arena at Fairmont. 

One of the great things in sport is the derby game. When the likes of Real Madrid take on Barcelona, the Springboks take on the All Blacks, Australia take on the Proteas or SA and Namibia lock horns on an indoor hockey field. Today we got to witness another one of the great derbies as Fairmont and Somerset College took each other on in back-to-back games today. First up were the girls. 

It was Somerset who landed the first punch with a superbly constructed 3-1 victory over the hosts. The game was a fantastic display of end-to-end hockey that started at a pace of a 100m sprinter attempting to break a Marathon record. That pace though did not diminish after the first quarter and in a helter skelter environment it was Somerset that opened the scoring through Jemma Boettger. After overpowering her defender her initial shot was saved and she was able to pick up the pieces and put her team ahead. 

If Somerset were looking to stamp forward their domination, they were met with a team with incredible resilience and should not have been surprised as Fairmont restored parity just 4 minutes later with the talented Emily Bezuidenhout taking advantage of a superbly blown advantage. It was the kind of moment that can swing the momentum of a game remarkably and probably a moment that Fairmont would have liked to use to add to it. They thought they had scored just before half time and then managed to “score” 1 second after the half time whistle. It remained 1-1 at the break and it was Fairmont who would rue those missed opportunities. 

Tessa Wittles took Somerset ahead once again. Some intricate passing in the circle saw Wittles have one of the easier finishes in her career. Despite the best efforts of Fairmont, it was Somerset who had the last laugh with Lauren Venter ramping home the final goal in one can only be called a pulsating fixture that confirmed Somerset College as the tournament favourites. 

The boy’s game between the two rivals produced the same intensity as it felt like a buy-one-get-one-free special was on offer. The Fairmont boys played with a little bit of revenge in their eyes as they emerged victorious in a superb 3-2 victory that put one foot into the final for the host side. 

This game started like a house on fire with Savio Rodrigues opening the scoring in the 3rd minute with an opportunistic strike that caught Somerset napping. Despite looking the more likely side to score, the hosts were pegged back when James Visagie finished off from the penalty corner. 

But in a devastating spell in the fourth quarter Fairmont saw the game into an almost unlosable position. They first took the lead with a pinpoint accurate Kyle Masters Penalty Corner that would make Matt Guise-Brown proud. But the finest moment of the game came shortly after with 7 minutes remaining on the clock. Nathan Hopkins created a pocket of space, ran out of space onto the baseline and then managed to move the ball through the kind of angle that would leave mathematician flustered as he put his hand up for goal of the tournament so far.  

To their credit Somerset continued to show determination and fight and managed to pull one goal back through a Joshua Beart penalty corner. It set up a grandstand finish to the game that Fairmont were able to emerge from unscathed to secure the vital 3 points and the bragging rights. 

Corben O’Ryan, the man of the match from Fairmont in the Somerset match was pumped afterwards:

“It’s been great to be back on the field. The boys have put a great shift. It’s been a while since we have been able to host a tournament and I am incredibly grateful that we have been given the opportunity to play. The games aren’t easy, we must put in a massive effort to win the games, but we love it! I can’t wait for tomorrow!” 

Elsewhere on the day York High School produced a display that took the terminology “bring back the bully” potentially a touch too literally. It was one of the most devastating attacking displays I have seen and kept York’s hopes of a final place alive. Sean Slater, who is a special talent, has now notched 10 goals so far in this tournament and will be centre to York’s hopes of upsetting Fairmont tomorrow. They have a must win game against the currently undefeated Fairmont, where a win will probably be enough to get them into the final regardless of the Somerset results. Head over to the Sportivo app for the logs and the fixtures. 

In the girl’s tournament all eyes will be on Springfield who lost 2-0 to Fairmont with two late goals. They will need to pick up a victory against the Somerset side tomorrow if they are to secure a spot in the final. It promises to be a riveting moving day of action and if one thing we know is true, when Belgotex Sport are involved, promises are not dreams, they are reality. 

You can rewatch all the games from day 1 on the ES Media YouTube page and check in on the Sportivo App.  The Belgotex Fairmont Hockey Tournament, in conjunction with Livingstone Baths, is creating expectations on experience and smashing them out the park.