WHEN I was writing the article on the 2009 WP Men's IPT squads that were named by their provincial selectors recently, it brought back memories of the incredible, excitement, tension and drama of last year's final. This is what makes Men's IPT so special.

Province retain men's hockey title

Heartbreak for Southerns

JONATHAN COOK
in Potchefstroom

THE FINAL – AWESOME

WESTERN Province successfully defended their men's interprovincial hockey crown with a hard-earned 3-2 victory over team-of-the-tournament Southern Gauteng at a noisy Absa NWU-Puk Hockey Stadium in Potchefstroom on Saturday evening.

"We had our chances but I guess we only scored two while they got three. It was a wonderful exhibition of character and fortitude by both sides and perhaps Province's defence and superior experience was the difference, but I must pay tribute to my side for a fine tournament," said Southerns coach Gareth Ewing afterwards.

 "It started tentatively but once the first goal was scored it opened up and became a fight," said WP coach Pierre le Roux. "Our SA players were sick during IPT, Andrew Cronje didn't play today but the guys gusted it out and that was the bottom line.

"Southerns missed chances they put in yesterday and the day before, while our back four were superb today, absolutely superb. It was always going to be a confrontation between their front three and our back four. This year we creaked at the seams a bit - it was easier last year in East London ['Yeah, right Pierre, you guys squeaked home 2-1 against KZN Inland' – JC] but the guys showed wonderful character of purpose to pull through.

The tone was set for a superb final when Southerns goalkeeper Rassie Erasmus showed jaw-dropping anticipation to save from point-blank range after the match's first penalty corner saw a variation left of the castle.

The world's number one umpire John Wright - officiating with the highly experienced Zain McLaren - soon stamped his authority on what was a pressure-cooker clash between two evenly-matched teams when he sin-binned Oliver Whiteley for his horrendous challenge on WP captain Bruce Jacobs.

 WP opened the scoring after eight minutes via a free-hit deflection goal by Matthew McConkey but underdogs Southerns hit back two minutes later through exceptional central midfielder Dylan Coombes and went ahead with a superlative Thornton McDade solo effort soon after.

 Turning around 2-1 to the good, Southerns – with one current SA player going to the Four Nations in Beijing Monday to Western Province's five - were in with a shout of dethroning the defending champs, particularly when the elusive McDade maintained the trend and forced another save out of Province's in-form goalkeeper Rudi Huysamen. But at the other end WP signalled they wouldn't abdicate without a fight and a certain goal was cleared off the line. Then another McConkey deflection from a right side free-hit once again set the finalists on even terms.

 With moments of doubt creeping in, Southerns started rushing things but in-form left half Ricky West pulled it together with a left-right diagonal overhead superbly trapped in mid-air by the highly talented Barry-John Wilson and laid off to Lloyd Norris-Jones, the striker doing well to get in a shot that blazed over the bar.

The great ball skills of hit-man Ian Haley – unfortunately so rare amongst frontrunners at this IPT - put the Capetonians back in front with 14 left – a goal that eventually proved to be the winner in a high-octane showdown - and another golden opportunity went a-begging for WP as they started dominating possession and territory. Then Malcolm's Arguile's fruitful foray along the left-side baseline should have been finished off by McDade, and the grip slipped further when the skilful Coombes was sent to the bin by Wright after a clumsy challenge.

 It looked worse after a hard-won PC saw arch-flicker West's effort slide past the near post, and the eventual final hooter signalled WP's deserved retention of their title – if only for the way the more experienced side handled the pressure.

Province skipper Bruce Jacobs duly accepted the Men's IPT Shield from outstanding SAHA president Dave Carr, who has brought exceptional administrative skills to SA hockey, and the raucous WP supporters paid honour to their champion team.

The quality of this final was also a tribute to a pair of exceptional young South Africans – WP coach Pierre le Roux and his Southerns counterpart Gareth Ewing.

Long may they remain at the service of SA hockey.

AND THE REST – EQUALLY AWESOME!!

IN the classification matches [this year, 2009, it's a Top 8 team race for the Men's IPT Shield and then a B, or second division, Section – JC] Namibia had reason to rejoice for missing out on the wooden spoon and earned just reward for their spirited perseverance when they drew 2-2 in regulation time and went on to win the penalty-stroke shootout 4-3 over EP Settlers.

Positions nine and 10 saw a clear-cut winner in captain Morgan Poole's unlucky WP Peninsula combination, who outplayed KZN Mynahs to win 5-1, Kevin Haigh continuing his prolific goalscoring form with a brace.

And in what was something of a surprise considering their disappointing defeat by five goals at the hands of the excellent North West team on Friday, KZN Midlands dug deep to come back from a 1-0 deficit at half-time to beat Eastern Province 2-1. Defender Jethro Eustice was outstanding and Midlands deserved seventh place on this gutsy performance.

The battle for fifth spot was an absorbing affair between outstanding coach [now coaching the Ireland men's team – JC] Paul Revington's North West team – apart from the IPT finalists the success story of the tournament – and SA U21 coach Kurt Cerfontyne's talented national juniors. The host province were full value for their 2-0 victory, with a pair of superbly struck field goals [by Darren Bezuidenhout and Conradie van Staden – JC] the cherry on the top.

Despite the 4-1 scoreline, the entertaining match for third place between Durban's KZN Raiders and Pretoria's Northerns Blues wasn't all one-way traffic. The difference was, Raiders made their circle entries count while the Blues frittered away a number of gilt-edged opportunities. Lungi Tsolekile, as in the epic semi-final won 17-16 (well after dark – JC) by WP in a penalty-stroke shootout – arguably the longest in history – was outstanding for the Blues, and this augurs well for the national team's trip [a Beijing Olympics warm-up tour – JC] to Beijing that sees them fly out Monday.

His fellow SA striker, Geoff Abbott of Raiders, continued with the encouraging form he had shown prior to - and during - IPT while another national striker, Abbott's SA and provincial team-mate Marvin Harper, was brilliant in parts. And a man desperately unlucky not to be going on the trip to Beijing, SA left half Gareth Carr, reinforced his value to Raiders and the national team once again.

2008 MEN'S IPT FINAL RESULTS AND CLASSIFICATION

 Positions 11 and 12: Namibia (0) 2 (Hendrik Swartbooi 2) EP Settlers (0) 2 (Jeremy Smith, Caleb Syce). Namibia won penalty-stroke shootout 4-3. (9/10): WP Peninsula (2) 5 (Hedley Gerhardt, Kevin Haigh 2, Anthony Weinberg, Kieron Johnson) KZN Mynahs (0) 1 (Dutchy Olivier). (7/8): KZN Midlands (0) 2 (Harry Shaw, PG Geldenhuys) Eastern Province (1) 1 (Damian Benjamin). (5/6): North West (2) 2 (Darren Bezuidenhout, Conradie van Staden) SA U21 (0) 0. (3/4) KZN Raiders (1) 4 (Mondli Dlamini, Geoff Abbott 2, Gareth Carr) Northerns Blues (1) 1 (Vaughn Erasmus).

FINAL! Western Province (1) 3 (Matthew McConkey 2, Ian Haley) Southern Gauteng (2) 2 (Dylan Coombes, Thornton McDade).