THAHIR ASMAL
in Durban

Brothers Sport Braves beat iTrainer Warriors1-0 in the opening match of the EagleTurf All Stars Men's Hockey Series featuring South Africa's top 30 players at Riverside Sports Club in Durban North Friday night.

Craig Haley netted the match-winning strike in the 13th minute via a penalty stroke.

Game two is at Kearsney College in Hillcrest, Durban at 7 pm on Monday night and the 360 SA U18 Boys' Interprovincial Tournament hockey players participating at the school during the week are sure to be in for a treat.

Friday night's clash at Riverside was the first of a four-match contest that coincides with a national training camp.

On an unusually cold evening on the east coast, it was the Warriors who created the first real opening with captain Justin Reid-Ross seeing his penalty corner shot fly centimetres wide.

The Braves had to wait nine minutes for their first chance, but Gowan  Jones showed excellent reflexes to keep the score at 0-0.

However, the goalkeeper could do little to prevent the solitary goal that came in the 13th minute when Haley lifted his PS into the top
right-hand corner.

The game continued to be evenly contested, though, with Reid-Ross drawing a fine save from Vincent Prior in the 28th minute, before
Pierre de Voux and Tim Drummond combined nicely on the right flank, only to find no support in front of goal as another half-chance went begging.

It was 1-0 at the break and just after the restart, replacement goalkeeper Jacques le Roux did splendidly to keep the score that way
by tipping Ryan Fensham’s shot over the crossbar with his right hand.

The Braves continued their dominance, which seemed to frustrate the Warriors as Reid-Ross was green carded for a foul on Lloyd Madsen.

Midway through the second period, the Warriors looked to be getting more into the game, but they struggled to create clear-cut  openings despite having a one-man advantage for a few minutes when Nick Gonsalves was green-carded.

Play was held up for five minutes just after the hour mark when Madsen went down after falling awkwardly in a challenge – the defender
injuring his back in the process.

With time running out, key defender and penalty corner exponent Reid-Ross was yellow carded, ending any chance of a comeback for the tireless Warriors.