St. Paul’s girls and Whk Gym boys crowned Super League champions

Windhoek Gymnasium’s first team boys pulled off a breath-taking fourth-quarter revival to defeat rival St. Paul’s College 4-2, claiming the NSSU Boys Super League title on Friday night.

Earlier, St. Paul’s College delivered another clinical 6-1 masterclass in the Girls’ Super League final held at the Windhoek Afrikaans Private School hockey grounds (Affies Park).

Gym boys’ unexpected comeback

For three full quarters of the boys' final, the Super League title appeared entirely out of reach for Windhoek Gymnasium. St. Paul’s dominated possession, controlled the midfield tempo, and systematically dismantled Gymnasium's defence to build what looked like a comfortable 2-0 win.

St. Paul's struck first in the 29th minute when Zach Philander slotted home a field goal, before he doubled the lead in the 44th minute by coolly converting a penalty stroke.

Held completely scoreless through the first 45 minutes, Windhoek Gymnasium appeared out of answers, with hope quickly fading heading into the final interval (chukka).

However, to everyone’s amazement, the fourth quarter delivered an extraordinary tactical turnaround. Refusing to concede the title, Gymnasium launched an aggressive full-field push during the final 15 minutes, scoring four unanswered goals in a frantic eight-minute blitz.

Gym captain Enzo Martins ignited the comeback in the 47th minute with a swift field goal. Just seconds later, Carlo Hechter found space in the circle to slot home the 2-2 equaliser in the 48th minute.

Riding on the wave of momentum, Martins dragged home a 51st-minute penalty corner to put Gymnasium ahead for the first time, before Hechter sealed the remarkable 4-2 triumph with his second goal in the 55th minute, completing a legendary comeback under coach Dakota Hansen.

“It was a hard game against Saint Paul’s. Our bodies were still sore from the (semi-final against Affies, two nights before), and we lost momentum in the first and second chukka. But we remembered what our coach told us, ‘We did not come here for nothing ’, and we pushed,” Martins said afterwards.

Saint Paul’s captain, Abraham Graham, commented: “We thought we were on top of it in the last chukka, but we came short in the end. It was a hard fight and I’m proud of my team.”

St. Paul’s dominate Girls’ final

In the earlier girls' Super League final, St. Paul’s College showcased great match fitness and tactical sharpness that carried them to successes in recent cross-border tours to South Africa, where they tested themselves against top-tier opposition.

Translating that high-level international exposure onto the local turf, St. Paul’s asserted immediate dominance. First-half field goals from Abigail Rowles (5th minute), Amaria Hillinger (12th minute), and Lindiwe Ekandjo (19th minute), alongside an 18th-minute short corner strike from Tamara Grögli, propelled St. Paul’s to a commanding 4–0 lead at halftime.

Windhoek Gymnasium pulled one back in the 44th minute when Nicola Fourie converted a short corner, but St. Paul’s skipper Abigail Rowles completed her hat-trick with two pinpoint penalty corner conversions in the 43rd and 55th minutes, locking up the 6-1 victory for coach Shayne Cormack’s team.

Rowles said: “I am so proud of the team, we had quite an amazing score and we could not have done it if not for our amazing coaches.”

Although it was a tough loss for Gymnasium, head coach Kagiso Mosiane handed the Saint Paul’s team the flowers they deserved and expressed that Saint Paul’s team was tactically and clinically the better side.

“They were just the better team and we give that to them. Unfortunately, we are still trying to get ourselves together and learn how to be clinical and tactical inside the circle.”

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