{"id":5911,"date":"2026-10-11T07:51:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-11T05:51:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/?p=5911"},"modified":"2026-10-11T07:51:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-11T05:51:11","slug":"spar-south-africa-fight-back-to-keep-namibia-series-alive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/11\/spar-south-africa-fight-back-to-keep-namibia-series-alive\/","title":{"rendered":"SPAR South Africa Fight Back to Keep Namibia Series Alive"},"content":{"rendered":"

The SPAR South African Women\u2019s Indoor Hockey team kept their five-match series against Namibia alive with a determined 2\u20131 victory in Saturday evening\u2019s third Test in Windhoek, after narrowly losing the afternoon encounter 4\u20133.<\/span><\/p>\n

Header Image supplied by SA Hockey<\/em><\/p>\n

The results leave Namibia leading the series 2\u20131 heading into Sunday\u2019s final two matches at the Sports Facilitation Centre. South Africa will need to win both remaining Tests to claim the series.<\/span><\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s second Test saw South Africa produce a spirited late fightback after Namibia established a 4\u20131 lead.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jivanka<\/span> Kruger opened the scoring in the second minute before Azaylee Philander doubled Namibia\u2019s advantage from a penalty corner in the 12th. Elizabeth Porter pulled a goal back with a penalty-corner conversion in the 20th minute, leaving South Africa trailing 2\u20131 at halftime.<\/span><\/p>\n

Namibia regained control late in the third quarter. Captain <\/span>Sunelle<\/span> Pretorius scored in the 28th minute before Abigail Rowles converted a penalty corner two minutes later to give the hosts a three-goal cushion.<\/span><\/p>\n

South Africa responded strongly in the final quarter. Edith Molikoe scored from open play in the 33rd minute, and Tegan Fourie converted a penalty stroke in the 37th to reduce the deficit to a single goal. However, Namibia held on to secure their second victory of the series.<\/span><\/p>\n

The evening encounter brought a different outcome as South Africa turned a halftime deficit into their first win of the weekend.<\/span><\/p>\n

Philander marked her 50th international indoor appearance for Namibia, and the hosts took the lead through Rowles in the 15th minute. The opening goal was disputed, with the ball appearing not to have fully crossed the line, but the decision stood and Namibia led 1\u20130 at the break.<\/span><\/p>\n

South Africa\u2019s equaliser arrived in the 24th minute when Anja Tromp converted a penalty corner for her first international indoor goal.<\/span><\/p>\n

Goalkeeper Manisha Desai then made a crucial contribution, saving Philander\u2019s penalty stroke to keep the scores level.<\/span><\/p>\n

Namibia\u2019s discipline proved costly as the hosts accumulated five yellow cards, including two for <\/span>Jahntwa<\/span> Kruger. South Africa also had Tromp temporarily suspended, but Namibia\u2019s repeated suspensions disrupted their efforts during a decisive second half.<\/span><\/p>\n

With three minutes remaining, South Africa moved the ball quickly and worked it to Cerian Fourie, who finished to give the visitors a 2\u20131 lead.<\/span><\/p>\n

Namibia withdrew their goalkeeper for the final two minutes in pursuit of an equaliser, but South Africa held firm to complete the comeback.<\/span><\/p>\n

After two defeats to start the series, the victory gives Calvin Price\u2019s team an opportunity to challenge for the honours on the final day. Tromp\u2019s breakthrough goal, Desai\u2019s important save and Fourie\u2019s late winner ensured there is still everything to play for on Sunday.<\/span><\/p>\n

The final two Tests will be streamed live on Gravity\u2019s YouTube channel.<\/span><\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s results<\/span><\/h4>\n

Test 2: SPAR South Africa 3\u20134 Namibia<\/span>
\n<\/span>South Africa: Elizabeth Porter (20\u2019), Edith Molikoe (33\u2019), Tegan Fourie (37\u2019)<\/span>
\n<\/span>Namibia: <\/span>Jivanka<\/span> Kruger (2\u2019), Azaylee Philander (12\u2019), <\/span>Sunelle<\/span> Pretorius (28\u2019), Abigail Rowles (30\u2019)<\/span><\/p>\n

Test 3: Namibia 1\u20132 SPAR South Africa<\/span>
\n<\/span>South Africa: Anja Tromp (24\u2019), Cerian Fourie (37\u2019)<\/span>
\n<\/span>Namibia: Abigail Rowles (15\u2019)<\/span><\/p>\n

Series score: Namibia lead 2\u20131.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The SPAR South African Women\u2019s Indoor Hockey team kept their five-match series against Namibia alive with a determined 2\u20131 victory in Saturday evening\u2019s third Test Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5913,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[117],"tags":[229],"class_list":["post-5911","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hockey","tag-indoor-hockey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5911","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5911"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5911\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5914,"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5911\/revisions\/5914"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5913"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5911"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}