{"id":5915,"date":"2026-10-12T06:00:01","date_gmt":"2026-10-12T04:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/?p=5915"},"modified":"2026-10-12T06:00:01","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T04:00:01","slug":"spar-south-africa-complete-fightback-to-share-namibia-series","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/12\/spar-south-africa-complete-fightback-to-share-namibia-series\/","title":{"rendered":"SPAR South Africa Complete Fightback to Share Namibia Series"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"s6\"><span class=\"s5\">The SPAR South African Women\u2019s Indoor Hockey team completed their recovery from two matches down to share the five-match series against Namibia, winning Sunday morning\u2019s fourth Test 2\u20131 before a dramatic 4\u20134 draw in the final encounter in Windhoek.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>Image supplied by SA Hockey<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"s6\"><span class=\"s5\">Tegan Fourie played a decisive role in both matches, scoring the winner in the morning and completing a hat-trick with a late equaliser in the afternoon. The series finished level at two victories apiece, with one drawn Test.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s6\"><span class=\"s5\">Having kept the series alive with Saturday evening\u2019s 2\u20131 victory, South Africa entered Sunday needing another win to force a deciding fifth Test.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s6\"><span class=\"s5\">After a goalless opening quarter, Edith Molikoe converted a penalty corner in the 12th minute to give the visitors the lead. South Africa carried that 1\u20130 advantage into halftime, the first time in the series they had reached the interval ahead.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s6\"><span class=\"s5\">Namibia responded through Gillian Hermanus, whose penalty-corner goal in the 23rd minute restored parity. Neither team scored again before the final quarter, leaving South Africa needing a breakthrough to retain their chance of claiming the series.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s6\"><span class=\"s5\">It arrived through Tegan Fourie in the 33rd minute. Her penalty-corner conversion restored South Africa\u2019s lead, and the visitors held on to secure a second successive 2\u20131 victory and level the series at 2\u20132.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s6\"><span class=\"s5\">The final Test then delivered eight goals and repeated changes in momentum as both teams pursued the deciding victory.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s6\"><span class=\"s5\">Azaylee Philander gave Namibia an early lead with a field goal in the third minute, before Tegan Fourie converted a penalty corner in the eighth to bring South Africa level.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s6\"><span class=\"s5\">Ottilie Hinda restored Namibia\u2019s advantage in the 15th minute, leaving the hosts 2\u20131 ahead at halftime and South Africa once again needing to respond.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s6\"><span class=\"s5\">An eventful third quarter transformed the contest. Tegan Fourie converted a penalty stroke in the 25th minute to level the scores, before Cerian Fourie struck from a penalty corner three minutes later to put South Africa ahead for the first time.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s6\"><span class=\"s5\">The advantage lasted only a minute. Philander converted a penalty corner in the 29th minute for her second goal, bringing Namibia level at 3\u20133 heading into the final quarter.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s6\"><span class=\"s5\">Jivanka<\/span><span class=\"s5\"> Kruger then scored from open play in the 33rd minute to put the hosts back in front. With Namibia leading 4\u20133 late in the match, South Africa needed one more response to avoid defeat.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s6\"><span class=\"s5\">Tegan Fourie supplied it. Her penalty-corner goal in the 39th minute completed her hat-trick and secured the 4\u20134 draw, ensuring the series ended with honours shared.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s6\"><span class=\"s5\">Fourie finished the weekend with five goals, including four across Sunday\u2019s two matches. South Africa ended the series unbeaten in the final three Tests, having recovered from a 3\u20130 opening defeat and a narrow 4\u20133 loss in the second encounter.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s6\"><span class=\"s5\">For Calvin Price\u2019s team, the weekend provided valuable international experience, including debuts for Jehan Abrahams, Anja Tromp, Jodie Blows and Manisha Desai. Their introduction, alongside the contributions of the experienced core, added to a determined team response that brought South Africa back into the series.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s3\"><span class=\"s4\">Sunday\u2019s results<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s3\"><span class=\"s5\">Test 4: Namibia 1\u20132 SPAR South Africa<\/span><span class=\"s5\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span class=\"s5\">South Africa: Edith Molikoe (12\u2019, PC), Tegan Fourie (33\u2019, PC)<\/span><span class=\"s5\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span class=\"s5\">Namibia: Gillian Hermanus (23\u2019, PC)<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s3\"><span class=\"s5\">Test 5: SPAR South Africa 4\u20134 Namibia<\/span><span class=\"s5\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span class=\"s5\">South Africa: Tegan Fourie (8\u2019, PC; 25\u2019, PS; 39\u2019, PC), Cerian Fourie (28\u2019, PC)<\/span><span class=\"s5\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span class=\"s5\">Namibia: Azaylee Philander (3\u2019, FG; 29\u2019, PC), Ottilie Hinda (15\u2019, FG), <\/span><span class=\"s5\">Jivanka<\/span><span class=\"s5\"> Kruger (33\u2019, FG)<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s3\"><span class=\"s4\">Final series result: Two wins each and one draw.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The SPAR South African Women\u2019s Indoor Hockey team completed their recovery from two matches down to share the five-match series against Namibia, winning Sunday morning\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/12\/spar-south-africa-complete-fightback-to-share-namibia-series\/\" class=\"btn btn-link continue-link\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5916,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[117],"tags":[229],"class_list":["post-5915","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\/5915","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=5915"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5915\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5917,"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5915\/revisions\/5917"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5915"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5915"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5915"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}