The second day of the SA Hockey IPT B Section produced another compelling day of action at The Hockey Farm in Emalahleni, with North West B and SACD maintaining their perfect starts in the women’s tournament while the battle for the two places in the men’s final intensified.
North West B delivered the most emphatic performance of the day, defeating the KZN Mynahs 5–0 to move to the top of the women’s standings. North West made their intentions clear from the outset, opening the scoring through Horton in the seventh minute. Kelly doubled the advantage just three minutes later before Van Jaarsveld added a third in the 17th minute.
The pressure continued after the interval, with Nel finding the back of the net in the 33rd minute. Kelly then completed her brace six minutes later to seal a commanding victory.
The result moved North West B onto six points with an impressive goal difference of plus seven after two matches.
SACD ensured they remained level on points with the leaders after overcoming hosts Mpumalanga 2–0 in the second women’s match. Mpumalanga produced a determined defensive performance and kept the Country Districts side scoreless throughout the opening half. The breakthrough eventually arrived just before the end of the third quarter when Mothupi found the back of the net.
With Mpumalanga continuing to search for their first points of the tournament, February secured the result for SACD with a second goal in the 58th minute. SACD have now recorded consecutive 2–0 victories and sit second on the standings.
The men’s competition delivered three closely contested encounters, beginning with North West’s thrilling 3–2 victory over the KZN Mynahs.
After a goalless opening quarter, Bhavesh Naicker broke the deadlock for North West in the 25th minute. Koloti doubled the lead four minutes later before Van Wyk added a third in the 37th minute, seemingly putting North West in complete control. The Mynahs refused to surrender and launched a spirited fightback during the final quarter. Thusi pulled one back in the 51st minute before scoring again six minutes later to set up a dramatic finish.
North West held firm through the closing moments to secure their first victory of the tournament and move onto four points following their opening-day draw with SACD.
The SG Nuggets followed their victory over Mpumalanga with another narrow win, defeating SACD 3–2 in a match filled with momentum swings. Fredericks gave the Nuggets the perfect start by opening the scoring in the fifth minute. SACD responded impressively, turning the match around with two goals in two minutes through Prins and Van der Linde in the 27th and 28th minutes respectively.
The Nuggets regained control after the interval when Rosenberg levelled the scores in the 39th minute. Fredericks then struck for the second time in the 47th minute, completing his brace and securing another important victory for the Johannesburg side.
With two wins from two matches, the SG Nuggets moved to the top of the men’s standings on six points and strengthened their push for a place in the final.
The KZN Mynahs returned to the turf for the final match of the day and bounced back from their narrow defeat to North West with a hard-fought 1–0 victory over hosts Mpumalanga. The match remained goalless through the opening three quarters as both sides searched for their first victory of the tournament. The decisive moment arrived in the 46th minute when Smith found the breakthrough for the Mynahs.
Mpumalanga pushed for an equaliser, but the KZN defence protected its slender advantage to secure three valuable points.
With only the top two men’s teams advancing to the final and the women’s semi-final positions still to be determined, the race for promotion to the 2027 SA Hockey IPT A Section is beginning to take shape in Emalahleni.
SA Hockey IPT B Section – Day 2 Results
SA Hockey IPT B Section – Day 3 Fixtures
10:00 – Women – North West B vs. SACD
12:00 – Men – SACD vs. KZN Mynahs
14:00 – Women – Mpumalanga vs. KZN Mynahs
16:00 – Men – Mpumalanga vs. North West
