KNYSNA | BITOU NEWS - After falling out of contention for the 2022 Eden Senior Hockey League title in the semi-finals, Old Oaks Knysna Hockey Club's ladies team bounced back a week later to secure third place while their men's team lost a pulsating clash with Crusaders. 

Plett Hockey Club's ladies meanwhile won their play-off game to finish seventh, with their men finishing sixth.

While the league was shortened by a few weeks, it's been a long and by some measure arduous 2022 season for the Eden Senior Hockey League, having started on 7 May, a full four months ago. 

There was a month-long break in the middle of the season, from 18 June to 30 July, to give the clubs and players a breather ahead of the second half of the season.

But, while some clubs were able to return to the league with a full roster of players in the second half, many struggled to gather the numbers they saw in the first half of the season, which led to a number of fixture cancellations. The 2022 season ultimately had to be shortened and the play-offs had to start sooner than initially planned.

The first round of play-offs took place on 3 September, and Old Oaks' men and ladies bowed out of title contention at the semi-final stage.

Old Oaks ladies

This left the ladies with a game against George Hockey Club for third place and the men with a game against Crusaders, also for third place, both on Saturday 10 September. 

The ladies played at the Knysna High School astro-turf and welcomed back their midfield duo, Donné and Charné de Wet, who had returned from duties with the SA Country Districts team. 

The match got off to a slightly slow start as Old Oaks held a 1-0 lead at the end of the first quarter before they sparked to life in the second and drilled home five goals to go 6-1 ahead at half-time.

In the third quarter, Old Oaks added three to their tally and a further four in the fourth quarter to run out 13-1 victors, securing third place.

Charné left her mark on the game, scoring seven goals, with Christine van der Merwe scoring five and Lily Donnell contributing one.

Old Oaks men

Old Oaks' men's team played Crusaders at Outeniqua High School in George, and faced an uphill battle from the start.

Crusaders sprang into action quicker than their counterparts, taking a 3-0 lead in the first quarter. Old Oaks rallied back, but a goalless second quarter meant the score stood at 3-0 to Crusaders at half-time. The second half was however far more lively, and Old Oaks pulled a goal back to put the score at 3-1.

Crusaders hit back though, to lead 4-1. Old Oaks then netted a further two goals and the score was 4-3 before Crusaders scored their fifth goal. Old Oaks scored one more to set the stage for a nervy finish with the score at 5-4, but that would be the final score as Crusaders finished in third with Old Oaks finishing fourth. 

Jonathan Norval scored a hat trick for Old Oaks while James Chauncey scored one goal.

Plett ladies and men

Plett Hockey Club's ladies faced Wanderers ladies in the seventh place play-off at Knysna High on Saturday. Two goals from Hanlie Roux and one from Camila Bull steered Plett to a 3-0 win to finish in seventh place in their debut season. 

Their men's team ended their first season in sixth place.

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