The SPAR South African Women’s Indoor Hockey team completed their fightback from two matches down with a 2–1 victory over Namibia in the fourth Test in Windhoek on Sunday morning, levelling the five-match series at 2–2.
Penalty-corner goals from Edith Molikoe and Tegan Fourie secured South Africa’s second successive victory, with Gillian Hermanus scoring Namibia’s equaliser in another closely contested encounter between the continental rivals.
Having lost the opening Test 3–0 and the second 4–3, South Africa entered Saturday evening’s third match needing a victory to keep the series alive. That comeback win gave Calvin Price’s team an opportunity to draw level on Sunday, and they took it to ensure that the series would be settled in the fifth and final Test.
After a goalless opening quarter, South Africa made the breakthrough in the 12th minute. Molikoe converted a penalty corner to put the visitors ahead, scoring her second goal of the series after finding the net in Saturday afternoon’s second Test.
It was a significant change in the pattern of the weekend. Namibia had led at halftime in each of the first three encounters, but South Africa reached the interval with a 1–0 advantage this time.
The hosts responded early in the third quarter. Hermanus converted a penalty corner in the 23rd minute to restore parity, bringing Namibia back into a match in which victory would have secured them the series.
Neither side could add another goal before the end of the quarter, leaving the teams locked at 1–1 with ten minutes remaining. South Africa needed to find a winner to retain the possibility of claiming the series, while Namibia were looking to halt the visitors’ recovery.
For the second successive match, South Africa delivered the decisive goal in the final quarter.
Fourie converted a penalty corner in the 33rd minute to restore the lead. Her strike followed Cerian Fourie’s late winner in the third Test and once again left South Africa defending a narrow advantage through the closing stages.
A green card for Malikah Hamza in the 37th minute added a late challenge, but the visitors conceded no further goals and held on to complete another important victory.
All three goals came from penalty corners, underlining the value of taking those opportunities in a match decided by fine margins. For South Africa, two successful conversions provided the difference after their difficulties in front of goal earlier in the series.
The result continued an increasingly tight contest: each of the last three Tests had been decided by a single goal. Namibia’s strong opening had been matched by South Africa’s response, leaving the teams level on victories and setting up a deciding fifth Test.
