South Africa

Star striker Pietie Coetzee could be out of the Spar Interprovincial women's hockey tournament.

The Southern Gauteng vice-captain did not play in her side's 4-0 victory over Northerns on Tuesday after injuring her knee on Monday while playing against the SA Junior side.

And on Tuesday she confirmed she could well have played her last match in the tournament. "I slid on the pitch and hyper-extended my knee," she explained. "The turf is very, very slippery and I think everyone has been struggling."

Coetzee suffered a similar injury two years ago when playing for South Africa against Scotland. "The last time I was out for eight weeks but I don't think it's as bad this time," she said.

'I don't think it's as bad this time'
"It's basically a bone bruise which is like a broken bone so that's at least six weeks out. I would like to think this isn't the end of my tournament but technically I think it is."

Coetzee said with the Southerns bench looking fairly bare, she was still hoping to be able to help out in the team, even if it was just to run on the pitch to take penalty corners. "I'm hoping that by the end of the week the swelling would have gone down and I'll be able to play."

In spite of Coetzee's absence, Southerns had no problem overcoming Northerns on Tuesday. A slick Southerns' performance saw them score first in the 32nd minute when Marice Malan netted a field goal, and two minutes later Nita van Jaarsveld's rebound shot from a penalty corner.

Then national striker Tsoanelo Pholo did a great job taking on Coetzee's role, scoring twice in the second half, both from penalty corners, for a comfortable 4-0 victory.

Defending champions Western Province remain the only team not to have conceded a goal at this tournament so far after beating Witwatersrand 4-0.

The SA Junior outfit continued their good run beating Peninsula 6-0 while there was more of a battle earlier between Mynahs and Midlands, the latter winning 4-3. And in the other matches of the day, Eastern Province defeated Free State 4-1 and KwaZulu-Natal and North West played to a 1-1 draw.

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