Goal fest for the Netherlands but South Africa put up fight

Two goals from Robbert Kemperman and wave after wave of orange attacks on their goal was enough to consign South Africa to a 7-1 defeat. But the Lads did not go down without a fight and, while an upset was never really on the cards, the Netherlands still had to work hard against a stubborn resistance to ensure their fourth win and a massive goal advantage over the other teams in their pool.

Robbert Kemperman crossed the ball and Seve van Ass was one of a bevy of players waiting to mop up. His shot flew past the 'keeper Erasmus Pieterse. On 10 minutes Valentin Verga picked up the ball, again from the ubiquitous Kemperman, and slammed it with a reverse stick shot to double the Dutch lead. 

South Africa didn't sit back and soak up the pressure, but rather the team known as The Lads continued to try to break down Dutch play and create their own chances. Unfortunately, this left the field wide open for counter-attacks and the home team scored twice more before the half-time whistle. Jeroen Hertzberger (23') scored from a penalty corner – a smartly taken drag-flick – and then Kemperman (33') netted his first goal. 

The glorious thing about the top teams at this tournament is the desire to keep pushing home their advantage. Just when it would have been easy for the Netherlands to sit back and save their players for the next game, the Oranje turned up the pressure and scored two more goals in quick succession. First, Kemperman (38') secured his second with a wonderfully taken shot that lodged in the roof of Pieterse's goal; and then a strike from Billy Bakker  (41') that was a perfect example of first-time shooting. 

South Africa came back at the Netherlands through Lloyd Norris-Jones, his shot forced a save from Jaap Stockmann, and once again it was obvious that the South Africans had come to play hockey. Pieterse led from the back, his ability between the sticks tested to the full as he pulled off two tremendous saves from 

The Netherlands changed their 'keeper with 15 minutes left and Pirmin Blaak proved that he is an able replacement for Stockman, as he pulled off two top draw saves from Justin Reid-Ross penalty corners. 

The fighting spirit of the Lads paid off when Reid-Ross's (61') third penalty corner flew into the top corner of the Netherlands goal and for a second even the capacity crowd was silenced. This was a temporary set-back to the Oranje as Sander Baart made it a super seven with his well-taken goal in the 64th minute.

The result leaves the Netherlands top of the group, courtesy of a better goal rate than Argentina. South Africa are bottom of the pool on one point.

"The connections between the guys from the Netherlands and Australia is so good because the players have so much opportunity to play and train together. Those teams are head and shoulders above the rest. We worked hard and put in a lot of energy, but they were much stronger than us."

Official Match Report (PDF)