South Africa’s (SA) men’s hockey team wrapped up their five-match test series against Malaysia in style, turning on the fireworks in the final clash to run out comfortable 5-2 winners and seal the series 3-0.
It was Malaysia who actually opened the scoring through a Syed Cholan penalty corner, but the home side didn’t panic. Kenton Melville quickly levelled matters before popping up with two more goals to bag his first-ever international hat-trick. It is a massive milestone for the forward, who becomes the first SA men’s player to score a hat-trick since Mustapha Cassiem’s heroics at last year’s AFCON final.
Ayakha Mthlane and Carlon Mentoor also got themselves on the scoresheet to put the game completely out of reach and ensure the hosts finished the entire series unbeaten. Amani Rozemi managed to grab a late consolation goal for the visitors, but it did little to spoil the SA party.
Unsurprisingly, Melville walked away with the Player of the Match award after a brilliant shift on the turf, putting the perfect finishing touch on a dominant couple of weeks for the national side.
–ChannelAfrica–
