Despite the early advantage being with the Tuks second team men, the UJ team overcame the youthful red socks with an exciting come from behind victory, defeating the Tuks boys 3-2 after trailing 2-0.

The Ladies first team were keen to build on the recent success they have enjoyed over UJ in past two intervarsity fixtures and certainly did not disappoint. A well deserved 5–1 victory to the Tuks ladies truly stamped their authority on this fixture and again proved that the Tuks girls are fast becoming the national force they should be.

Possibly the most impressive attribute was the pace with which the Tuks girls attacked, continuously putting the much vaunted UJ defensive unit under pressure and this pressure ultimately led to a flood of goals being conceded by the visitors.

Sammy-Jane Prost scoring twice and Nici Terreblanche, Dirkie Chamberlain and Tarryn ‘T-bone’ Moses each netting once for the Tuks girls.

Sanani Mangisa was superb in goals for the Tuks ladies and once again led the team with the professionalism one has come to associate with her.

The Tuks men have failed to beat UJ in the last couple of years and were keen to turn the tables on their Gauteng rivals.

The Tuks boys will be disappointed with the way they started the game and although they created a few good opportunities in the first half, generally it was a lethargic performance by the Tuks men and this saw them trail 2-0 at half-time, with UJ capitalising on some defensive lapses by the Tuks boys.

The Tuks boys came out firing in the second half and dominated proceedings, with the pressure leading to the Tukkies pulling a goal back after some great work in the D by Mike Sykes.

The Tuks boys drew level a few minutes later, following a great counter-attack which culminated in godfather Ratzy netting one past the UJ keeper.

The last few minutes were frantic attack as both teams probed for a winner, but despite Tuks having arguably the more assertive attacking opportunities in the closing exchanges, UJ capitalised on a break away, finding a striker unmarked on far post to pop the ball in for a third goal with 2 minutes to go.

It was a tightly fought battle, which was a great spectacle for the crowd, however the Tuks boys will feel they let an opportunity go by to get one over their neighbours.

The evening was a brilliant affair and it was good to see the number of supporters and hockey enthusiasts down to spur on the teams. Tuks hockey will be satisfied with the early season form shown by their teams and this bodes well for their aspirations in the Northerns league as well as creating a sense of optimism looking forward to the provincial tournaments which are coming up soon.

Well done to TuksHockey on hosting a splendid evening and may the initiatives to draw the crowds and spectators down to the turf continue, as the atmosphere created at the intervarsity is certainly something the club should look to build on.

Intervarsity 2010 undoubtedly belonged to the Tuks ladies – congrats to you all and may this result simply be the start of bigger, better and greater things!