A Dayaan Cassiem masterclass led South Africa to victory over Ireland in the thrilling final of the inaugural FIH Hockey Men’s Nations Cup South Africa 2022, securing qualification into the 2023-24 FIH Hockey Pro League for the hosts.
The packed crowd in Potchefstroom was treated to an end-to-end display of attacking hockey in a closely-fought match that ended in a 4-3 win to South Africa. The attacking stars from both teams showed up in the big finals with Dayaan and Shane O’Donoghue scoring twice, while Tevin Kok, Mustaphaa Cassiem and John McKee got on the scorecard for Ireland.
Cassiem was especially brilliant, scoring two fantastic goals for the hosts in the first half before winning the penalty stroke, scored by younger brother Mustaphaa, that gave South Africa the win in the final quarter.
Ireland piled on the pressure in search of a late equaliser, but the experienced heads of Jethro Eustice, Keenan Horne and goalkeeper Hendrik Kriek kept the Irish at bay and sealed a historic win for South Africa in front of a raucous home crowd.
Earlier Korea got the better of Malaysia in the all-Asian affair in the bronze medal match. France finished in fifth place, edging Japan in the shoot-out after a closely-contested match.
In the seventh-place playoff Canada and Pakistan played a nine-goal thriller that swung multiple times. It was finally settled through a 58th-minute goal by Usama Bashir to earn Pakistan their first win in the tournament.
— International Hockey Federation
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