Author: asawula

The Gauteng inter-schools’ hockey season got off to a sizzling start over the weekend, with 28 goals scored in eight matches.

The action started on Friday night, when Hoërskool Waterkloof, Pretoria Boys High, and Jeppe High registered wins against Transvalia, St Alban’s College, and St Stithians College respectively.

Waterkloof edged Transvalia 3-2 in a tightly contested clash in Pretoria.

After trailing for most of the first chukka, Klofies showed composure and got themselves back into the match courtesy of a Jordan Abbott strike.

They doubled their tally in the second chukka through Xander Kleynhans and went into half-time leading 2-1.

Adriaan Botha quickly made it three in the third chukka, and despite Transvalia’s never-say-die attitude, coach Mark Lamprecht’s side held on for the win.

Pretoria Boys High will also be happy with their performance after grinding out a 2-1 win against their old foes, St Alban’s.

Backed by their vibrant home supporters, coach Jacques Klopper’s team was made to work hard for the win, but Marco Upton netted twice to seal the victory for his side. The St Alban’s goal was scored by Liam Basch.

In Kensington, on the Boden Astroturf, Jeppe recorded a hard-fought 1-0 win over a tough St Stithians College team.

Jeppe entered the clash on the back of mixed results at the Nomads Hockey Festival and the KES Easter Hockey Festival.

On Saturday, they were solid at the back, keeping the team who beat them in the final of the Aitken Cup in 2023 off the scoreboard, while Juan Martin scored the all-important only goal of the contest.

The action moved on to Saturday, with the fixtures including a n exciting derby between neighbours, King Edward VII (KES) and St John’s College.

As expected, it was a tough outing for both teams, with fortunes in the game ebbing and flowing. KES eventually pulled off a 3-2 win, with Michael Adamson netting twice, and Oyena Qwabe scoring their other goal.

Tapi Mutetwa and Dylan Viljoen scored for St John’s.

Meanwhile, Parktown Boys’ High dominated against Northcliff High School, winning 3-1, courtesy of a Robert Bailey brace and another from Ryan Venter.

St Benedict’s College, under coach Owen Mvimbi, continued their fine form, edging out St David’s Marist Inanda 1-0.

There was nothing to separate Garsfontein and Affies, who played to a 1-1 draw, with Zandré Nel getting on the scoresheet for Garsies and Christian Pullen scoring for Affies.

Beaulieu College was on song, beating St Peter’s College 4-1.

RESULTS

Jeppe High 1-0 St Stithians College
Pretoria Boys High 2-1 St Alban’s College
Garsfontein 1-1 Affies
Parktown Boys’ High 3-1 Northcliff High
King Edward VII 3-2 St John’s College
St Benedict’s 1-0 St David’s Marist Inanda
Hoërskool Waterkloof 4-3 Transvalia
Beaulieu College 4-1 St Peter’s College

Paarl Gimnasium, South African College High School (SACS) and Wynberg Boys High all racked up impressive wins on the opening weekend of the inter-schools’ season in the Western Cape on Friday night.

Gim and Wynberg scored five goals each against Outeniqua and Curro Durbanville respectively. SACS, meanwhile, topped that, netting six goals against Fairmont High School, away from home.

Entering their clash against Outeniqua, Gim, led by coach Jacques Grobler, was high in confidence after winning the Belgotex Sport Easter Hockey Tournament the week before by defeating Worcester Gimnasium 2-1 in the final. It was their third title on the trot in the event.

They came off their blocks fast against Outeniqua, with Willem Matthee getting them on the board.

Gim’s skipper, LD Nel, who was recognised as one of the standout players at the Belgotex Tournament, where he topped the goal scorers’ charts, continued his prolific goalscoring form, slotting a hattrick, before Neil de Wet’s solitary goal sealed a 5-1 win for the Paarl side.

Coach Grobler’s charges will take their talents further afield over the course of the next two weekends, first facing Affies in Pretoria, before travelling to Bloemfontein to take on Grey College the week after that.

SACS were expected to beat Fairmont High School and they duly delivered, knocking in six goals to add another convincing win to an ever-expanding list of impressive one-sided victories.

Right-wing Matthew Jones scored a brace while Nick Paxton, Matthew Lassen, Aiden Hughes, and the dangerous Litha Kraai also got their names onto the scoresheet.

Coach Sam Holmes will now prepare his side for their next assignment, which is Parel Vallei next weekend at home.

Wynberg, under coach Ben Wiley, got their Western Cape season off to a confidence-boosting 5-1 win over Curro Durbanville.

They dominated ball possession and the match. Dayle Gertson was instrumental in Wynberg’s win, scoring four times, before Ethan Lee made it five in total for the southern suburbs’ side.

In other matches, Worcester Gimnasium also claimed a win, handing Swartland a 0-2 loss, with Lourens de Kock and Christiaan Joubert scoring.

Stellenberg High came close to pulling off an upset when they held Rondebosch Boys’ High to a 2-2 draw.

Playing at home, Stellenberg drew strength from the enthusiastic backing of their home crowd. Their goals were netted by Ben Marais and Dean Potgieter, while Martin Barnard and Jamie Hundermark hit the mark for Rondebosch.

DF Malan and Parel Vallei shared a 1-1 draw, with Sibulele Makeleni striking for Parel Vallei and Adriaan Steytler scoring for DF.

Brackenfell narrowly missed out on a win against the Wynberg Invitational team, going down 2-3, while HTS Drostdy did just enough to defeat Hugenote 1-0.

RESULTS 

Parel Vallei 1-1 DF Malan
Rondebosch Boys’ High 2-2 Stellenberg High School
Wynberg Boys’ High 5-1 Curro Durbanville
Paarl Gimnasium 5-1 Outeniqua
HTS Drostdy 1-0 Hugenote
SACS 6-0 Fairmont High School
Wynberg Invitational 3-2 Brackenfell
Worcester Gimnasium 2-0 Swartland

There were hard-fought wins for Selborne College and Hudson Park High School on the opening weekend of the inter-schools’ hockey season in the Eastern Cape on Friday night.

Selborne edged Pearson High School 2-1 in Gqeberha, while Hudson won by the same scoreline against Cambridge High School in East London. Meanwhile, Stirling High and Queen’s College shared four goals in an entertaining 2-2 draw.

Selborne made the trip to the Windy City high in confidence, chasing a 15^th consecutive victory since the season started.

They had picked up 14 wins during the school holidays at the Tony Godding Festival, Nomads Hockey Festival, and the King Edward VII Easter Hockey Festival.

Pearson, on the other hand, entered the clash after mixed results at the Tony Godding Festival, and the Coastal Cup in KwaZulu-Natal.

Riding their momentum, Selborne was quickly out of the blocks, scoring in the first chukka through Jacques van der Merwe.

The goal came after excellent inter-linking play between the defence and midfield players, and Van der Merwe found himself in the right place at the right time, with the ball landing on his stick before he calmly slotted it into the bottom right corner to put the visitors 1-0 ahead.

They doubled their tally with seconds remaining in the first chukka through a Cade Kock cracker. Kock received the ball in the box with his back facing the defence. Reacting speedily, he quickly scooped it up with his stick, turned, and fired into the back of the net.

That goal sparked Pearson into life, and they started to forge a foothold in the match.

Four minutes into the second chukka, coach Dallan Phillips’s boys were awarded a penalty corner and they made it count. Zack Willimot’s drag flick cut the deficit to one goal at half-time.

The last two chukkas of the match didn’t produce any goals, although both teams created several chances to add to their tallies. Selborne maintained much of the ball possession but none of their scoring opportunities were clear-cut.

Pearson won a number of short corners but failed to find another finish. It ended 2-1 and Selborne College had their 15th consecutive win.

In East London, Hudson Park edged out Cambridge High 2-1.

Coach Siphe Matafeni’s side was made to work hard for the 2-1 win, with Ayola Rubushe and Somila Mkhokeli striking for Hudson.

They will next turn their attention to the u18 Oakhill Co-Ed Festival, which starts on Wednesday.

Stirling High School will surely be happy with how they performed against Queen’s College on the opening weekend.

After going down 0-2 and looking dead and buried, the boys in green and white pulled off a comeback for the ages to steal a 2-2 draw.

They were aided to a share of the spoils by a double from Hisharm Pillay. Their next assignment will be to face Pearson in Gqeberha next weekend.

Scorers:

Selborne College (2): Jaques van der Merwe, Cade Kock. Pearson High (1): Zack Willimot

Hudson Park (2): Ayola Rubushe, Somila Mkhokeli. Cambridge High (1): Aqhama Mdlulwa

Stirling High School (2): Hisharm Pillay (x2). Queens College (2): Brett Hoffman, Damian Miles.

A clash between Jeppe and St Stithians College will headline the hockey action in Gauteng this weekend when the sides battle for supremacy on the Boden Astroturf on Friday night.

They’re familiar foes, having first started competing against one other in 1969.

Both enter the big clash after lukewarm starts to their season and there’s no clear-cut favourite, with little to separate the teams in recent matches.

They have played against each other twice in the past two years, with both meetings coming in the Southern Gauteng u18 Hockey Tournament, more commonly called the Aitken Cup.

Catch all the hockey action live on SuperSport Schools

In 2022, Jeppe reigned victorious, claiming a 2-1 victory to retain the title. Last year, Saints pulled off a penalty shootout win to win the Cup after the match had ended deadlock at 2-2.

However, a lot has changed since then in the playing and coaching ranks, including Jeppe now being coached by former Dale College pupil, Siya Sityana, who has taken over the reins from Gilbert de Villiers. 

Under coach Sityana, Jeppe has taken part in two festivals, Nomads and King Edward VII.

At Nomads, they got off to a slow start, losing by small margins against Hilton College (0-2), Grey College (0-1), and Selborne College (0-1), three of the top teams in the festival.

They did, however, end the event on a high, claiming victories over Wynberg Boys’ High (4-3) and the hosts, Maritzburg College (1-0).

At the KES Easter Festival, Sityana’s troops continued building momentum and picked up wins over Waterkloof (4-1), Eldoraigne (2-0), and St Charles College (2-0). They also went down to Kearsney College and Rondebosch Boys’ High, but they will be high in confidence playing on their home turf.

Saints, on the other hand, will be looking to bounce back after a rather disappointing time at their Easter Hockey Festival last weekend, albeit against high-class opposition.

The side claimed only one win, defeating Clifton College (3-1). They were beaten by Hilton College (1-2), and Pretoria Boys High (1-3) and played to a 2-2 draw against St Andrew’s College.

The Jeppe vs St Stithians clash starts at 19:00.

Other games on Friday will see Pretoria Boys High battling St Alban’s College. Hoërskool Waterkloof and Zwartkop are also in action against Transvalia and Marais Viljoen respectively.

On Saturday, Garsfontein welcomes Affies to their home ground, while Beaulieu College and St Peter’s College meet.

King Edward VII takes on St John’s College, while Parktown Boys High travels to Northcliff High, and St Benedict’s College locks horns with St David’s Marist Inanda.

Fixtures

Friday, 5 April

16:00 – Zwartkop vs Marais Viljoen
19:00 – Jeppe Boys High vs St Stithians College
19:00 – Pretoria Boys High vs St Alban’s College
19:15 – Hoërskool Waterkloof vs Transvalia

Saturday, 6 April

09:30 – Garsfontein vs Affies
09:50 –Northcliff High vs Parktown Boys’ High
10:30 – King Edward VII vs St John’s College
10:45 – St Benedict’s vs St David’s Marist Inanda
TBC: St Peters vs Beaulieu College

Selborne College will pursue a 15^th consecutive win since the start of the 2024 season when they face off against Pearson High School in Gqeberha on Friday evening.

The match begins at 18:30 on the Top Astroturf.

Since playing their first match, Selborne is undefeated and untied, winning every one of their matches.

Coach KJ Friend‘s team has been deadly in front of goal, causing their opposition many problems, while remaining solid as a rock on defence.

Their unbeaten record began at the Tony Godding Festival, hosted in East London, in March.

There, they recorded wins against St Andrew’s School (Bloemfontein) (4-0), Woodridge College (6-0), Linden High School (4-1) and Voortrekker High School (8-0), from Bethlehem.

They were far from done, however, and quickly turned their attention to the Nomads Hockey Festival, hosted by Maritzburg College in KwaZulu-Natal.

The Nomads Festival brings together many of South Africa’s traditional hockey powers, giving them an opportunity to test themselves against the best, and to work on their teamwork and tactics ahead of the second term’s full hockey schedule.

Selborne, along with Grey High, was a cut above the rest during the festival, with both going unbeaten after recording five wins each.

The East London school defeated King Edward VII (5-2), before claiming the scalps of Maritzburg College (2-0), St John’s College (2-1), Pretoria Boys High (1-0), and Jeppe (1-0), respectively.

They went on to sweep their opposition at the KES Easter Hockey Festival last weekend, maintaining their unbeaten record while scoring 15 goals and conceding only three in their five matches.

Pearson, on the other hand, has produced mixed results thus far.

At the Tony Godding Festival, they picked up convincing wins against Cambridge High (5-0), and Queen’s College (4-0).

They were then held to a 1-1 draw by St Andrew’s School, before suffering a 0-2 defeat to Grey College.

Coach Dalan Phillips‘s boys then made the trip to the Coastal Cup in KwaZulu-Natal for another stern early season test.

There, they held their own against some tough opposition. They recorded very good wins against Menlopark (4-0), and Paarl Boys High (5-0), but went down by 0-1 margins to both St Alban’s College and Westville Boys’ High.

The last time the two sides met, Pearson High came from behind to salvage a 1-1 draw with Selborne in the dying minutes of their encounter. The two teams met again at the Hibbert Shield in Gqeberha, and it was Selborne who won 3-0.

Pearson are the under-dogs, but they will enjoy home-ground advantage and would love nothing more than to end their Eastern Cape rivals’ spectacular winning streak to start the season.

Other matches:

The first weekend of action will also see Hudson Park taking on Cambridge High School, while Stirling High School welcomes Queen’s College to East London.

Fixtures

Friday, 5 April

17:30 -Hudson Park High vs Cambridge High School
18:00 -Stirling High School vs Queen’s College
18:30 – Pearson High School vs Selborne College

Schools in the Western Cape will officially commence their 2024 inter-school hockey season this weekend. An exciting and intriguing showcase of the sport awaits.

Many teams head into the season off the back of their participation in Easter festivals all around the country.

Paarl Gimnasium, SACS, Stellenberg, and Parel Vallei will all be in action after enjoying promising starts to their respective seasons.

Last year’s number-one ranked team in the country, SACS, travelled to KZN for the Founders Festival, hosted by Kearsney College, at the end of March and showed why they are considered the favourites to take first spot again in 2024.

There, SACS dominated every opponent they came up against, scoring a whopping 31 goals in five matches, while conceding only two.

They thumped St Stithians College 6-0, the Northwood 2nd XI 8-0, Queen’s College 5-0, and the Gauteng duo of Affies and Parktown Boys’ High 5-1 and 7-1 respectively.

This weekend, they take on Fairmont High School, who finished in sixth place out of 40 teams at the Belgotex Sport Easter Hockey Tournament in Cape Town.

Another team aiming to ride their festival momentum is Paarl Gimnasium. Gim, just like Fairmont, took part in the Belgotex Sport Easter Hockey Tournament and claimed gold for a third year running.

Coach Jacques Grobler’s troops impressed in pool play and then breezed past Private School Swakopmund 9-1 in the semi-final. They had to dig deep in the title-decider, but goals from captain LD Nel and Juan Swanepoel saw them to a 2-1 victory over Worcester Gimnasium.

This week, they welcome Hoërskool Outeniqua to their home turf, with the clash starting at 18:45.

Parel Vallei, after a tour of the Netherlands, will be in action against DF Malan. Coach Michael van Rensburg‘s side played against some of the world’s best during their time in abroad.

They came short against HC Schiedam (5-4), and Den Bosch (4-2) before recording a fine 3-1 win over HC Cartouche. They will use their clash against DF Malan as preparation for a much-anticipated showdown with SACS next weekend.

Other matches on the weekend include Wynberg Boys High against Curro Durbanville and Belgotex finalists, Worcester Gymnasium, against Swartland, while Stellenberg welcomes Rondebosch Boys’ High.

Fixtures

Friday, 5 April

17:10 – Worcester Gimnasium vs Swartland
18:15 – Fairmont vs SACS
18:30 – Wynberg Boys’ High vs Curro Durbanville
18:45 – Paarl Gimnasium vs Hoërskool Outeniqua
19:00 – Rondebosch Boys’ High vs Stellenberg
19:00 – Brackenfell vs Wynberg Invitational
19:30 – Parel Vallei vs DF Malan

Saturday, 6 April

09:45- HTS Drostdy vs Hugenote

After finishing 10th out of 40 schools in last week’s Belgotex Sport Easter Hockey Tournament, the Hudson Park High School girls’ hockey team will aim to carry that momentum into their opening league match of the season against Cambridge High School in East London on Friday.

The opening whistle will sound at 16:15 on the Cambridge High Astroturf.

Early in the season, Hudson has been one of the most promising Eastern Cape sides, playing an appealing brand of hockey, while holding their own against some of the best teams in the country.

They began competitive action at the Greg Beling Festival in East London early last month.

There, Hudson only lost two matches against St Anne’s Diocesan School (0-5), and Oranje (2-10), both sides who have made cases for being among the best in South Africa this year.

Coach Jerry Snyman‘s girls did, however, record a 1-0 win over Collegiate, before holding last year’s number one ranked team in the country, Eunice, to a 1-1 draw.

“The girls have come together nicely and fairly early in the season, which is encouraging to see,” he told SuperSport Schools.

“We’ve put in a lot of effort behind the scenes to ensure we get the best out of our girls this season. There are still some aspects that need work. It’s not picture-perfect. But sport never is.”

Hudson defied the odds at the Belgotex Sport Easter Hockey Tournament, and their 10th-place finish was just three spots behind Woodridge College, who ended the event as the best of the Eastern Cape teams.

On their way to that 10^th place finish, Hudson impressed in Pool A, losing only one match to the eventual runners-up, Hoërskool Middelburg.

In the Plate final, they East London side was edged out 0-1 by Fairmont, who scored a late winner.

Coach Snyman said he was proud of how his players carried themselves throughout the tournament, adding that he is excited to see how the mix of youth and experience helps the side evolve during the course of the season.

“We are very happy with the performance of the girls at Belgotex,” he stated.

“It was a tough one as the top of every pool went automatically into the top eight. Nonetheless, the girls played well, adjusted to each game, and worked as a team.

“We have six new players in the set-up this year, who moved up from u16A last year. The girls have all played with each other at some stage.

“We only have two matrics in the team, so it’s a fairly consistent side and will remain so for the next two years.

“The juniors in the team are hungry for the game and have a lot of potential and growth to offer in the sport.”

Last year, Hudson Park won home and away against Cambridge. They will be confident, if they bring their A-game, that they could repeat that feat.

Their opponents have had a challenging start to the season but are slowly finding their way. They were most recently in action at the York High Easter Hockey Festival, where they won three of their five matches.

Those wins were over Pinelands (2-1), St Dominic’s (2-0), and Curro Durbanville (2-0). Against Hudson Park, they’ll be looking to Akhile Mdlalane to lead the assault on the opposition’s defences.

Meanwhile, coach Snyman’s troops will count on the experience of captain, Tarelle Jones, alongside Melnique Langley, Busiwe Mayekiso, Erin Batting, and Hanna Faro, to guide them in their quest to continue their winning ways against their arch-rivals.

Hudson Park

Mbali Khumalo, Erin Batting, Nandi Ndava, Jorja Wilson, Rania Khan, Jordyn Wilson, Mia Smit, Inathi Lubelwana, Hannah Faro, Tarelle Jones, Kara Batting, Melnique Langley, Busiwe Mayekiso, Keera Van Vuuren, Avuyile Qusheka, Faith Nxoyi.

Conceding fewer goals and scoring more will be the main items on the agenda for Eunice High School this week at the annual St Mary’s Waverley Hockey Festival in Johannesburg.

The prestigious event, sponsored by Standard Bank, runs from Thursday to Sunday.

Eunice will be defending the title they won last year with a 1-0 win over the hosts, St Mary’s, in the final.

That victory was one of the highlights of an outstanding season for the Bloemfontein school, which enjoyed a superb run, despite a hectic schedule, to end the year as the number one ranked team in the country.

However, with a much younger side in 2024, Eunice has been challenged, coming up short in a number of matches. But, given their pedigree, good things are still expected of them this season.

Their last outing as a unit was at the Greg Beling Festival in East London where coach Nika Coertzen’s side picked up wins over DSG Makhanda (2-1), Stirling High (2-0), and Affies Girls (3-1).

They did, however, concede eight goals during their time in the coastal city, although five of those came in one game against Rhenish, which ended in a 1-5 defeat. Someone who will be eager to see Eunice’s defence clamp down on opposition attackers is the team’s goalkeepers’ coach, Christelle Erasmus.

It’s rare to find school hockey teams with specialised position coaches, but Erasmus says goalkeepers are the core of the team.

“It’s not a role you see a lot, especially in high schools, but I think it’s one of the most important roles,” she told SuperSport Schools during the Greg Beling Festival in East London.

“It becomes even more important for the team if you have someone passionate about goalkeeping, like me.”

Erasmus played goalkeeper at school and during her university days. She believes to get the best out of a shot-stopper, they must be led by someone who was once in their shoes.

“You need someone to coach you in a specialist position,” Erasmus said.

“Yes, you’ve got strikers, midfielders, and defenders, but the goalkeeper is basically your anchor, and if that person is goal-driven, focused, then that can rub off on the team, and they can also feel secure on the turf.

“My role in coaching is tremendous, and I think, to coach that, you must have done it before. You must know how it works and have researched it.”

At Eunice, Erasmus oversees all the goalkeepers from u14 to the first team. The players are taught the same skills, trained using the same drills and playing tempo, and they go on to put what they’ve learned in practice into action on the turf.

“We have coached three times a week, and they are all coached together,” Erasmus explained.

“We are teaching them the same thing, on the same level, so we are coaching everyone on a first-team level, which is important for me.

“The important thing is that if they can commit to it, it will work, and help them grow,” she concluded.

Eunice faces a tough road if they are to be successful in defence of the St Mary’s title. They’re in Pool A, alongside Herschel Girls, Clarendon High School for Girls, Pretoria High School for Girls, Hoër Meisieskool Bloemhof, Roedean School, Afrikaanse Hoër Meisieskool Pretoria (Affies), and Hoërskool DF Malan.

The Bloemfontein girls begin their campaign on Thursday at 07:45 against DF Malan.

You can watch that match, and all the St Mary’s Waverley Hockey Festival action, LIVE on SuperSport Schools.

 

Somerset College‘s centre-forward Alexia Kontopirakis bagged a double in the Cup final of the Belgotex Sport Easter Hockey Tournament to seal a 2-0 win for her side over Hoërskool Middelburg in the southern suburbs of Cape Town on Saturday evening.

Kontopirakis fired when it mattered most for her team. Her first goal came late in the third chukka, and she doubled her tally early in the fourth, much to the delight of the travelling fans in the stands.

Entering the title-deciding clash, both teams sported unbeaten records after winning all of their pool games and their subsequent playoff matches. Between them, they had conceded only one goal throughout the course of the tournament.

Both were made to work hard in the semi-finals, with Middelburg eventually easing to a convincing 3-0 win over Rustenburg Girls’ High, while Somerset caused an upset by eliminating the defending champions, Monument, 2-1.

The first two chukkas of the final didn’t produce many meaningful opportunities, with neither team creating clear-cut chances in front of goal. Middelburg, though, forced Somerset to scramble to keep out a penalty corner in the second chukka.

On the other hand, Somerset reverted to overheads to move the ball and maintain possession.

The game changed in the final seconds of the third chukka when Kontopirakis struck a hammer blow for her side by sneaking the ball into the bottom right-hand corner of the goalbox after finding herself in space. Her second goal was similar in nature.

Good movement and linking play in the box saw the ball find her stick, and she did what she does best by smashing it into the back of the net.

Middelburg, unlike in their semi-final clash, never really got going, and struggled to create goalscoring opportunities.

It was Somerset College’s first-ever Belgotex Sport Easter Hockey Tournament title.

Reacting to her team’s win, captain of the Somerset College side, Julia Brown, said she was thrilled with the victory.

“I feel privileged and super-proud of this group of girls I play with,” she told SuperSport Schools.

“We had to dig deep in the final, and that’s the beauty of our team, we are resilient, and a little bit extra, which is something I really love.

“This win will be a great confidence boost for us. We just need to keep going, and keep our heads down,” she concluded.

Earlier in the day, the bronze medal match saw last year’s winners, Monument, take on a stern challenge from Rustenburg Girls’ High.

Both sides entered the match hungry to redeem themselves after losing their respective semi-finals on Friday.

Monnas made better use of their opportunities with their SA u17 star Hannah Quinton, and her namesake, Hannah Smyth, scoring in their 2-1 win. Rustenburg’s solitary goal came from Tatum Malherbe.

In other matches, Woodridge College finished in seventh place after edging out Hoërskool Outeniqua (3-0) on penalties following a goalless draw between the sides. Woodridge and Hudson Park, who finished tenth, after going down 0-1 to Fairmont, were the best of the Eastern Cape teams.

Stellenberg edged our Paarl Gimnasium 1-0 to take fifth spot.

Relive all the action on SuperSport Schools.

RESULTS:
Stellenbosch 2-0 St George’s Diocesan (39^th-40^th Place)
Hoërskool Robertson 2(5)-2(6) Private School Swakopmund (37^th-38^th Place)
Strand 5-0 Oudtshoorn (35^th -36^th Place)
Pro-Ed Akademie 1(1)-1(0) (33^rd-34^th place)
Langenhoven Gimnasium 1-0 Hugenote (31^st-32^nd Place)
Worcester Gymnasium 1-0 The Settlers (29^th/30^th Place)
Bridge House 2-1 Hoërskool Punt (27^th-28^th Place)
Hoërskool Belville 2-0 Hermanus High School (25^th -26^th Place)
Hoërskool Rustenburg 3-0 Penryn College (23^rd-24^th Place)
York High 3-0 Curro Durbanville (21^st-22^nd Place)
Redhill 1-2 Hoërskool Eldoraigne (19^th-20^th Place)
Kingswood College 1(4)-1(1) Stirling High (17^th-18^th Place)
Windhoek Gymnasium 0-2 Wynberg Girls’ High (15^th-16^th Place)
DF Malan 2-1 Hoërskool Durbanville (13^th-14^th Place)
Hoërskool Nelspruit 1(3)-1(4) Northcliff High (11^th-12^th Place)
Fairmont 1-0 Hudson Park (9^th/10^th Place)
Woodridge College 0(3)-0(0) Hoërskool Outeniqua (7^th-8^th Place)
Paarl Gimnasium 0-1 Stellenberg (5^th-6^th Place)
Rustenburg Girls’ High 1-2 Monument High (3^rd-4^th Place)
Hoërskool Middelburg 0-2 Somerset College (1^st -2^nd Place)

Paarl Gimnasium edged out Worcester Gymnasium 2-1 to win gold in the final of the Belgotex Sport Easter Hockey Tournament in Cape Town on Saturday evening.

The victory was Gim’s third consecutive title at the prestigious tournament, following on from their successes in 2022 and 2023.

On their journey to the final, Gim made their case as the best boys’ team at the tournament. They were emphatic in front of goal and played an exciting brand of hockey that got spectators off their feet.

In their semi-final on Friday, they put on a masterclass, dismantling Namibia’s Private School Swakopmund 9-1 to book themselves a spot in the Cup final.

Their opponents, Worcester Gymnasium were also a cut above the rest in the pool stages, winning all four of their matches and scoring 21 goals while conceding only three.

There was little to separate them from their semi-final opponents, Stellenberg, however. The teams played to a 1-1 draw before coach Edrich Janse van Rensburg‘s charges scraped through with a 4-3 win on penalties.

The final was tightly contested through the first two chukkas, with Gim missing out on a number of chances.

They had a golden chance to go ahead early in the match from the penalty spot, but Willem Mathee‘s shot was stopped by Worcester’s goalkeeper, Barko de Wet, and the chukka ended goalless.

The deadlock was finally broken with just over a minute to play in the second chukka. After Gim received a short corner, captain LD Nel fired a superb drag flick into the back of the net to give his team a narrow lead at half-time.

The third chukka was a stalemate as both sides’ offensive forays were met by well-structured defences.

However, Juan Swanepoel struck a crucial blow for Paarl Gim in the fourth chukka, with less than six minutes to play, to make it 2-0.

Worcester was not going to go down without a fight and they pulled one back through a penalty corner, courtesy of Driesie Burger. That goal set up a tense final two minutes, with players from both sides throwing their bodies on the line.

With a minute left in the match, Worcester was granted another short corner, but Gim scrambled well to keep their lead intact. That proved to be the last goals coring opportunity of the match. Time ran out and Gim claimed the title with a 2-1 victory.

Cape Town’s Stellenberg finished third after a 3-1 win over Namibia’s Private School Swakopmund in their playoff match.

After a slow start, Stellies took charge of the contest by opening the scoring in the first chukka. They added two more in the second chukka, with Nicholas Brown, Christian Spence, and Gerrard Noukoua their goal scorers. Stellenberg thought they had added a fourth in the third chukka, but it was disallowed.

Swakopmund gave it all they had but had to settle for a solitary goal from James De Jager.

In other matches, after they had finished regulation time level at 1-1, Paarl Boys’ High defeated the SACS Invitational side 2-1 on penalties to finish 11th. Kingswood College was the best of the Eastern Cape teams, finishing 10th, after a 2-4 defeat against Hoërskool Durbanville.

Meanwhile, Hoërskool Outeniqua beat York High 2-0 to take seventh, while Somerset College finished fifth after a 1-0 win over Fairmont.

RESULTS
The Settlers 0(3)-0(4) Hoërskool Oudtshoorn (39^th-40^th Place)
Pro-Ed Akademie 1(1)-1(2) Hoërskool Swartland (37^th-38^th Place)
Hugenote 1-3 Hoërskool Robertson (35^th -36^th Place)
Hoërskool Strand 2-0 Hoërskool Punt (33^rd-34^th place)
Woodridge College 1-0 Windhoek Gymnasium (31^st-32^nd Place)
Bridge House 2-1 Redhill (29^th/30^th Place)
Hoërskool Belville 5-4 Hoërskool Stellenbosch (27^th-28^th Place)
Northcliff High 1(3)-1(1)  Hoërskool Middelburg (25^th -26^th Place)
Stirling High 1-2 Langenhoven Gimnasium (23^rd-24^th Place)
Hoërskool Rustenburg 1-0 Curro Durbanville (21^st-22^nd Place)
Hoërskool Nelspruit 1-2 Monument (19^th-20^th Place)
Hoërskool Hermanus 2-1 DF Malan (17^th-18^th Place)
Hudson Park 3-5 St George’s Diocesan School (15^th-16^th Place)
Windhoek High School 1-0 St John’s College (Harare) (13^th-14^th Place)
Paarl Boys’ High 1(2)-1(1) SACS Invitational (11^th-12^th Place)
Kingswood College 2-4 Hoërskool Durbanville (9^th/10^th Place)
Hoërskool Outeniqua 2-0 York High (7^th-8^th Place)
Somerset College 1-0 Fairmont (5^th-6^th Place)
Private School Swakopmund 1-3 Hoërskool Stellenberg (3^rd-4^th Place)
Paarl Gimnasium 2-1 Worcester Gymnasium (1^st -2^nd Place)