Author: vndudane

The group stage of the u18 SASHOC National Week produced some dramatic hockey and surprising results. No team made a bigger splash, however, than Southern Gauteng B, aka Witsies, who upstaged some of the bigger name teams to secure a place in the semi-finals.

From the start of the event, on Sunday, Witsies demonstrated resilience and hunger and it paid off as they fought their way through to the final four.

On Wednesday, they played their last two pool matches, both of which they needed to win. In the first, they defeated Northern Free State 2-0 in a tight clash.

It took Southerns’ B 45 minutes to make a breakthrough, which came from the stick of Onwaba Santi, who slotted a field goal. Then, in the last minute, Nicole Bailey sent a penalty corner into the back of the net to secure her side’s victory.

Later in the day, Witsies took on Eastern Province. Once again, it was a very tight contest with little to separate the teams. With time running out, it appeared as if it was going to end in a stalemate.

Southern Gauteng B created chances but failed to take advantage of them. Three minutes from time, though, Tori Tanner-Ellis struck to see her team to a 1-0 win.

Witsies’ head coach, Lance Louw was a proud man after his charges secured a semi-final showdown with Southern Gauteng A. Their persistence, he said, had paid off eventually.

“We dominated most moments of the game, but we did not take our chances. We had a few in the first quarter…and we kept their corners out.

“We told ourselves after half time that we had to make sure we got one goal to get to the semifinal. We kept knocking on the door. We worked harder. We kept on defending.

“We were consistently knocking on the door, and when we hit a post, I thought we were not going to score. But, with three minutes to go, the player of the match, Tori Tanner-Ellis, put the ball in the back of the net. That summed up our IPT. It’s been great so far.”

Tanner-Ellis, who exhibited a high work rate and excellent skills, has twice received a player of the match award. She was also a recipient on the opening day of the event, when Southerns’ B played to a goalless draw against KZN Inland.

As a B team, Southern Gauteng was not looked upon as one of the primary title contenders, but their never-say-die spirit quickly showed they were not to be taken lightly.

With their good run through to the semi-finals, captain Niquita McHugh and company have shown the value of discipline, teamwork and a strong work rate. There is no secret to their success, she said, other than meticulous preparation.

“We just backed ourselves because we have the B team title, but we still deserve to be in this section, as we have proven. We have used the underdog title to our advantage. We’ve got into every game, and we have proved every team wrong.”

Their 1-0 win over Eastern Province saw Witsies sneak into the semis, after finishing level on points with Boland, at eight each, but with a better goal difference of only one goal.

When they face Southern Gauteng A, there will, no doubt, be many in the Southerns’ B side eager to prove, yet again, that they shouldn’t be underestimated.

Coach Louw said he is ecstatic for his girls. “I didn’t think they would do it, but they did it when they were in the u16 group, so some girls have played in the semi-finals before. But I think we have about seven or eight girls who have not been in this position before, so I’m just happy for them.”

Boland A earned a much-needed victory in Bloemfontein on Tuesday to escape elimination from semifinal contention at the SASHOC National Week.

They frustrated KwaZulu-Natal Inland, who are also in the running for a final four spot, and claimed a crucial 2-1 win. Had Inland won, they would have been assured of a top-four finish.

Before the game, the Western Cape side occupied third place in Pool B, with two points, while the KZN side was in second, with five points to their credit.

Boland started strongly, with Amy Leibrandt giving them the lead with a brilliant field goal in the sixth minute. Five minutes later, Tanya Pieterse doubled their advantage. Coach Morne Odendaal‘s KZN Inland girls were undaunted, and their efforts were rewarded when Emily Wilson pulled one back only a minute after Pieterse’s goal.

Despite the fast start and three goals in double-quick time, there were no more to come.

Afterwards, Odendaal praised both sides: “It was a good game. Both teams came out guns blazing,” he reckoned.

Boland’s coach Jarred Pitout said he knew it was going to be a tough outing. “It was always going to be a tough battle and it was a fight for that position in our pool,” he said. “We trusted the process and, at last, our girls stuck to the game plan and made sure that we nullified all the exit strategies and just shut them down, which frustrated them.

“We played our game, which is to counterattack, and we got our penalty corners, which we were looking for,” he told SuperSport Schools Plus.

After two goalless draws, the win was a first for Boland in the tournament. Their first 0-0 result came against Northern Free State on the opening day of the tournament. Their second was against a resilient Southern Gauteng B side on Monday. They also suffered a 0-1 defeat to KwaZulu-Natal Coastal on Monday.

Though Southern Gauteng B was unable to score, they frustrated the Bolanders. Their frustrations were reflected in the three green cards and one yellow card they were shown.

On Tuesday, though, Pitout’s charges delivered a much-needed turnaround, with the win over Inland pulling them level with the KZN side on points.

That makes Wednesday’s matches must-win outings for both teams. Should they stumble, Eastern Province (EP) is just one point behind them, and EP is, in fact, Boland’s opposition in their final Pool B game.

They met in 2023, with the Western Cape side scoring a 4-2 win. In 2022, they drew 2-2.

KZN Inland faces a daunting challenge. They take on their neighbours, KZN Coastal, who have won all four of their matches and are well clear at the top of the pool. Coastal’s semi-final place is assured.

Pitout, with a calm attitude, said his team will carry the same strategy into their vital clash with Eastern Province.

“We will do exactly what we have done. We have a good structure. We will reflect on what we did well, and we will have a look at what they did well and go back and trust our process

“I think we have got better with each game… So, we look forward to tomorrow. It’s also going to be a tough opposition, but I have faith in my side.”

Odendaal said there was no new trick to be pulled for KZN Inland. “As coaches, our job is to put the girls in positions to put the game away. Then, it is up to them. Tomorrow, we hope the girls will pitch and use the opportunities.”

Casting an eye towards the KZN Coastal side, he said candidly: “They are in a good position. They have already won the pool. I hope they will rest some of their players and it will allow us to win the game.”

One of the SASHOC National Week‘s dark horse teams, Southern Gauteng B, aka Witsies, delivered an exceptional performance on day two, after having claimed a hard-fought draw on Sunday, to remain unbeaten.

Western Province B, meanwhile, recorded a 3-1 upset win over Border A.

They made their intentions clear when Gemma Purcell struck from a penalty corner within the first five minutes of their match. However, Princess Mcinga responded to make it 1-1.

Purcell broke open the tie once more in the 33rd minute, forcing Border onto the defensive.

Then, in the dying minutes of the contest, Purcell struck again to grab a hattrick and secure a shock 3-1 victory. Her three-goal haul has placed Purcell among the top five goal scorers at the tournament.

Don’t miss a moment. Catch the action live on SuperSport Schools

Witsies started their quest on Sunday against KwaZulu-Natal Inland. It was a tight contest, with the defences ruling the roost, and it, thus, finished in a goalless draw.

“Player of the match Tori Tanner-Ellis controlled the midfield.” Witsies’ coach Lance Louw said.

It was the latest in a long list of hard-fought matches between the sides. In 2017, they shared a 2-2 draw. In 2018, Inland came away with a 3-1 victory. Last year, they repeated that winning margin, with Leah Kriel, Sphume Shandu and Cara Waud scoring for Inland and Tylo Myburgh replying for Southern Gauteng B.

This year, Witsies appear to have the right ingredients to make some noise. Coach Louw explained how he and his coaching team have gone about building the side: “Our approach, as a coaching staff, was to look for girls who are willing to work hard for each other, while also giving players opportunities who have not been exposed to this level before.

On Monday morning, Southern Gauteng B failed to score, but they kept another clean sheet in a 0-0 draw with Boland.

Louw’s side frustrated their opponent, who were made to pay for a number of fouls. Leah du Plessis picked up a green card, and a second one then turned into a yellow, while Jodi Oostendorp, and Jordan Boer were also shown yellows.

Louw lauded his team for sticking to the game plan: “It is always tough playing against a team like Boland, with big-name players and a bunch of big-name hockey schools. We stuck to our guns, put in a great defensive effort, and kept their big-name players quiet.

“We also had our chances. However, we could not convert to reward ourselves for the great defensive effort that was put in.

“We had a few bumps and bruises during the game but because of the togetherness in the team players could step up and grab the opportunity with both hands. The player of the match was Nicole Bailey.”

Louw admitted that it had been a tough challenge to lock horns with Boland. But, he said, his team will continue to work hard for one other, and they will focus on their unity while making sure they are having fun at the same time.

“We have a lot of u17 girls and young ladies who are playing for the first time in the SASHOC National Week. There are also a lot of girls who are not from your so-called big hockey schools in Johannesburg. To name a few, Heronbridge College, Trinity House Randpark Ridge, Rand Park High School, Parktown High School for Girls, Northcliff High, Fourways and Hoërskool Noordheuwel,” he concluded.

The 2023 champions, Southern Free State opened their SASHOC National Week challenge on a positive note, with a 3-2 victory over the Western Province B team, which they followed with a 3-0 win over Border A.

The local side played their first match at the University of the Free State on Sunday in clear but cold Bloemfontein weather.

It was an interesting game, with Western Province dominating most of it. They were unfortunate, though, to be on the wrong side of the result as they delivered a solid team performance.

Catch the SASHOC National Week action live on SuperSport Schools

On the contrary, last year’s champs failed to fire. However, their defensive wall was tough to penetrate, and accurate finishing saved them from going down to a shock defeat.

While happy to snag the points, their head coach Sulette Kotzee admitted that her side has a thing or two to work on going forward in the tournament.

“It’s important to get the first three points in our starting game of the tournament. It gives us an advantage going forward, but I think we did start slowly. We had patches of good play, but I still think we were missing that fire, energy, and speed.

“We also did not have much preparation. We played only three games together before the tournament, so we were a bit loose. We were not really a unit, but going forward to the next game we will try and be a bit tighter and just jell a bit more,” Kotzee said.

In their clash with Western Province B, Bianca Rees-Gibbs, who topped the scoring charts at the St Mary’s Waverley Festival, with 17 goals, nailed a penalty corner in the 15th minute to give the hosts the lead.

Western Province B, though, was playing the better hockey and Tatum O’Brien responded with a field goal to even the scores. Ten minutes later, though, Southern Free State was back in front thanks to another PC goal from Rees-Gibbs.

Kotzee’s side did well to make use of the opportunities and just a minute after Rees-Gibbs struck the Free Staters moved two goals clear when Nthati Munyai scored a field to make it 3-1.

Western Province B, unbowed, kept working hard were rewarded with a second goal in the 56th minute, with Tamar Hankey getting her name onto the score sheet. It was not quite enough as Free State won by the odd goal. Coach Kotzee said she believed her team’s composure under pressure was one of the keys to their victory.

“It is just about the mindset. We were laid back. We needed to just bring back more energy and more communication and more belief in ourselves, but the ladies worked well under pressure. They stayed calm and collected. They did not panic and that’s what helped us not to concede a third goal,” she said.

Later, in the last match of the day, Southern Free State faced Border at Eunice. It was another scrappy game, but this time they walked away with a clear-cut 3-0 victory.

In the dying minutes of the first chukka, Rees-Gibbs, playing on her school’s Astro, fired in the first goal from a penalty corner. At half-time, it was her strike that separated the teams.

Then, in the second stanza, Reatile Pitso scored twice to seal a victory which gave Southern Free State a maximum points’ haul after day one of the event.

The Independent Schools Sports Festival, featuring leading schools from Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal wrapped up in style on Saturday at St Stithians College after two jam-packed, action-filled days of competition.

Some teams, like Maris Stella, exceeded expectations, finishing undefeated. After three wins on the opening day, the Durban side kept their record clean, but were forced to dig deep to do so.

They began with a 1-0 win over Roedean but were then held to goalless draws by St Mary’s DSG (Pretoria) and Kingsmead College.

Pietermaritzburg’s Epworth scored a convincing win over St Teresa’s School, with Amy Fletcher and Shannon Featherstone scoring twice each in a 4-0 victory.

It was a second win for coach Sphe Nzula‘s side, who had handed St Mary’s DSG (Pretoria) a hard-fought 1-0 defeat on Friday. That contest was decided in the last 30 seconds when Anna Schulze sneaked the goal that won it for Epworth. They were also held to goalless draws by Roedean School and St Dominic’s.

Durban Girls’ College picked up two wins, netting twice without conceding in 2-0 victories over St Andrew’s and Kingsmead respectively. They were also held to a surprising 1-1 draw by Brescia House.

The coastal side has enjoyed a fine season, which has been highlighted by their crowning as champions of the St Mary’s Waverley Festival. They also finished as runners-up at the St Anne’s Cup, where they were beaten by St Mary’s DSG (Kloof) in the final.

The Kloof girls, meanwhile, were edged out by St Mary’s Waverley, who won 1-0 in a nail-biter. The Johannesburg side also got by Epworth by the same scoreline.

Another Pietermaritzburg school, The Wykeham Collegiate, facing three extremely tough opponents on the final day, defeated St Stithians 1-0, shared a goalless draw with Durban Girls’ College, and finished 1-1 against St Mary’s DSG (Kloof).

RESULTS

St Mary’s Waverley 1-0 St Mary’s DSG (Kloof)
Durban Girls’ College 2-0 St Andrew’s
Durban Girls’ College 2-0 Kingsmead
Our Lady of Fatima 1-0 Brescia House
Roedean School 0-1 St Anne’s
The Wykeham Collegiate 1-0 St Dominic’s
Maris Stella 1-0 Roedean School
Maris Stella 0-0 St Mary’s DSG (Pretoria)
Maris Stella 0-0 Kingsmead
The Wykeham Collegiate 1-0 St Stithians
St Mary’s DSG (Pretoria) 0-1 St Anne’s
St John’s DSG 1-0 St Dominic’s
St Teresa’s 0-1 The Wykeham Collegiate
St John’s DSG 0-0 St Stithians
Our Lady of Fatima 0-2 Kingsmead
Brescia House 1-1 Durban Girls’ College
Our Lady of Fatima 0-2 St Andrew’s
Epworth 4-0 St Teresa’s
Epworth 0-1 St Mary’s Waverley
Epworth 0-0 Roedean
The Wykeham Collegiate 1-1 St Mary’s DSG (Kloof)

Maris Stella School enjoyed a good run on Friday’s first day of the Independent Schools’ Sports Festival (ISSF) at St Stithians College.

The ISSF is a two-day annual festival, which brings together the top Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal girls’ schools to test their hockey skills against each other, with the host alternately annually between the two provinces.

This year’s even marks the third time that St Stithians has hosted it, having previously filled in the role in 2001 and 2016.

Maris Stella under the mentorship of their coaches Eloise Walters and Ethan Biggar, delivered three wins on the opening day.

The Durban side secured a 1-0 victory over St Dominic’s Catholic School for Girls in their opener, following a back-and-forth clash. In their second outing, they outduelled Rosebank’s St Teresa’s School, winning 1-0 again, thanks to Alluluto Sikhosana, who scored the winning goals in both matches.

Walters’ girls stepped up their performance in the third game, brushing aside Brescia House 3-1. Again, Sikhosana was among the goals, striking twice, while Juliette Fenton added a third as the coastal crew took a comfortable win.

Walters described her team as ecstatic after their three victories: “We, as Maris Stella, are happy to be a part of this wonderful festival. The girls work hard and grow as a team in every match that they play. We are excited for the future of Maris Stella hockey,” said enthused.

Twenty-four matches were played on the opening day across four fields. The results included St Anne’s Diocesan College defeating St Andrew’s 1-0, and Epworth repeating that scoreline in a win over

St Teresa’s dominated against St John’s, winning 4-0, after racing into a 3-0 lead after only 10 minutes.

RESULTS

St Mary’s DSG (Pretoria) 0-4 Wykeham Collegiate
Wykeham Collegiate 5-0 Brescia House
Wykeham Collegiate 1-1 Kingsmead
St Mary’s DSG (Pretoria) 0-3 Our Lady of Fatima
St Mary’s DSG (Kloof) 4-0 Roedean School
St Mary’s DSG (Kloof) 1-1 St Stithians
St Mary’s DSG (Kloof) 2-0 Brescia House
St Stithians 0-0 Durban Girls’ College
St Mary’s Waverley 2-0 Durban Girls’ College
St Mary’s Waverley 1-0 St John’s
Durban Girls’ College 2-0  Roedean
St Andrew’s 0-1 St John’s
St Andrew’s 0-1 St Mary’s DSG (Kloof)
St John’s 4-0 St Teresa’s
St Teresa’s 0-3 Our Lady of Fatima
Our Lady of Fatima 3-0 St Mary’s PTA
St Anne’s 1-0 St Andrew’s
St Anne’s 0-0 St Mary’s Waverley
Epworth 1-0 St Mary’s DSG (Pretoria)
Epworth 0-0 St Dominic’s
Maris Stella 1-0 St Dominic’s
Maris Stella 1-0 St Teresa’s
Maris Stella 3-1 Brescia House

He’s young, goal-oriented, process-driven, passionate and hard-working, and he’s the coach of Parktown Boys’ High‘s impressive first hockey team. Meet Kyle Reddy.

Born on 16 March 1994, just before the dawn of democracy in South Africa, Reddy hails from the south of Johannesburg.

He has spent most of his life in his hometown, which has included attending the University of Johannesburg, where he also played hockey. Unfortunately, he suffered a serious shoulder injury early in his first year, which eliminated him from playing competitive sport.

Apart from hockey, Reddy’s favourite sport in his childhood was football, and he grew up supporting Liverpool, along with his father and younger brother.

“I am still an absolute die-hard Liverpool fan, with my favourite player of all time being Daniel Agger,” he said with pride.

However, it seems that artificial turf and hockey sticks stole Reddy’s heart when he was in high school. He had decided to play the game in grade 8 because an older friend said that it was just like football.  Reddy was pretty good at football, so he decided to give hockey a bash. While getting the hang of the game, he made his first school team, the u14C side.

His start in coaching, Reddy told SuperSport Schools Plus, came in 2013. Those early years were spent at Jeppe High School for Boys, working under an excellent trio of coaches in Ryan Ravenscroft, Bryan Hillock and the legendary Mike Bechet.

“Those three men are institutions in schoolboy hockey and I’m really glad they took me under their wings and guided me,” said Reddy.

He continues to be mentored nowadays, although those reins have now been assumed by Ricky West, Miguel De Graca and Sharmin Naidoo, who share ideas with him, giving him pause to think about hockey in different ways.

West and De Graca are old Parktonians. They are always willing to offer advice or are available to have Reddy bounce ideas off of them. They have both offered him guidance, too, in the provincial setup, with Wits, which was where he started to view the game in a different light.

“I’ve been mentored by some of the best hockey minds in the country and I’m very fortunate, but it also drives me to constantly test myself, and, when we come up against each other with our respective club and school sides, it’s always competitive as one tries to outdo the other,” Reddy said.

As a coach, he’s already won multiple medals at various men’s and schools’ IPTs and tournaments.

Currently, he is the South Africa u17 boys’ manager, and toured to Malaysia with the side in November 2023, where they won the silver medal in the Mirnawan Cup after going down 3-4 to India in the final.

More recently, he rates his Parktown Boys’ High team finishing as runners-up in the 2024 Aitken Cup as the highlight of his coaching career. He’s won many medals with a lot of big teams, but that Aitken run was special.

“It holds a special place because it’s been such a long time since Parktown was in an Aitken final (2010) and it’s been a project that they hired me for in 2018,” Reddy explained. “That medal represents a process and a plan coming together and a lot of [hard] work behind the scenes.

“We’ve also, over the last five years, developed a unique style of play of high intensity and very front foot and direct hockey, which is super entertaining to watch. Something like that also is developed by creating a culture in the team where everyone works hard for each other and has high expectations but is also willing to cover your teammate’s weaknesses,” he added.

Parktown’s successes this season also led to two of their players, Ryan Venter and Zeyad Davids, being selected for the Southern Gauteng provincial team.

One of the challenges of being a young coach, Reddy said, is it’s not a position that is financially rewarding. Therefore, finding a balance between studying, working, coaching and family is a challenge and hard. A lot of late nights and milestones with the family are missed.

However, Reddy also teaches at Parktown Boys’ High and does double duty as the Head of Sport, which makes everything manageable.

Something that motivates and excites him is the opportunity to work with talented sportsmen and to help mould them into good human beings through sport.

Schoolboy coaches have a responsibility to their players, too, he explained, to help them achieve university exemptions.

“Ultimately if one leaves my team having not learned something about yourself or not being a good person, I have failed,” he said.

“It’s something I stress to my guys. Do the small things. Greet, treat people with respect, help and mentor the younger guys. Be kind and always treat people with dignity, no matter who they are or what they do.”

The Parktown Boys’ High School 1st XI held St David’s Marist Inanda to a 2-2 draw at St David’s on Saturday, showing strong character to rescue a share of the spoils.

St David’s started the stronger and put the visitors into an 0-2 hole for the better part of the match.

The hosts appeared to be on course for victory after Niklaus Jooste netted five minutes from the end of the first chukka, followed by a brilliant field goal from Zuko Dingaan in the second quarter.

The end-to-end battle continued with both sides fashioning opportunities, without turning them into goals. St David’s, however, saw their lead evaporate in the dying minutes of the contest as coach Kyle Reddy‘s charges manufactured two goals of their own.

The first, scored five minutes from the end, came from Robert Bailey, who deposited a penalty stroke into the back of the St David’s goal box after a Parktown penalty corner had struck a post man on the goal line.

That goal fired up the Parktown faithful, who urged their team on to find an equaliser. Buoyed, the players responded.

With two minutes left, from a penalty corner, Ryan Venter beat the first-wave runner, then slotted past the goalkeeper to make it 2-2.

It has been a season in which Parktown has shown outstanding growth, with their strong character serving them especially well in recent weeks. Saturday’s draw was the latest example of it.

“St David’s got two early goals, putting us 0-2 down for almost the whole game. They pressed well, stopping all of our outlets and forcing turnovers high up the field, which they capitalised on twice,” Reddy commented.

“I think we did well to show resilience and fight back.”

Hoërskool Monument, meanwhile, ground out a 2-1 win over Helpmekaar Kollege.

The Krugersdorp side took only five minutes to open the scoring, and they doubled their advantage in the first chukka. From there, it was an arm wrestle.

Helpmekaar found a reply in the third chukka, but there was no further give in Monument’s defence and they claimed the victory.

In Pretoria, Sebastian Prozzi‘s goal propelled St John’s College to a tight 1-0 win over Pretoria Boys High School on the PBHS Hill Astro.

It was a welcome result for the visitors who had played to a 2-2 draw with Jeppe High School for Boys last weekend. In that clash, they showed great tenacity by rallying from two goals down to level against the Aitken Cup champions.

The Southern Gauteng u18 hockey squad to represent the province at the SASHOC National Week in Bloemfontein from 16 June has been announced, and it includes a number of players who helped Southerns make the final in 2023.

Within the 16-player squad are St Stithians’ Matt Eichweber, Deven Wax of Beaulieu College, and Avela Sibisi, from St David’s Marist Inanda, who did duty last year in Bloemfontein.

Jeppe High School for Boys provides three returning players in Boipelo Koloti, Joshua Renders and Ethan Kapanda. Those three have been at the forefront of Jeppe’s efforts this season and helped the school bag another Aitken Cup title this month.

Coach Anthony Woodhouse, assisted by Justin Rosenberg and team manager Siya Sityana, explained how they carried out the selection process.

“Our trial process is complicated,” Woodhouse said. “We have three- and four-term schools, with very different holiday periods to consider. This creates a small hiccup, in terms of when trials can take place. Then there is the sheer number of players from across Johannesburg and the Vaal area.

“We usually have district trials before centralised trials, totalling five to six rounds before the final teams are picked.

“This year, we split into A/B and C/D squads and had two training sessions before finalising the teams.

“Lastly, we have many traditional top hockey schools, as well as excellent players from lesser-known schools. This means that some excellent players miss out on selection across teams. Luckily, it’s a good problem to have,” Woodhouse said.

Last year, the team enjoyed a good run and placed second after winning four games, losing two, and drawing one. Southern Gauteng, as always, will be one of the favourites to win the provincial title, although the defending champions, Western Province, will be odds-on to add another crown.

Woodhouse believes his charges are on the right path so far in terms of their preparations. “They’ve gone well so far,” he reckoned.

“It is a bit of a balancing act, with many players writing exams, some still playing fixtures, and a few who have club commitments. Luckily, our sports scientist, Jarred Marsh, has been diligent in managing the load on the players.

“We have had a good number of training sessions and are playing practice matches against premier league club teams and other Southern Gauteng teams.

“I am excited to be working with such a high-quality management group, including Siya Sityana, Justin Rosenberg and Jarred Marsh, who bring with them a wealth of experience and knowledge.

“The team is starting to gel on and off the pitch and I am hopeful that we can bed down some smaller details in the final stretch to the IPT,” he added.

While Woodhouse politely admitted the goal is always to win the title, this year, he said, they “will take the tournament game by game.”

He concluded by saying” “I realise that this is a bit of a cliché, but I think it is especially important to have this outlook in our pool. We have both KZN teams, who are generally in the top four, as well as EP, Free State, and Northern Gauteng, who are all drawing on excellent schools to make up their teams. It is a very strong group, and the most consistent teams will make it to the semifinals.”

SOUTHERN GAUTENG TEAM

Joshua Renders (Jeppe High School for Boys), Ethan Kapanda (Jeppe High School for Boys), Ryan Venter (Parktown Boys’ High School); Fynn Campbell (King Edward VII School); Matt Eichweber (St Stithians College); Juan Martin (Jeppe High School for Boys), Ryan Harcourt-Baldwin (Jeppe High School for Boys); Zeyad Davids (Parktown Boys’ High School), Boipelo Koloti (Jeppe High School for Boys), Tyler Napier (Home School), Jack Waddell (St David’s Marist Inanda), Devin Wax (Beaulieu College), Avela Sibisi (St David’s Marist Inanda), Nashaan Matroos (Dainfern College), Ben Benjamin (Jeppe High School for Boys), Jared Beilings (St David’s Marist Inanda).

TECHNICAL TEAM

Coach – Anthony Woodhouse – St John’s College
Assistant coach – Justin Rosenberg – Redhill
Manager – Siya Sityana – Jeppe High School for Boys

On a busy hockey weekend for Gauteng schools, Parktown Boys’ High‘s impressive season continued to gain steam as they edged out St Benedict’s College in an entertaining derby clash in Bedfordview.

There were five goals scored, with the visitors claiming a 3-2 victory, thanks to a penalty corner from Ryan Venter, a brilliant field goal from Miles Makudo, and a penalty stroke from Robert Bailey.

Commenting on the contest, Parktown coach Kyle Reddy said: “The game was hard fought. St Benedict’s did well to push us, but we stuck to the plan and kept knocking at the door and eventually got the late winner. Brilliant team effort!”

Saturday’s game also saw two of the Parktown boys achieve significant personal milestones, with Ryan Venter and Nicholas Townsend picking up their 100th caps.

“I’m proud of these two young men,” Reddy said. “From being young players in the first team in grade 10, they have grown into phenomenal hockey players.

“I’m glad Ryan could get a goal to mark this occasion, Nicholas was unfortunate not to get a goal, but his effort won us the penalty stroke that ultimately won us the game. Shows what key players they have been and continue to be for Parktown,” he added.

King Edward VII (KES), meanwhile, broke open a tight stalemate to secure a 1-0 victory over Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool (Affies) in Johannesburg.

It took until there were seven minutes remaining in the contest for KES to find the winner, with a PC bringing them the all-important only goal of the match.

Meanwhile, St John’s College came back from 0-2 down to hold Jeppe High School for Boys to a 2-2 draw at Jeppe.

The Zebras scored one in each of the first two chukkas to lead 2-0 but St John’s found a reply just before half-time to pull within one. Five minutes from the end of the contest, they converted a penalty corner to snatch a hard-fought draw.

In a big clash of Pretoria schools, Garsfontein and Menlopark played to a 1-1 draw. Meanwhile, Pretoria Boys High repeated that score in their match at Michaelhouse.

St Stithians, playing in Pietermaritzburg, claimed a 3-2 win over St Charles College, and St David’s Marist Inanda ran out 2-0 winners over Waterkloof.

RESULTS

St Benedict’s College 3-2 Parktown Boys
King Edward VII 1-0 Affies
Jeppe High School for Boys 2-2 St John’s College
St David’s Marist Inanda 2-0 Waterkloof High
Garsfontein 1-1 Menlopark
Pretoria Boys’ High 1-1 Michaelhouse
St Charles College 2-3 St Stithians College