Author: cschiwanza

KZN Coastal A booked a place in the SASHOC National Week final, courtesy of an outstanding 2-0 semi-final victory over Eastern Province A on Pape’s Astro, at Maritzburg College, on Friday afternoon.

“We are very privileged and honoured to be in the final,” Chardinay Penniston, the KZN Coastal coach, told SuperSport Schools Plus afterwards. “I think the girls have put in a big shift.

“Everything we’ve stuck to and our structures, and how we play and how we would like this process to look at the end, has finally come together. So, it’s a truly good experience and we’re looking forward to the final.”

Coastal will lock horns with Boland A in the title game, which takes place at 10:05 on Saturday morning.

Last year, the KwaZulu-Natal Coastal side finished third. They’re already assured of going at least one place better, but they have their sights set on lifting the trophy

Penniston’s charges reached the semifinals by fighting their way through a tough Pool B, where they faced serious challengers in KZN Inland A, Western Province A, and last year’s runner-up, Northern Gauteng A. They also had to deal with Western Province B and Border A.

“Our pool was exceptionally hard. We fell short against Inland. It’s a KZN derby, so that was really hard, but we picked ourselves up in the next few games,” Penniston said.

A 0-1 loss to Inland was sandwiched between two high-scoring victories, a 4-0 triumph over Province B and a 5-0 walloping of Border. However, Coastal showed true character when they fought back to secure a 3-3 draw against Western Province A after trailing 0-2.

Penniston said her team’s ability and willingness to stick to their structure is a major reason for their success.

Coastal’s players have also proved to be dynamic when they have needed to change their formations. Instead of trying to force matters, they have adapted to different conditions and have always tried to do what they felt was in the team’s best interests.

It worked for them in their semi-final showdown with the previously unbeaten Eastern Province. They installed a game plan that kept EP captain Abigail Holderness off the scoresheet.

With nine goals to her name, Holderness tops the tournament’s goalscoring charts. Her outstanding play had been the engine that has driven the EP challenge. On Friday, though, the KZN Coastal defenders denied her room to express herself.

The side’s dynamic midfielders and forwards also caused problems for Eastern Province, and one of their attacks resulted in a penalty stroke in the 23rd minute, which Jamie da Silva converted to give KZN Coastal the lead.

It remained tight as Coastal held onto a precarious one-goal advantage until the 59th minute. Then, Caprice Bengtson ended Eastern Province’s dreams of a comeback when she rammed in her first goal of the tournament. KZN Coastal led 2-0 and EP was unable to muster a response.

KZN Coastal will have a tough job on their hands when they go up against coach Chris Gerber and his Boland team in the final. The local lasses, though, have no intention of changing their winning formula. They’ll stick to their structure and adapt their play to the game’s demands.

Results

Western Province B (3) 3 – Tatum Malherbe, Kate Naiker, Inam Gungebele. Southern Gauteng B: (2) 3 – Dannika Ramroop (2), Kayla Williscroft
Border A: 2 – Busiwe Mayekiso, Kishka Baartman. Northern Gauteng B: 1 – Priella Nsubuga
Boland A: (3) 2 – Cassie Fairbairn, Leah du Plessis. Western Province A: (0) 2 – Nina Wides (2)
Northern Gauteng A: 2 – Lisa Grey, Andrea Groenewald. Southern Free State A: 0.
KZN Coastal A: 2 – Jamie da Silva, Caprice Bengtson. Eastern Province A: 0.
Southern Gauteng A: 4 – Tori Tanner-Ellis, Azania Petersen, Keovaan Jansen, Amber Fairon. KZN Inland A: 0.

Fixtures

07:30 – Southern Gauteng A vs Northern Gauteng A (5 and 6)
08:40 – Border A vs Western Province B (9 and 10)
08:40 – Northern Gauteng B vs Southern Gauteng B (11 and 12)
09:50 – KZN Inland A vs Southern Free State A (7 and 8)
10:20 – Boland A vs KZN Coastal A (final)
11:15 – Eastern Province A vs Western Province A (3 and 4)

Andrea Fortuin pulled off three outstanding saves in a penalty shootout to usher Boland A into the final of the SASHOC National Week.

Thanks to her heroics, Boland clinched a 3-0 victory over Western Province A on penalties on Pape’s Astro, at Maritzburg College, on Friday morning.

“She stepped up when it really mattered. She was phenomenal in the shootout,” Chris Gerber, the Boland coach, told SuperSport Schools Plus.

Boland will meet KZN Coastal in the final to be contested at 10:05 on Saturday morning.

Gerber’s charges asserted themselves from the first pushback of the contest. They forced Province onto the back foot and didn’t have to wait long before they were rewarded with a goal, with Cassie Fairbairn firing the ball into the back of the net just three minutes in.

Boland won five penalty corners in the first half, and four of those opportunities went begging. However, on their fifth attempt, they hit pay dirt. Captain Leah du Plessis drilled the ball past Province’s defence to double Boland’s lead in the final seconds of the first half.

It had all gone swimmingly well for Boland. Their defence was operating like a well-oiled machine, denying Province room to manoeuvre and smothering Province’s forwards when they entered the final third. However, Coach Natalie Esteves‘s side still had plenty of fight left in them.

“They had nothing to lose, and they threw everything at us. They had two opportunities and utilised both,” Gerber said.

Nina Wides kept Province in the hunt for a place in the final when struck eight minutes from the end of regulation time by converting her side’s fourth penalty corner with a sweetly struck shot.

That goal injected new life into Western Province, and they continued to pressure Boland. Just two minutes from the end, they equalised, and, like the first goal, it was Wides who scored, once again from a penalty corner. That sent the game into a penalty shootout.

“I told the girls to take a deep breath. We were in a moment that we had prepared and practiced for before,” Gerber said.

Boland took the first penalty and converted. Province would have issued an immediate response had Fortuin not been on top of her game. Unfortunately for them, she was. She didn’t just save Province’s first penalty attempt. She stymied them three times in succession.

Boland, meanwhile, converted three of their four penalties, and that was enough to secure a spot in the final.

Results

Western Province B (3 )3 – Tatum Malherbe, Kate Naiker, Inam Gungebele. Southern Gauteng B: (2) 3 – Dannika Ramroop (2), Kayla Williscroft
Border A: 2 – Busiwe Mayekiso, Kishka Baartman. Northern Gauteng B: 1 – Priella Nsubuga
Boland A: (3) 2 – Cassie Fairbairn, Leah du Plessis. Western Province A: (0) 2 – Nina Wides (2
Northern Gauteng A: 2 – Lisa Grey, Andrea Groenewald. Southern Free State A: 0.
KZN Coastal A: 2 – Jamie da Silva, Caprice Bengtson. Eastern Province A: 0.
Southern Gauteng A: 4 – Tori Tanner-Ellis, Azania Petersen, Keovaan Jansen, Amber Fairon. KZN Inland A: 0.

Fixtures:

07:30 – Southern Gauteng A vs Northern Gauteng A (5 and 6)
08:40 – Border A vs Western Province B (9 and 10)
08:40 – Northern Gauteng B vs Southern Gauteng B (11 and 12)
09:50 – KZN Inland A vs Southern Free State A (7 and 8)
10:20 – Boland A vs KZN Coastal A (final)
11:15 – Eastern Province A vs Western Province A (3 and 4)

Eastern Province A will battle KwaZulu-Natal Coastal in the second semi-final of the girls’ section of the u18 SASHOC National Week on Friday at 13:40 at Maritzburg College.

Looking ahead to the final four clash, Geowynne Gamiet, the Eastern Province coach, told SuperSport Schools Plus: “Coastal has strong runners and they press high.

“They are going to be a tough opposition, but we will bring our A-game and bring everything into the match.”

Gamiet’s side has executed one of the best turnarounds of the past 12 months. Last year, Eastern Province finished a lowly ninth at the SASHOC National Week. They went away, regrouped, and have returned a stronger and better side.

Captained by Abigail Holderness, they have strung together a five-match winning streak that catapulted them to the summit of Pool A. They’re aiming to extend their winning run against KZN Coastal.

On their way to the semi-finals, Eastern Province overcame powerhouses that included the defending champions, Southern Gauteng A, plus one of the perennial favourites, Southern Free State A, and Boland A, who have also qualified for the semi-finals.

However, those five wins have not lulled them into a false sense of security ahead of their fixture against KZN Coastal.

The Chardinay Penniston-coached side subjected Eastern Province to a 3-1 defeat when they met in the group stages last year. Gamiet’s outfit is working towards a different outcome this year.

Eastern Province confirmed their place in the semi-finals on Wednesday already. But that didn’t mean they took their final Pool A match against Northern Gauteng B lightly, and the Sky Blues gave EP a tough workout.

“It was probably our toughest encounter,” Gamiet said after a testing 1-0 win. “The girls have been scoring freely throughout the tournament, but Northerns defended so well. They frustrated us at every turn.”

Eastern Province was forced to be patient, and they grudgingly complied. “They learned a tough lesson. Sometimes you have to grind out a win, and that is what they did,” said Gamiet.

The Eastern Province coach is wary of KZN Coastal’s attacking threat. Zezethu Kunene, Jamie da Silva, and Jenna-Leigh Freese have shown a knack for scoring goals that matter, and the trio all scored in Coastal’s tightly contested 3-3 draw against Western Province A in their final group match on Thursday.

Gamiet hopes that, facing skilful opposition, his defenders will keep up their outstanding form at the back. They’ve been guided well by goalkeeper Rebecca Haswell, who has marshalled her defenders well and kept them calm when the pressure has ratcheted up.

“They are a dogged lot. They fight hard and sometimes get angry when they give the ball away in defence.” Gamiet said. “Rebecca has done a lot to make sure that they remain composed and on their toes.”

With KZN Coastal focused on improving on their third-place finish of 2024, buoyed by strong backing from their home supporters, Eastern Province will need to be on top of their game to secure a place in the title decider.

Results

Pool A

Boland A: 3 – Pippa Viljoen, Leah du Plessis, Skylar Bougaard. Southern Gauteng A: 1 – Azania Petersen.
Southern Free State A: 4 – Bianca Rees-Gibbs (2), Carli Oosthuizen (2). Southern Gauteng B: 1 – Juliet Horton.
Eastern Province A: 1 – Mike Holder. Northern Gauteng B: 0.

Pool B

Northern Gauteng A: 3 – Lisa Grey, Amogelang Motlatle, Mia Pretorius. KZN Inland: 2 – Jasmin Kelly, Annabelle Balmer.
Western Province B: 2 – Anjum Kazie, Tatum Malherbe. Border A: 2 – Kishka Baartman, Busiwe Mayekiso.
KZN Coastal A: 3 – Jenna-Leigh Freese, Jamie da Silva, Zezethu Kunene. Western Province A: 3 – Samantha Flint, Isabelle Amm, Emma Hibbert.
KZN Inland A: 1 – Jasmin Kelly. Western Province B: 0.

Western Cape sides, Boland A and Western Province A, will renew their rivalry when they lock horns in the u18 SASHOC National Week semi-finals on Friday morning.

They’re set to do battle for a place in the final at 10:50, on Pape’s Astro, at Maritzburg College.

The hockey showpiece, which began on Monday, is hurtling towards the business end, with the final, to be contested on Saturday.

“We are feeling prepared and excited to be in the semis. We are expecting to play a well-coached and structured team. It will be a tough game as they always seem to put it together when it counts,” Leah du Plessis, the Boland captain, told SuperSport Schools Plus.

The Boland skipper has enjoyed a fruitful inter-provincial tournament and lies third on the leaderboard of leading goal-scorers, behind Eastern Province A‘s Abigail Holderness and Southern Gauteng A‘s Amber Fairon.

The 2025 event has also brought an improved showing out of Boland, who finish fifth in 2024. “Last year was very disheartening as we could not score, even though we had a good team on paper. This year we have worked on finer moves to attack as a team and also to support in various situations.,” Du Plessis said.

“Our coaching staff has also played a big role in our success by ensuring that we are physically and mentally prepared for each game.”

Du Plessis and her teammates will need to be at their best because their opponents are highly motivated and playing good hockey. Like Boland, Province did not do well last year, when they finished seventh.

Coach Natalie Esteves‘s side has been performing like a well-oiled machine this time around, though, and, with a record of three wins and two draws, is one of two unbeaten sides at the tournament, along with Eastern Province A, who were undefeated in Pool A.

Province has been sound on both attack and defence, scoring 15 goals and conceding only three, although all three came in Thursday’s clash with KZN Coastal A, which ended in a pulsating 3-3 draw.

Emma Hibbert opened the scoring for Province with a goal in the ninth minute. That strike was followed by a long period of both sides trading blows without being able to prise open the opposing defence.

Eventually, Samantha Flint doubled Province’s lead after 38 minutes of play with a penalty corner conversion. That two-goal cushion didn’t last long, though, and Jenna-Leigh Freese pulled a goal back six minutes later. Zezethu Kunene, who has been one of Coastal’s leading goal-scorers, equalised with 10 minutes left on the clock.

Province responded well and bagged a third goal only two minutes later through Isabella Amm, but KZN Coastal kept taking it to Province and they restored parity through a reverse stick flick over the ‘keeper by Jamie da Silva two minutes after Amm’s goal.

Boland, on the other hand, finished in second place in Pool A. Coach Chris Gerber‘s side won four of their five matches, only dropping points in a 1-2 defeat to Eastern Province.

On Thursday, Boland completed their pool assignments with a 3-1 triumph over the defending champions, Southern Gauteng A.

“The girls showed great composure. We went down in the first five minutes, and the pressure was on us. But the team kept pushing through. They trusted the system, kept faith in the game plan,” Gerber told SuperSport Schools Plus.

It took only three minutes for Azania Petersen to put Southerns ahead, but Boland stuck to their game plan and Pippa Viljoen levelled the scores in the 12th minute.

“The team has been really good when it comes to scoring goals when it matters,” Gerber said. “That’s what they did today.”

For the next half-an-hour, it was all-square at 1-1. Then, Skylar Bougaard broke the stalemate with a field goal to put Boland into the lead. Du Plessis, who has masterfully led the side, put her stamp on the tie when she scored Boland’s third in the last minute of play.

Contests between Boland and Province have traditionally been enthralling. Last year, when they met late in the tournament, with neither side in the running for the title, they still produced a humdinger. with Boland edging out Western Province 2-1 in that encounter.

Gerber’s side will be keen to build on that history as they pursue a place in the final. Province, meanwhile, will be determined to maintain their unbeaten run at the SASHOC National Week and, thus, secure their place in the title game.

Results

Pool B

Northern Gauteng A: 3 – Lisa Grey, Amogelang Motlatle, Mia Pretorius. KZN Inland: 2 – Jasmin Kelly, Annabelle Balmer.
Western Province B: 2 – Anjum Kazie, Tatum Malherbe. Border A: 2 – Kishka Baartman, Busiwe Mayekiso.
KZN Coastal A: 3 – Jenna-Leigh Freese, Jamie da Silva, Zezethu Kunene. Western Province A: 3 – Samantha Flint, Isabelle Amm, Emma Hibbert.
KZN Inland A: 1 – Jasmin Kelly. Western Province B: 0.

Pool A

Boland A: 3 – Pippa Viljoen, Leah du Plessis, Skylar Bougaard. Southern Gauteng A: 1 – Azania Petersen.
Southern Free State A: 4 – Bianca Rees-Gibbs (2), Carli Oosthuizen (2). Southern Gauteng B: 1 – Juliet Horton.
Eastern Province A: 1 – Mike Holder. Northern Gauteng B: 0.

Western Province A planted one foot in the semi-finals of the SASHOC National Week when they drew 0-0 with Western Province B at Maritzburg College on Tuesday.

Coach Natalie Esteves’ side hasn’t lost, recording three wins and a draw in their four outings.

Province has one more match to go on Thursday and a win in that fixture would confirm their passage into the semi-finals.

Making it to the top four would be a huge improvement over their seventh-place finish in the 2024 tournament.

Province has 10 points from four games. A draw against second-placed KZN Coastal, whom they meet on Thursday morning, would put them into the final four.

Coastal, meanwhile, has nine points and would need Northern Gauteng A and Province B to do them favours should they fail to beat Province A.

The KZN girls kept their semi-final dream alive with a tight 1-0 win over Northerns. The three points they picked up for the win kept them three clear of their neighbours, KZN Inland.

However, unlike Coastal, who have played four games, Inland has played only three matches and has two games to go on Thursday.

Coach Morne Odendaal‘s side inserted themselves into the conversation for a semi-final berth by beating Border A 4-1 on Wednesday, with goals from Emma Williams, Annabelle Balmer, Jasmin Kelly, and Siphokazi Mpontshane. Busiwe Mayekiso replied for Border.

Border has found the going tough at the SASHOC National Week and had scored only one goal ahead of their clash with KZN Inland, by Tarelle Jones in a 1-3 loss to Northern Gauteng A.

That defeat was followed by an 0-7 setback against Western Province A and a 0-5 defeat at the hands of KZN Coastal A.

It looked as if they might be in for more of the same as KZN Inland made a blistering start, drawing blood in the first minute of play with a wonderful field goal from Emma Williams.

However, in a move that was uncharacteristic of their form, Border issued an almost immediate response to Inland’s goal with a reply from Busiwe Mayekiso in the fourth minute. For the next 32 minutes, it remained 1-1.

Six minutes into the second half, Balmer broke the stalemate with a penalty corner conversion. Then, in the final stages of the contest, the host province executed a one-two punch to put the match beyond Border’s reach.

Kelly increased their advantage to 3-1 with a field goal, which was followed soon after by Mpontshane’s second goal of the IPTs and Inland’s fourth.

Odendaal’s side has an opportunity to put the top two teams under pressure when they go up against last year’s runners-up, Northerns, at 07:30.

Should they make it past Northerns, they will have an opportunity to punch their ticket to the semi-finals when they face Western Province B at 17:25.

The top of the table contest between Western Province A and KZN Coastal will be in the spotlight at 10:20.

Results

Western Province A: 0. Western Province B: 0.
KZN Coastal A: 1 – Jada Blair. Northern Gauteng A: 0.
KZN Inland A: 4 – Emma Williams, Annabelle Balmer, Jasmin Kelly, Siphokazi Mpontshane. Border A: 1 – Busiwe Mayekiso.

Abigail Holderness scored a second hat-trick in three days to lead Eastern Province A to a 4-1 win over Southern Free State A in their SASHOC National Week contest at St Anne’s DSG, in Hilton, on Wednesday.

The victory extended Eastern Province’s winning streak to four in a row and guarantees them a semi-final slot with a game in hand.

That’s a far cry from 2024 when Eastern Province endured a rough campaign, finishing fifth in their pool and ninth in the tournament.

“The IPT was quite tough last year, but I have learnt a lot and hope to create a happy and positive environment with my team as this experience will be a memory forever,” Holderness, the Eastern Province captain, told Supersport Schools Plus.

Holderness, who is the tournament’s leading goal-scorer, with nine goals to her name, opened the scoring in the 12th minute with a penalty corner conversion.

She doubled Eastern Province’s lead in the 33rd minute with another short corner conversion. Then, in the 50th minute, Holderness slotted again from a penalty corner to complete her hattrick.

“It is always nice to have a few goals behind your name. However, goals require a number of intercepts, passes, leads, etc. to make it happen, so each goal is a collection of small moments from the team,” Holderness said.

Tavia Williams got Free State on the board with a goal in the 57th minute, but that was too little too late. By then, the die had been cast.

In the final minute of the match, Linathi Goniwe hammered the final nail into the Southern Free State coffin as the Eastern Province Express continued on its merry winning way.

While Holderness is enjoying the moment and her team’s strong campaign so far, the DSG Makhanda learner understands that the tournament is far from over and matters will get tougher as the showpiece heads towards its conclusion. With that in mind, she refuses to sit on her laurels or bask in past glory.

“We need to keep looking forward and thinking about the next job. Nothing is ever possible without a team. We just need to keep working hard and play for one another out there,” she said.

Sarah-Ellen Groenewald, with two goals, and Minke Botha were on target for Boland A as they romped to a comfortable 3-0 win over Northern Gauteng B on Wednesday morning.

That triumph left Boland with one foot in the semi-finals. They’re in second place, trailing only Eastern Province, with three wins from four outings.

A draw or a win in their final group match will see coach Chris Gerber’s side into the final four. However, they’ll face a stiff challenge from a motivated Southern Gauteng A side that is also on the hunt for a semi-final berth at 11:45 on Thursday morning.

Southerns, the defending champions, have a spring in their step following a 7-0 hammering of Southern Gauteng B. Amber Fairon fired home four goals, while Kate Horton, Kristen Cikes, and Raffael Abrahams added a goal each.

After that result, they’re two points behind Boland in the standings, with two wins, one draw and a loss to Eastern Province from their four matches. Only a win will do when they take on the Western Cape side on Thursday.

Eastern Province has a Thursday afternoon appointment with Northern Gauteng B, at 14:35, when they’ll go for their fifth win on the trot.

Results

Eastern Province A: 4 – Abigail Holderness (3), Linathi Goniwe. Southern Free State A: 1 – Tavia Williams.
Boland A: 3 – Sarah-Ellen Groenewald (2), Minke Botha. Northern Gauteng B: 0.
Southern Gauteng A: 7 – Amber Fairon (4), Kate Horton, Kristen Cikes, Raffael Abrahams. Southern Gauteng B: 0.

Western Province A turned up the heat, scoring nine unanswered goals across two games to march to the top of Pool B at the u18 SASHOC National Week on Tuesday.

Coach Natalie Esteves‘ charges posted wins over Border A and Northern Gauteng A at St Anne’s DSG, in Hilton, on Tuesday, which shot them to the top of Pool B, with three wins from three matches.

“The girls are playing together nicely, connecting their passes well,” Esteves said after their second match of the day, a tough fixture against Northerns.

Before that assignment, Province routed Border 7-0. Thimna Waka and Khanya Moore led the way, scoring twice each, while Chelsey McGregor, Emma Hibbert, and Sarah Ashbolt also scored.

Hibbert, who was on the scoresheet in Province’s first match, opened the scoring with a penalty corner conversion in the fourth minute. Then, Waka and Moore added further goals in the 15th and 17th minutes to put Province into a comfortable lead early in the second chukka.

McGregor and Ashbolt struck in the 41st and 42nd minutes to swell Western Province’s lead to 5-0 before Moore and Waka put the match to bed with strikes in the 47th and 60th minutes.

In the afternoon, Western Province carried that good form into their contest against a well-drilled Northern Gauteng A.

“The scoresheet doesn’t show how tough it was. Northerns didn’t make things easy for us,” Esteves told Supersport Schools Plus.

The sides tested each other’s defences in a goalless first half. Early in the second stanza, Moore broke the deadlock with a penalty corner conversion in the 36th minute. Camryn Corner, then, doubled the Western Province advantage with a field goal four minutes later.

The back-to-back wins leave Province as one of two unbeaten sides in the girls’ competition, the other being Eastern Province A, in Pool A. Esteves is not, however, letting her team’s fruitful run lull the side into a false sense of security.

“Tournament hockey is funny. There is no room to feel comfortable. Tomorrow, we go up against our B side, which has some good players, so we will need to produce a good performance,” she said.

KZN Coastal A and Northerns are in second and third place after the second day’s play. Both have two wins from three outings. Coastal began the day with a 0-1 loss to their neighbours, KZN Inland A, in the morning, but they bounced back with a 5-0 battering of Border A.

Jenna-Leigh Freese led the scoring with a brace, and then Nicola Forbes, Zezethu Kunene, and Jamie da Silva added a goal each.

Northerns, on the other hand, won on Tuesday morning, beating Western Province B 2-1, courtesy of goals from Amogelang Motlatle and Thato Dimpe, while Ilke van der Merwe scored for the Capetonians.

In the afternoon, Sinoxolo Mbekeni’s team was unable to repeat a winning showing against Western Province A.

Province will have a chance to solidify their position at the top of Pool B when they lock horns with Province B in a derby encounter at 11:45 on Wednesday morning.

Northerns will be put to the test when they go up against KZN Coastal A at 13:10. That tie could go a long way in determining who finishes second in the group.

The hosts, KZN Inland A take on Border at 14:35.

Results

Northern Gauteng A: 2 – Amogelang Motlatle, Thato Dimpe. Western Province B: 1 – Ilke van der Merwe.
Western Province A: 7 – Thimna Waka (2), Khanya Moore (2), Chelsey McGregor, Emma Hibbert, Sarah Ashbolt. Border A: 0.
KZN Inland A: 1 – Siphokazi Mpontshane. KZN Coastal A: 0
Western Province A: 2 – Khanya Moore, Camryn Corner. Northern Gauteng A: 0.
KZN Coastal A: 5 – Jenna-Leigh Freese, Nicola Forbes, Zezethu Kunene, Jamie da Silva. Border A: 0.

Eastern Province A extended their winning streak to three games in a row with a hard-fought 3-2 victory over the defending champions, Southern Gauteng A, in a Pool A contest at the u18 SASHOC National Week, played at Maritzburg College, on Tuesday.

The win strengthened Eastern Province A’s position at the top of Pool A.

“Today was a fight. Southern Gauteng brought the heat, and the girls had to dig deep to come away with a win. They performed as a team,” Geowynne Gamiet, the Eastern Province A coach, told Supersport Schools Plus.

Eastern Province’s captain, Abigail Holderness, is one of the few players who was part of their 2024 team. She’s been a standout, leading from the front, while letting her experience and hockey IQ do the talking for her on the Astro this year.

The DSG Makhanda learner has also been on the scoresheet in all three games of Eastern Province’s game, and has six goals to her name, the most by a player so far in the tournament.

In the first chukka of their showdown with Southerns, Holderness scored the opener, a penalty stroke, just before the end of the quarter. Kerrin Gillies doubled their lead with a penalty corner four minutes into the second chukka.

Amber Fairon cut Eastern Province A’s lead in half with a goal from a penalty corner in the 34th minute.

Trailing by a goal, Natasha le Roux‘s side exerted pressure onto Eastern Province and, as Gamiet put it, his charges had to dig deep.

Eastern Province didn’t sit back and wait for Southerns to attack them. They responded with forays of their own into the opposition half and they were rewarded when Kate Brennan restored their two-goal cushion with a field goal in the 53rd minute.

Southern Gauteng A refused to give up the fight and fought to the literal final second, as evidenced by their second goal, a well-worked move, which was finished by Keovaan Jansen just before the final whistle.

Boland A recovered from their 1-2 loss to Eastern Province A on Monday with a 3-0 win over Southern Gauteng B. Coach Chris Gerber’s side produced a clinical performance against coach Garth Neilson’s charges.

“The girls played with the with the right intensity throughout. They kept the ball nicely and controlled the game for long periods,” Gerber shared.

Leah du Plessis is one of the leading goal-scorers at the inter-provincial tournament with four goals in three outings and she put Boland ahead with a penalty corner conversion in the 12th minute.

“Leah works extremely hard on and off the ball. She also has a way of getting herself into great positions,” Gerber said.

Joné de Winnaar doubled the Boland lead with a strike in the 20th minute. Like the first one, De Winnaar’s goal also came from a penalty corner. Elré Oosthuizen scored her second goal of the tournament and Boland’s third in the 26th minute.

The Western Cape side’s success was as much the result of the forwards doing a great job up front as it was because of their sound defensive work. Gerber’s charges were solid at the back and fought hard in one-on-one situations.

“They stayed in the challenge for as long as possible,” Gerber explained. “They also manipulated space well and did a great job connecting with the midfielders and forwards.”

Boland has an opportunity to pick up a third win when they face Northern Gauteng B at 07:30 on Wednesday morning.

The two Southern Gauteng sides will square off in a derby away from home at 08:55, while Eastern Province A has a potentially tricky assignment against Southern Free State A at 10:20.

Results

Southern Free State A: 5 – Nthati Monyai, Georgia Kambanis, Xylia Choene, Bianca Rees-Gibbs, Quincley Norris. Northern Gauteng B: 0.
Eastern Province A: 3 – Abigail Holderness, Kerrin Gillies, Kate Brennan. Southern Gauteng A: 2 – Amber Fairon, Keovaan Jansen.
Boland A: 3 – Leah du Plessis, Joné de Winnaar, Elré Oosthuizen. Southern Gauteng B: 0

Northern Gauteng A, Western Province A, and KwaZulu-Natal Coastal A were tied at the top of Pool B in the girls’ u18 section after day one’s action at the SASHOC Inter-Provincial Tournament on Monday.

All three won their opening fixtures and are separated by goal difference only.

KZN Coastal A, who kicked off their campaign with a 4-0 drubbing of Western Province B, are sitting at the summit.

Western Province A lies second after a 3-0 win over KZN Inland A, and Northern Gauteng A holds down third spot, thanks to a 3-1 defeat of Border A.

The event, being hosted by KZN Inland, is being played at St Anne’s DSG, in Hilton, and Maritzburg College, in Pietermaritzburg, and runs through to 5 July.

Sinoxolo Mbekeni‘s Northern Gauteng A scripted an incredible run at last year’s tournament. They went all the way through to the final, where they lost to Southern Gauteng A in a penalty shootout. in 2025, only two players, Andrea Groenewald and Okuhle Ntshaba, are back from that team.

While the lineup is almost completely different, Mbekeni’s side is keen to write another stirring chapter in the province’s hockey history.

“I think we took a while to get going in the game today. We were not doing the right things often enough,” Mbekeni told Supersport Schools Plus after her side scored a hard-fought win.

In the first chukka, Northerns A trailed 0-1 after a field goal from Tarelle Jones gave Border the lead in the 11th minute. That goal, however, stirred Northern Gauteng A to life. Still, it took them a long time before they finally cracked Border’s defence.

At last, though, in the 45th minute, Thato Dimpe registered Northern Gauteng’s first goal. Then, while Border was still feeling their way back, Motlatle Amogelang struck two minutes later with another field goal to give Northerns the lead for the first time.

Zoe Badenhorst hammered the final nail in the coffin with a last-minute strike, again a field goal, to secure victory for Mbekeni’s outfit.

“I think we did well in focusing on the right things and we needed to keep playing our style to ensure success,” Mbekeni summed up the win.

Western Province A arrived in Pietermaritzburg determined to banish memories of last year’s campaign. They finished in a disappointing seventh place in Bloemfontein, and they wanted to consign that effort to history.

Hannah Henderson, Samantha Flint, Georgia Maw, Jehan Abrahams, Khanya Moore, and Zara Berrisford, all members of last year’s side, were especially intent on writing a new, exciting chapter.

The Natalie Esteves-coached side make a good start to that endeavour with a 3-0 victory over KZN Inland to get their campaign underway in style, with Emma Hibbert, Chelsey McGregor, and Thimna Waka netting for Western Province A.

After 32 minutes, Hibbert converted a penalty corner to put Western Province A ahead. McGregor doubled their lead with a field goal nine minutes later, and Waka made it 3-0 in the final seconds of the contest.

KZN Coastal finished third in 2024, and a win in their opener helped lay a sound foundation for another run at the title.

Nicola Dudas inspired Coastal to victory with a brace, which bookended their scoring. She slotted the opener in the 16th minute, which was the first of three goals in three minutes for the KZN side. Zezethu Kunene doubled Coastal’s lead a minute later before Gabi Howarth rounded off the blitz in the 18th minute.

In the 34th minute, Dudas increased the cushion to four goals. That was a mountain too high for Western Province B to climb.

Western Province A will have an opportunity to claim their second win of the tournament when they go up against Border A at 07:30 on Tuesday morning. Northern Gauteng A will joust with Western Province B at 08:55, and KZN Coastal has a date with their neighbours and hosts, KZN Inland A at 10:20.

Results

Northern Gauteng A: 3 – Thato Dimpe, Amogelang Motlatle, Zoe Badenhorst. Border A: 1 – Tarelle Jones.
Western Province A: 3 – Emma Hibbert, Chelsey McGregor, Thimna Waka. KZN Inland A: 0.
KZN Coastal A: 4 – Nicola Dudas (2), Zezethu Kunene, Gabi Howarth. Western Province B: 0.

Eastern Province A captain, Abigail Holderness, brought the heat to a chilly KZN midlands day with a five-goal haul on the opening day of the SASHOC Inter-Provincial Tournament.

The industrious midfielder fired in a hat-trick and a brace to help Eastern Province A secure back-to-back victories over Southern Gauteng B and Boland A on Monday.

The inter-provincial matches are being split between St Anne’s Diocesan College and Maritzburg College, with the showpiece event running through until 5 July.

“Abigail led the team from the front in both matches today,” Geowynne Gamiet, the Eastern Province A coach, told Supersport Schools Plus.

Holderness fired in a hat-trick in Eastern Province’s 6-0 victory over Southern Gauteng B, then she drilled in another two goals as EP edged out Boland A 2-1 later in the day in a meeting of two of the title contenders.

Last year, Eastern Province finished ninth. While low, that placing did not tell the full story of the province. Their hockey was on the rise, and their u16 A team winning the 2024 National Week was proof of that.

Gamiet has retained six players from last year’s u18 team, while the rest of the lineup moved up from the u16 side.

“We wanted to blow Southern Gauteng B out of the water early,” he said of his side’s opener. “The girls followed the gameplan well and we got the results we were after.”

Taryn Peltenburg opened the scoring for Eastern Province in the fifth minute before Holderness slotted goals in the sixth and 14th minutes to put Eastern Province 3-0 up in the first chukka. As Gamiet had hoped, they had blown their opposition out of the water.

Southern Gauteng B sorted their defence out and was competitive in the next two quarters. However, Eastern Province rediscovered the spark they had shown early in the contest and struck three more times in the fourth chukka,

Holderness completed her hattrick in the 47th minute before Kate Brennan and Amber-Rose Roth-Uren found the back of the net in the 52nd and 54th minutes respectively.

Eastern Province faced a far tougher challenge when they crossed swords with Boland A later in the day. Boland came into the fixture after thrashing Southern Free State 5-0 in the morning.

Leah du Plessis led the charge in their opening victory, with a hat-trick, while Anya Swanepoel and Rose Quinlivan contributed a goal each.

“We made a few technical changes when we played against Boland and the girls adapted well to the switch,” Gamiet said.

In a back-and-forth opening half, EP and Boland finished the first chukka goalless. It was very nearly goalless at the break, too, but Holderness struck from a penalty corner.

All three of her goals against Southern Gauteng B had also been scored from the set piece and she continued her high PC conversion rate with another drag flick scorcher.

After the break, Boland was determined to strike back and the pressure exerted by coach Chris Gerber‘s side paid dividends when Elré Oosthuizen tapped the ball into the back of the net off a short corner variation after Boland had been awarded four PCs in a six-minute period.

Eastern Provinces responded immediately. With just less than two minutes remaining in the third chukka, Gamiet’s charges reclaimed the lead.

The goal, like their first one, was through a penalty corner. This time, however, Eastern Province didn’t take the direct route. Like Boland, they opted for a variation and paid off with Holderness, again, providing the finish.

On Tuesday, they’ll have an opportunity to strengthen their position at the top of Pool A when they lock horns with the defending champions, Southern Gauteng A, at 13:10.

Coach Natasha Le Roux’s Southerns’ side is in second place after a 1-0 win over Northern Gauteng B, which was followed by a sharing of the points with Southern Free State A, with whom they drew 0-0.

Results

Eastern Province A: 6 – Abigail Holderness (3), Taryn Peltenburg, Kate Brennan, Amber-Rose Roth-Uren. Southern Gauteng B: 0.
Southern Gauteng A: 1 – Azania Petersen. Northern Gauteng B: 0.
Southern Gauteng A: 0. Southern Free State A: 0.
Eastern Province A: 2 – Abigail Holderness (2). Boland A: 1 – Elré Oosthuizen.
Boland A: 5 – Leah du Plessis (3), Anya Swanepoel, Rose Quinlivan. Southern Free State A: 0.