{"id":37307,"date":"2024-03-11T09:55:13","date_gmt":"2024-03-11T07:55:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=37307"},"modified":"2024-03-11T09:55:13","modified_gmt":"2024-03-11T07:55:13","slug":"st-johns-steal-the-show-to-claim-pmb-central-regional-title","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=37307","title":{"rendered":"St John’s steal the show to claim PMB Central Regional title"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"St
St John’s DSG first team after winning the Spark KZN Hockey Challenge Pietermaritzburg Central Regional against Epworth High. Picture credits: Val Adamson<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

St John’s Diocesan School for Girls<\/strong> (DSG) became the third side to book themselves a spot in the Grand final of the Spar Hockey Challenge<\/strong> after defeating Epworth <\/strong>on penalties in the final of the Pietermaritzburg Central Regional<\/strong> on Sunday.<\/p>\n

The third round of the festival was hosted by Pietermaritzburg Girls’ High School at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN<\/strong>) Astroturf.<\/p>\n

The hosts, who won the title last year, were joined by Carter High<\/strong>, Russell High<\/strong>, Alexandra High<\/strong>, Epworth<\/strong>, St John’s DSG<\/strong>, and Maritzburg Christian School<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

It was, however, St John’s DSG who shone throughout the day, claiming victory in all six of their matches, to assert their dominance in the region.<\/p>\n

On their way to the final, the side from Scottsville scored 19 times and kept a clean sheet in all of their games.<\/p>\n

After dominating the round-robin stages, they met Epworth High School, who had also impressed, losing only 0-1 to their opponents for the title, in the final showdown. Epworth had sealed their spot in the title-decider with a crucial 1-0 win over Pietermaritzburg Girls’ High.<\/p>\n

With silverware on the line, the action went back and forth, but there was nothing to separate the sides after 20 minutes, with the contest ending in a goalless stalemate as neither team was able to capitalise on the opportunities they created. That meant the winners would be decided from the penalty spot.<\/p>\n

After Epworth missed their first take, Rebecca Macquet<\/strong> and Isobel Cobbald<\/strong> both calmly slotted their opportunities to see their side to a 2-0 win.<\/p>\n

Reacting after the match, head coach Philip Smerdon<\/strong>, expressed how delighted he was for his team as they look to go all the way in the Grand Finals later this year.<\/p>\n

“I’m really proud of our players,” he told SuperSport Schools<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

“They put on a great show from start to finish. We can’t wait to play at the Grand Finals. It’s a really great opportunity for our players to go up against the best.”<\/p>\n

Before claiming victory in the Spar Hockey Challenge, DSG was in action at the Balling Hockey Festival,<\/strong> hosted by Bethlehem Voortrekker, in late January.<\/p>\n

There, Smerdon’s side was in fine form, playing an attractive brand of hockey that saw them claim a deserved 4-2 win against last year’s number-one-ranked team in the country, Eunice<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The coach said his players certainly drew inspiration from their performances in Bethlehem.<\/p>\n

“The Balling Hockey Festival was great for team dynamics and to iron out the creases before the season starts,” he explained.<\/p>\n

“Our young players have settled in nicely due to the Balling Hockey Festival, and the confidence we gained as a team will help for the start of the season.”<\/p>\n

\"Picture
Picture credits: Val Adamson<\/strong><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Claiming gold at the Central Regional tournament was a big boost to the St John’s DSG hockey programme, with much expected from the side in 2024.<\/p>\n

Smerdon said there’s no doubt the win will also serve to motivate the younger teams at the school.<\/p>\n

“The St John’s DSG Hockey programme is in a really good space.<\/p>\n

“We have hungry athletes wanting to achieve in all sports.<\/p>\n

“As a 1st team, all the coaching staff want to see is players getting a little better every single day. Win or lose, our 1st team must set an example for the younger player coming through our programme.,” he concluded.<\/p>\n

Results<\/strong><\/p>\n

Carter High 0-0 Russell High
\nAlexandra High 0-5 Pietermaritzburg Girls’ High
\nSt John’s DSG 1-0 Epworth
\nCarter High 0-0 Maritzburg Christian School
\nRussell High 0-0 Alexandra High
\nPietermaritzburg Girls’ High 0-2 St John’s DSG
\nEpworth 3-0 Maritzburg Christian School
\n<\/strong>Carter High 0-0 Alexandra High
\nRussell High 0-7 Pietermaritzburg Girls’ High
\nAlexandra High 0-5 St John’s DSG
\nPietermaritzburg Girls’ High 2-0 Maritzburg Christian School
\nCarter High 0-4 Epworth
\nRussell High 0-1 Maritzburg Christian School
\nAlexandra High 0-4 Epworth
\nSt John’s DSG 1-0 Maritzburg Christian School
\nCarter High 0-3 Pietermaritzburg Girls’ High
\nRussell High 0-5 Epworth
\nAlexandra High 0-0 Maritzburg Christian School
\nCarter High 0-5 St John’s DSG
\nPietermaritzburg Girls’ High 0-1 Epworth
\nRussell High 0-5 St John’s DSG<\/p>\n

Final<\/strong><\/p>\n

St Johns DSG 0(2)-0(0) Epworth<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

St John’s Diocesan School for Girls (DSG) became the third side to book themselves a spot in the Grand final of the Spar Hockey Challenge after defeating Epworth on penalties in the final of the Pietermaritzburg Central Regional on Sunday. The third round of the festival was hosted by Pietermaritzburg Girls’ High School at the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":37309,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=37307"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37307\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=37307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=37307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=37307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}