{"id":40448,"date":"2024-04-05T23:11:12","date_gmt":"2024-04-05T21:11:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=40448"},"modified":"2024-04-05T23:11:12","modified_gmt":"2024-04-05T21:11:12","slug":"unbeaten-eunice-and-bloemhof-through-to-the-next-round","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=40448","title":{"rendered":"Unbeaten Eunice and Bloemhof through to the next round"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Pool A’s top teams, Eunice<\/strong> and Bloemhof<\/strong>, qualified for the next round of the annual St Mary’s Hockey Festival<\/strong> without losing a single match, a feat managed by only two other teams in the tournament.<\/p>\n

They finished pool play tied on 19 points and were separated only by goal difference.<\/p>\n

In the next round, they will be grouped together with the top three teams from Pool B in a new group, Pool E. It is here that they will battle it out in the hope of continuing on along the path to the final.<\/p>\n

Eunice is hoping to reach and win back-to-back titles. If they made it that far, it would be their third St Mary’s Festival triumph. Bloemhof, on the other hand, will be hoping to chart a path to their maiden St Mary’s Festival trophy.<\/p>\n

Heading into their last pool match, Eunice was guaranteed a top-three slot, with five wins and a draw from six games. Herschel<\/strong>, their opponent in that game, needed a win for direct qualification, and to avoid having to depend on others’ results to advance, to the top 12. A draw would have left them in a tricky situation, hoping that Affies<\/strong> lost their last match against Pretoria High School for Girls (PHSG)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

When Eunice took on PHSG, who had struggled in their previous matches, coach Nika Coertzen<\/strong> gave some of her younger players a chance to accumulate more meaningful playing time. They showed as much fight and hunger as the regular starters and helped bump up the team’s goal difference.<\/p>\n

The Trusten Barnard-<\/strong>captained side walloped PHSG 6-0, which was the biggest margin of defeat the Pretoria side had suffered at the festival. Their previous worst loss was 0-5 against Bloemhof, on day one.<\/p>\n

If the game against PHSG was a cakewalk, their contest against Clarendon<\/strong> was a gauntlet. Luwan Sedras’<\/strong> charges were well prepared for Eunice, and they gave them a good run for their money.<\/p>\n

“We didn’t execute the gameplan well against Clarendon. It was a tough game. But it was a good learning experience,” said Coertzen after her team had picked up a 2-1 win.<\/p>\n

That battle against Clarendon solidified their resolve and they were determined maintain their unbeaten record against Herschel, who were in a must-win situation. Stacey-Lee Gedult’s <\/strong>charges took the fight to Eunice on Friday evening in a thrilling contest, but at the end it was Eunice who had held off Herschel 2-1.<\/p>\n

“We are taking things a game at a time,” Coertzen said, choosing not to delve too much into her side’s undefeated run at the tournament.<\/p>\n

After day two, five teams remained unbeaten. One of those sides was Bloemhof.<\/p>\n

Coach Jenny King<\/strong>‘s charges have controlled opposition teams with distinction. Nothing about the way they have played has betrayed the fact they had a shorter pre-season than most of their opponents at the festival.<\/p>\n

Their run of six wins and a draw, scoring 14 goals without conceding one, tells the story of a well-oiled unit. They had three games on Friday, against Clarendon, DF Malan,<\/strong> and Roedean<\/strong>. Bloemhof scored five unanswered goals. “We are taking it a game at a time,” reckoned King.<\/p>\n

Affies<\/strong> headed into Friday’s schedule in need of some victories to keep their hopes of a top-12 finish alive. The previous day, they had won one, lost one, and drawn one. On Friday, the Nicolene Terblanche<\/strong>-coached side appeared revitalised. They trumped Clarendon 1-0 in their first outing and then played to a 0-0 draw with DF Malan.<\/p>\n

Maricha van Greunen <\/strong>and her team needed another win and for Bloemhof to overcome Herschel. The stars aligned. They achieved the victory they required and Bloemhof defeated Herschel 2-1.<\/p>\n

In their new group, Pool E, Eunice, Bloemhof and Affies will be joined by Pool B table-toppers Durban Girls’ College, St Anne’s<\/strong> and Menlopark<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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

Roedean 1-1 PHSG, Affies 1-0 Clarendon, Bloemhof 1-0 Clarendon, Eunice 6-0 PHSG, Affies 0-0 DF Malan, Roedean 0-2 Herschel, DF Malan 0-1 Herschel, Roedean 0-1 Affies, Eunice 2-1 Clarendon, Bloemhof 2-0 DF Malan, PHSG 0-1 Herschel, Bloemhof 2-0 Roedean, Clarendon 0-0 DF Malan, Affies 1-0 PHSG, Eunice 2-1 Herschel<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pool A’s top teams, Eunice and Bloemhof, qualified for the next round of the annual St Mary’s Hockey Festival without losing a single match, a feat managed by only two other teams in the tournament. They finished pool play tied on 19 points and were separated only by goal difference. In the next round, they […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":40452,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40448","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\/40448","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\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=40448"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40448\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=40448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=40448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=40448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}