{"id":52545,"date":"2024-07-14T14:25:37","date_gmt":"2024-07-14T12:25:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=52545"},"modified":"2024-07-14T14:25:37","modified_gmt":"2024-07-14T12:25:37","slug":"holderness-inspires-dsg-to-spar-hockey-challenge-triumph-in-gqeberha","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=52545","title":{"rendered":"Holderness inspires DSG to Spar Hockey Challenge triumph in Gqeberha"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The
The DSG Makhanda first team after claiming top honours in the Eastern Cape Spar Hockey Challenge in Gqeberha. Photo: EC<\/strong> Spar Hockey Challenge<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A solitary goal by Diocesan School for Girls’ <\/b>(DSG)<\/strong> stalwart, Abigail Holderness<\/strong>, sealed a 1-0 victory for the Makhanda side against Pearson High School<\/strong>\u00a0in the final of the Eastern Cape Spar Hockey Challenge<\/a><\/strong> on Sunday in Gqeberha.<\/p>\n

DSG finished the tournament as the only unbeaten side, after running rampant against their opponents on Saturday and Sunday morning.<\/p>\n

Coach Geowynnne Gamiet’<\/strong>s side entered the weekend as the favourites, along with Pearson High.<\/p>\n

They had been out of action for a while, though, with their last outing being last month when they defeated Kingswood College<\/strong> 2-1 during the annual K-Day<\/strong> celebrations in Makhanda.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, DSG began their pursuit of top honours on a positive note, beating Pearson, with whom they had drawn 3-3 earlier in the season, 1-0 in their opening match on Saturday afternoon.<\/p>\n

The Makhanda side, boasting quality players like the Holderness sisters, Lucy<\/strong>\u00a0and Abigail,<\/strong> Mike Holder<\/strong>, Kayleigh Clayton<\/strong>, and Hannah Lowe,<\/strong> soon made it two wins in a row, beating Komani’s Queenstown Girls’ High<\/strong> 3-1.<\/p>\n

They completed their day with a clean record after a 2-1 win over York High<\/strong>, and on Sunday morning handed Clarendon<\/strong> a 2-0 defeat before again beating York 2-1, this time in the semi-finals.<\/p>\n

Pearson, meanwhile, went down to DSG in their opener on Saturday, and were held to a 1-1 draw by York, but still managed to secure a semi-final spot.<\/p>\n

In the last four, they dominated Queenstown Girls’ High, winning 4-1, to set up a third meeting with DSG this season.<\/p>\n

When the teams previously met in Makhanda, it was DSG who were forced to come from behind to draw, but in Sunday’s final they started brightly. They demonstrated positive intent and were rewarded with a penalty corner in the opening three minutes of the match.<\/p>\n

Up stepped the dangerous Abigail Holderness<\/strong>, and her powerful drag flick found the back of the net to put DSG into a 1-0 lead.<\/p>\n

Pearson fought hard to find a response in the 25-minute-long encounter, and they received two short corners, but were unable to convert either of them.<\/p>\n

Time ran down, with very few goal-scoring opportunities having been created, but, at the end, the game opened up.<\/p>\n

Holderness had another opportunity to score with five minutes to play and, after dancing her way through Pearson’s defence, her shot was deflected off the goalkeeper’s boots and went wide of the mark.<\/p>\n

In the end, though, it was SA u17 star Holderness’s early strike that separated the teams.<\/p>\n

In the bronze medal match, a Megan Prinsloo<\/strong>\u00a0goal secured a 1-0 win for York over Queenstown Girls’ High. Clarendon High School for Girls placed fifth.<\/p>\n

RESULTS<\/strong><\/p>\n

Day One<\/strong><\/p>\n

DSG Makhanda 1-0 Pearson High
\nYork High 0-0 Clarendon High School for Girls
\nDSG Makhanda 3-1 Queenstown Girls’ High
\nYork High 1-1 Pearson High
\nQueenstown Girls High 1-0 Clarendon High School for Girls
\nDSG Makhanda 2-1 York High
\nPearson High 0-0 Clarendon High School for Girls<\/p>\n

Day Two<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pearson High 4-1 Queenstown Girls’ High
\nDSG Makhanda 2-0 Clarendon High School for Girls
\nQueenstown Girls’ High 1-0 York High
\nPearson High 4-1 Queenstown Girls’ High- Semifinal 1\u00a0<\/strong>
\nDSG Makhanda 2-1 York High – Semifinal 2<\/strong>
\nYork High 1-0 Queenstown Girls’ High – Bronze medal\u00a0<\/strong>
\nDSG Makhanda 1-0 Pearson High – Final\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A solitary goal by Diocesan School for Girls’ (DSG) stalwart, Abigail Holderness, sealed a 1-0 victory for the Makhanda side against Pearson High School\u00a0in the final of the Eastern Cape Spar Hockey Challenge on Sunday in Gqeberha. DSG finished the tournament as the only unbeaten side, after running rampant against their opponents on Saturday and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":52546,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52545","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\/52545","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=52545"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52545\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=52545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=52545"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=52545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}