{"id":67268,"date":"2025-03-15T19:31:52","date_gmt":"2025-03-15T17:31:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=67268"},"modified":"2025-03-15T19:31:52","modified_gmt":"2025-03-15T17:31:52","slug":"menlopark-stuns-eunice-to-finish-bloem-tour-on-a-high","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=67268","title":{"rendered":"Menlopark stuns Eunice to finish Bloem tour on a high"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Menlopark
The Menlopark girls’ first team ended their tour to Bloemfontein with a win. Photo: Die Ho\u00ebrskool Menlopark.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Die Ho\u00ebrskool Menlopark<\/strong>‘s first girl’s hockey side claimed a big scalp on Saturday in Bloemfontein by outmuscling Eunice<\/strong> to record an impressive 1-0 victory.<\/p>\n

The girls from Pretoria were far from their best on the day but dug deep and produced the goods and the all-important goal when it most mattered.<\/p>\n

They had kicked off their Bloemfontein excursion with a clash against Oranje Meisieskool in the first of 2025’s Hyundai Friday Night Lights showdowns<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

That match ended in a 1-3 defeat. Earlier in the season, their clash with Oranje at the Balling Festival<\/a> <\/strong>in Bethlehem produced eight goals.<\/p>\n

Menlo had to quickly move on from their loss on Friday night and they had plenty of motivation, knowing a win over Eunice would give them something to show for their Bloemfontein excursion.<\/p>\n

It was a tightly contested affair, with both teams showcasing strong defensive systems.<\/p>\n

The visitors applied relentless pressure throughout the contest and they were rewarded in the final chukka when, after a strong drive along the baseline, 15-year-old Monique Gerber<\/strong> laid off a teasing ball for Naidene Bouwer<\/strong>, who scored a tap-in goal at the far post to secure the victory.<\/p>\n

It was a significant win for coach Brook’s team, considering the calibre of their opponents.<\/p>\n

“The trip to Bloem is always a tough one,” he told SuperSport Schools Plus<\/a><\/strong>. “When you come here, you’re not just playing the best teams in the Free State, you’re playing two of the best powerhouses in the country.<\/p>\n

“We went into the matches with a clear vision, and to walk away with a loss and a win is not what we were hoping for, but we will take it.”<\/p>\n

Menlopark didn’t have much turnaround time from Friday’s game but finetuned certain areas of their game for the clash with Eunice.<\/p>\n

\"Menlopark
Menlopark squared off against Oranje in the first edition of the Hyundai Friday Night Lights. Photo: Menlopark<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe were a bit loose on our press against Oranje, so we had to tighten up there,” Brook explained.<\/p>\n

“We also worked on our connections and, once we moved the ball, we looked pretty good.<\/p>\n

“It wasn’t our most polished performance, but that’s because they are a well-coached side and have great personnel. With that said, we are very happy to walk away with the win,” he said.<\/p>\n

The Pretoria school has already played a whopping 13 matches this season and they’re not slowing down anytime soon.<\/p>\n

They will play their first league match against Montana<\/strong> in the coming week before shifting their attention to the NWU-Reeks<\/strong> semifinals.<\/p>\n

In April, they’ll chase silverware at the St Mary’s Waverley Hockey Festival<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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

Menlopark 1-3 Oranje
\nMenlopark 1-0 Eunice<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Die Ho\u00ebrskool Menlopark‘s first girl’s hockey side claimed a big scalp on Saturday in Bloemfontein by outmuscling Eunice to record an impressive 1-0 victory. The girls from Pretoria were far from their best on the day but dug deep and produced the goods and the all-important goal when it most mattered. They had kicked off […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":67269,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-67268","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\/67268","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=67268"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67268\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/67269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=67268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=67268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=67268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}