{"id":76860,"date":"2025-07-03T20:31:25","date_gmt":"2025-07-03T18:31:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=76860"},"modified":"2025-07-03T20:31:25","modified_gmt":"2025-07-03T18:31:25","slug":"eastern-province-powers-into-sashoc-national-week-semi-finals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=76860","title":{"rendered":"Eastern Province powers into SASHOC National Week semi-finals"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
KZN Coastal’s back line will be tested by an energetic and hard-working Eastern Province attack when they meet in the semi-finals of the SASHOC National Week. Photo: Teamphoto SA<\/strong><\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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

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

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

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.<\/p>\n

Captained by Abigail Holderness<\/strong>, 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.<\/p>\n

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

However, those five wins have not lulled them into a false sense of security ahead of their fixture against KZN Coastal.<\/p>\n

The Chardinay Penniston<\/strong>-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.<\/p>\n

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<\/strong> lightly, and the Sky Blues<\/strong><\/em> gave EP a tough workout.<\/p>\n

“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.”<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The Eastern Province coach is wary of KZN Coastal’s attacking threat. Zezethu Kunene<\/strong>, Jamie da Silva<\/strong>, and Jenna-Leigh Freese<\/strong> have shown a knack for scoring goals that matter, and the trio all scored in Coastal\u2019s tightly contested 3-3 draw against Western Province A<\/strong> in their final group match on Thursday.<\/p>\n

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<\/strong>, who has marshalled her defenders well and kept them calm when the pressure has ratcheted up.<\/p>\n

“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.”<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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

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

Boland A: 3<\/strong> – Pippa Viljoen, Leah du Plessis, Skylar Bougaard. Southern Gauteng A: 1<\/strong> – Azania Petersen.
\nSouthern Free State A: 4<\/strong> – Bianca Rees-Gibbs (2), Carli Oosthuizen (2). Southern Gauteng B: 1 <\/strong>– Juliet Horton.
\nEastern Province A: 1<\/strong> – Mike Holder. Northern Gauteng B: 0.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pool B<\/strong><\/p>\n

Northern Gauteng A: 3<\/strong> – Lisa Grey, Amogelang Motlatle, Mia Pretorius. KZN Inland: 2<\/strong> – Jasmin Kelly, Annabelle Balmer.
\nWestern Province B: 2<\/strong> – Anjum Kazie, Tatum Malherbe. Border A: 2<\/strong> – Kishka Baartman, Busiwe Mayekiso.
\nKZN Coastal A: 3<\/strong> – Jenna-Leigh Freese, Jamie da Silva, Zezethu Kunene. Western Province A: 3 <\/strong>– Samantha Flint, Isabelle Amm, Emma Hibbert.
\nKZN Inland A: 1<\/strong> – Jasmin Kelly. Western Province B: 0<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":76862,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-76860","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\/76860","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=76860"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76860\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/76862"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=76860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=76860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=76860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}