There were big wins, late comebacks, shootouts and more in a frenetic day of Semi-Final action at St. Stithians College as the identity of the final two in both tournaments was revealed.
Women’s A Section
Southern Gauteng 0-3 Northern Blues
The two teams last met in the semi-final of the IPT at Hartleyvale in 2021. On that occasion Southern Gauteng came out on top via a shootout and were hoping that the omens were on their side having lost 1-0 in the group stage to the Northern Blues.
It was a tight game with both teams unable to convert from early penalty corners, but a Fourie sister double on the stroke of half time gave the Blues the ascendancy. Old sister Tegan opened the scoring with a fine stroke before Cerian netted to double the lead.
In the final quarter Marguerite van Wyk showed great coolness to make it 3-0 and secure a final for the Northern Blues once again.
Western Province (3) 3-3 (1) South Africa U21
What. A. Game. The end-to-end exhibition of attacking hockey, rearguard defense and heart stopping moments will live long in the memory. It was Ane Janse van Vuuren who started the game well for the junior nationals taking a 1-0 lead. But in the second quarter that lead was erased and replaced by a deficit. Daniella de Oliveira and Ashleigh Thomas scored in quick succession to put the game on its head.
Paige Thomas made it 3-1 with 13 minutes remaining and it looked like Western Province had secured a place in the final. SA Hockey5s due Germarie Spershott and Rea Phume had other ideas and scored twice in the final 3 minutes, one a candidate for goal of the tournament as they levelled the game and sent it to shootout.
Province was able to show the qualities that made them champions 12 months ago and triumphed through the shootout with Marlise van Tonder the star and securing a place in a repeat final against Northern Blues.
In the 5-8 Playoffs it was a massive win for North West over SG Witsies while KZN Raiders ensured their survival in the A Section with a 2-0 win over Free State.
Men’s A Section
South Africa U21 2-1 Western Province
The champions have been eliminated. The National juniors avenged their final defeat a year ago by knocking out the defending champions Western Province. It was a performance built on domination in the first half and resolution in the second.
The National juniors took the lead through View Mbate and Reuben Sendzul doubled it just before half-time. At the break they were two goals to the good and deserving of the lead. Devin Stanton put some magic in the water for Province as they came out with a renewed energy in the second half.
Niel Raath halved the deficit in the third quarter and the Province men continued to look for a win. The game lost a bit of its momentum when Hans Neethling was injured and for Province, they were unable to find the goal that would restore the parity, sealing their elimination from the quest for the cup.
Northern Blues (3) 2-2 (4) Southern Gauteng
Another thriller at Saints and it could not have started better for the only team with a 100% record in the tournament, the hosts Southerns. JP Britz fired home a penalty corner in the first minute to give them a lead over a team that they have held the ascendency over for a sustained period.
Brad Sherwood has put his name in the discussions of tournament MVP with his performances and the Olympian not only restored parity from a penalty corner, but he also gave Northern Blues a lead from a penalty stroke after a clumsy defensive tackle.
Southern Gauteng toiled looking for an equalizer and it would eventually come through Namibian star Liam Hermanus. Neither side would find the winner and it would be a shootout to decide the finalist.
Cullin de Jager was the star for Southern Gauteng making a critical save on the final shootout and sealing a place in the final for the hosts.
In the 5-8 playoffs it was an easy win for WP Peninsula over Eastern Province while KZN Raiders were too good for the Witsies side.
by South Africa
