A thrilling rollercoaster of a day at UCT saw the South African Under 21 Hockey IPT close one step closer to its conclusion as the four semi-finals saw hopes both dashed and ignited in search of the glory as the best Junior province in South Africa.
Men’s Semi-Final: Southern Gauteng 1-3 Western Province
Southern Gauteng had cantered into the Semi-Finals in the pool stage while Western Province had snuck through late on. Naturally the favourites were Southerns, but the hosts produced their best display of the tournament so far in a brilliant win. Kenton Melville opened the scoring for Western Province before JP Britz levelled. Southerns were looking to get back into the ascendancy, but WP struck the double blow that put the game to bed and secured a spot in the final in four minutes. A double Josh strike (De Klerk and Koff) settling the debate.
Men’s Semi-Final: Northern Blues 5-0 Eastern Province
From start to finish Northern Blues were just too good for the challenge of Eastern Province. CJ Mashele opened the scoring in the fourth minute, and they never truly looked like losing from there. Calvin Davis added another two to his fine tournament while Corne Burger got two himself to add gloss to the score line and set up a repeat of the sensational group stage game.
Women’s Semi-Final: Western Province (2) 1-1 (1) Northern Blues
An enthralling battle between two equal adversaries. Junior World Cup captain Caylin Maree opened the scoring for Western Province but a 52nd minute equalizer from Angele Vogel pushed the game towards a shootout. Both hoped for a winner in regulation time, but it wasn’t to be, and the game went to a shootout to decide the finalists. Caylin Maree and Cerian Fourie goals cancelled each other out before Paige Thomas scored the deciding goal to send Western Province to the final.
Women’s Semi-Final: North West 5-1 WP Peninsula
North West have been untouchable in the group stage and produced a semi-final of equal quality. A sublime opening quarter saw them blitz into a three nil lead thanks to Chanel Genis, Ane Janse van Vuuren and Germarie Spershott. Pens pulled one back to give a glimmer of hope, but Nuriyah Bell and Dine van Jaarsveld put the game to bed and secured North West a deserving place in the final.
Earlier in the day in the men’s 5-8 Playoff there was a big victory for WP Peninsula over Free State which included a remarkable six goal return for Ross Montgomery. They will play off for sixth place against WP Invitational who defeated North West on a shootout after drawing the game 1-1.
In the women’s tournament the 5-8 playoffs saw the fancied Southern Gauteng and KZN Raiders emerge victorious over Free State and Eastern Province respectively. The two will battle for 5th place on the final day in Cape Town.
There are games from 08:30 on Saturday morning with the finals being played in the evening at UCT. You can get your tickets through the SA Hockey App or at the gate. The games are all live streamed on the Supersport Schools app.
by South Africa
