The third day of the SPAR & Tops at SPAR Indoor Hockey IPT saw the two women’s semi-finals take place with both offering tantalizing entertainment for the crowd at the Wynberg Military Base.
KZN Raiders and Northern Blues played out in a sensational pattern that kept the crowd on the edge of their seats throughout with Lilian du Plessis the standout performer on the day. The Raiders took an early lead through du Plessis and would then see a remarkable pattern play out consistently throughout the game.
Cerian Fourie levelled for the Blues and almost immediately the read was re-established by Cailynn den Bakker finishing off a brilliant team move. Elizabeth Porter restored parity again, but du Plessis again gave the Raiders a lead and it was 3-2 with 10 minutes remaining.
Laiken Brisset produced and outstanding solo goal to once again level. Cheree Greyvenstein made a world class stick save to deny Anja Tromp and the Raiders thanked their keeper by going up the other end and eventually netting what would be the match winner with hat-trick hero du Plessis completing the scoring. The win secured an incredible 9th consecutive final for the Raiders, with the chance to win a fourth in a row for the second time.
In the second semi-final the heavily favored Western Province were stunned when they trailed to an impressive North West thanks to Kirsty Adams. It was a lead that North West would hang on to until the final quarter and were well and truly good value for their lead.
Unfortunately for the Potchefstroom based team they were stunned by a 60 second double salvo. Daniella de Oliveira scored a sublime goal to level and Ashleigh Thomas secured her own back-to-back final appearances having played for Peninsula a year ago.
The final takes place on Saturday at 16:20 at the Wynberg Military Base and is available to watch exclusively on Supersport Schools website or app.
In the men’s tournament the standout game was undoubtedly the 7-6 win for Southern Gauteng over Western Province. Marvin Simons was the star with four incredible goals where Southern Gauteng took advantage of a third quarter blitz to see the game home.
KZN Raiders kept their hopes of finishing in the final alive with a big 10-4 win over Mpumalanga while KZN Mynahs took advantage of a brilliant late tactical move to get the victory over SG Witsies in a 5-4 win.
Northern Blues got a late victory against Mpumalanga to secure the three points and move to fourth in the standings.
SPAR & Tops at SPAR Indoor Hockey IPT 2024 – Day 3 Results
Men’s A Section
SG Witsies 4-5 KZN Mynahs
KZN Raiders 10-4 Mpumalanga
Western Province 6-7 Southern Gauteng
Western Province 14-0 KZN Mynahs
Southern Gauteng 9-2 SG Witsies
Mpumalanga 2-4 Northern Blues
Men’s B Section
Semi-Final – WP Disa 8-1 Northern Daisies
Semi-Final – WP Peninsula 7-4 Eastern Province
Women’s A Section
5-8 Playoff – Mpumalanga 2-1 SG Witsies
5-8 Playoff – Southern Gauteng 4-1 WP Peninsula
Semi-Final – Northern Blues 3-4 KZN Raiders
Semi-Final – Western Province 2-1 North West
Women’s B Section
Northerns Daisies 3-4 WP Disa
KZN Mynahs 6-1 Eastern Gauteng A
Eastern Province 4-3 Eastern Gauteng B
Semi-Final – KZN Mynahs 9-2 Eastern Gauteng A
Semi-Final – Northern Daisies 5-4 WP Disa
Eastern Province 6-1 Eastern Gauteng B
SPAR & Tops at SPAR Indoor Hockey IPT 2024 – Day 4 Fixtures
Men’s A Section
08:00 – Western Province vs. SG Witsies
09:10 – Southern Gauteng vs. KZN Raiders
10:20 – KZN Mynahs vs. Northern Blues
17:20 – Final
Men’s B Section
08:00 – Bronze Medal – Northern Blues vs. Eastern Province
12:40 – Final – WP Disa vs. WP Peninsula
Women’s A Section
10:20 – 5th Playoff – Mpumalanga vs. Southern Gauteng
11:30 – 7th Playoff – SG Witsies vs. WP Peninsula
15:00 – Bronze Medal – Northern Blues vs. North West
16:20 – Final – KZN Raiders vs. Western Province
Women’s B Section
09:10 – Bronze – Eastern Gauteng A vs. WP Disa
12:40 – 5th Playoff – Eastern Province vs. Eastern Gauteng B
13:50 – Final – KZN Mynahs vs. Northern Daisies
Photos – Zac Zinn / ES Media
by South Africa
