Hosts off to a mixed start at the St Mary’s Hockey Festival
The tournament hosts, St Mary’s Waverley, recorded two victories and two defeats on Thursday, the first day of the 2024 St Mary’s Hockey Festival.
The festival welcomes many of South Africa’s best hockey-playing schools, and some from beyond the borders of the country, to Johannesburg. It runs through until Sunday.
In their first outing in Pool B, St Mary’s Waverley took on their namesakes, St Mary’s DSG, from Pretoria, and ran out comfortable 3-0 winners.
They were, however, beaten in their second game against St Anne’s Diocesan College, who had been one of the in-form teams in the lead-up to the festival. St Mary’s bounced back in their third outing to claim a narrow 1-0 victory over Windhoek High School.
In their fourth match of the day, the home team was beaten again, going down 0-2 to The Wykeham Collegiate.
Both sides started the game patiently and exhibited strong defences, but it was Wykeham Collegiate’s success in denying space to the six-time champions which won them the game.
St Mary’s created some opportunities, including a penalty corner, but failed to make them count. Then, 13 minutes before the end of the contest, Wykeham caught St Mary’s off guard with a brilliant goal by Amy Macaskill. With four minutes to play, they doubled their lead.
Durban Girls’ College, meanwhile, bagged a nail-biting 2-1 win over St Anne’s before crushing St Mary’s DSG (Pretoria) 9-0 in the last match of the day.
Pool C’s clashes proved to be very tight, with a number of them ending goalless, which served to underline just how tough the competition is.
Hoërskool Garsfontein held Somerset College to a 0-0 draw, while that was also the score in the games between Rhenish and Hoërskool Waterkloof, and St John’s DSG and St Andrew’s. Rhenish also shared the spoils against Garsfontein, although it ended 1-1 in that match.
The seven-time winners, Oranje, enjoyed a successful opening day. They begin it on a high note, outplaying Pietermaritzburg Girls’ High School 5-0. Their second game was much tougher, but they came away with a 1-0 victory over Somerset College, and they followed that up with a 2-0 victory against Waterkloof.
After a tough start, which included a goalless draw against St Andrew’s and a 0-4 defeat against Rhenish, St John’s DSG beat their neighbours, Pietermaritzburg Girls’ High 2-0.
Action at the St Mary’s Hockey Festival continues on Friday with a Pool B showdown between Windhoek High School and Hoërskool Menlopark in Pool B, while Somerset College face Pietermaritzburg Girls’ High in Pool C.
RESULTS
Thursday, 04 April
Pool B: St Mary’s Waverley 1st 3-0 St Mary’s DSG (Pretoria) ; Durban Girls’ College 2-1 St Anne’s; Paarl Girls’ High 2-0 Windhoek HS; Hoërskool Menlopark 2-1 The Wykeham Collegiate; St Mary’s Waverley 1st 0-1 St Anne’s; St Mary’s DSG (Pretoria) 0-2 Windhoek HS; Durban Girls’ College 2-0 The Wykeham Collegiate; Paarl Girls’ High 0-1 Hoërskool Menlopark; St Mary’s Waverley 1st XI 1-0 Windhoek HS; St Anne’s 3-0 The Wykeham Collegiate; St Mary’s DSG (Pretoria) 0-2 Hoërskool Menlopark; Durban Girls’ College 2-2 Paarl Girls’ High; St Mary’s Waverley 1st 0-2 The Wykeham Collegiate; St Anne’s 1-0 Paarl Girls’ High; St Mary’s DSG (Pretoria) 0-9 Durban Girls’ College
Pool C: HS Garsfontein 0-0 Somerset College; Oranje 5-0 Pietermaritzburg GHS; Rhenish 0-0 HS Waterkloof; St John’s DSG 0-0 St Andrew’s; Oranje 1-0 Somerset College; Pietermaritzburg GHS 1-2 HS Waterkloof; HS Garsfontein 5-0 St Andrew’s; Rhenish 4-0 St John’s DSG; Oranje 2-0 HS Waterkloof; Somerset College 0-1 St Andrew’s; Pietermaritzburg GHS 0-2 St John’s DSG; Garsfontein 1-1 Rhenish
POOLS
Pool A: Eunice High School; Herschel Girls’ High; Clarendon High School; Pretoria High School for Girls; Hoër Meisieskool Bloemhof; Roedean School (SA); Afrikaanse Hoër Meisieskool, Pretoria; DF Malan
Pool B: St Mary’s Waverley 1st XI; Durban Girls’ College; Paarl Girls’ High School; Die Hoërskool Menlopark; The Wykeham Collegiate; Windhoek High School; St Anne’s Diocesan College; St Mary’s DSG, Pretoria
Pool C: C&N Sekondêre Meisieskool Oranje; Hoërskool Garsfontein; Rhenish Girls’ High School; St John’s DSG; St Andrew’s School for Girls; Hoërskool Waterkloof; Somerset College; Pietermaritzburg Girls High School
Pool D: Collegiate Girls’ High School; Paarl Gimnasium; St Stithians Girls’ College; St Mary’s DSG, Kloof; St Cyprian’s School; Pearson High School; St Mary’s Waverley Festival XI; Our Lady of Fatima DCS
