McClure seals Spar Hockey Challenge victory for Clarendon
It took a sudden death penalty, converted by vice-captain Georgia McClure, for Clarendon High School for Girls to seal a 2-1 victory over Hudson Park High School in the final of the Spar Eastern Cape Schoolgirls Hockey Challenge in East London on Sunday.
Clarendon entered the day’s proceedings having scored a convincing 2-0 win over Queenstown Girls’ High in their last game, a week earlier.
Hudson was equally confident after producing impressive results at the Oakhill Co-Ed Festival in Knysna
On Sunday, Clarendon, the hosts, were drawn in Pool A, with Grens, Stirling High School, and Lilyfontein School.
On their journey to the final, coach Luaan Sedras’s side was victorious against all their opponents. They scraped through a 1-0 win over Lilyfontein in their opener before thumping Grens 8-0.
Their toughest encounter, though, was always going to be Stirling High School. In March, Stirling beat the Clarries 1-0 at the Grens Festival, so revenge was on the cards.
Sedras’s team upped the ante and scored twice to claim a 2-0 victory, which booked them a place in the final against Hudson Park, who had also breezed through the group stages.
In the title-decider, the teams were neck-and-neck, with very little to separate them in the 20-minute-long contest.
Clarendon, though, created a scoring chance after six minutes when they received a short corner, but Cara Knott’s shot from the PC went wide.
Chances were few and far between, but Hudson was creative, and almost went ahead with nine minutes to go when Busiwe Mayekiso’s dangerous run from halfway came close to breaking the deadlock, but Juliana Saffy defended it well to keep the game scoreless.
Mayekiso was a constant threat to the Clarendon defence, threatening with her strong runs, but her shot execution let her down.
After time ran out and the teams remained stuck at 0-0, the final went to a penalty shootout.
There, Clarendon kicked matters off, and McClure had her first shot saved by Mbali Khumalo. Hudson’s Melnique Langley took her side’s first shot and also missed.
It was next Cara Knott’s chance for Clarendon, but Khumalo pulled off another save before Demi Knott scored for the hosts.
Hudson’s skipper, Tarelle Jones pulled one back, but Mayekiso shot wide, which meant sudden death would decide who would be crowned the champions.
Jones stepped up for Hudson Park, but she misfired. Then McClure, who had been stopped at the start of the penalty shootout, struck when it counted the most, netting to capture the title for Clarendon.
In the third/fourth play-off, Stirling High School and Cambridge High School also went to penalties, with Stirling coming away with a 1-0 win.
The Clarendon Invitation side grabbed fifth after a 1-0 win over Lilyfontein, and Greenpoint High School shocked Grens 1-0 to end their campaign in seventh place.
Final Standings
Clarendon High School for Girls
Hudson Park High School
Stirling High School
Cambridge High School
Clarendon Invitation
Lilyfontein School
Greenpoint High School
Hoërskool Grens
