St Mary’s DSG, Kloof, unbeaten in Pool C at St Mary’s Waverley Festival
St Mary’s DSG, Kloof, kept four clean sheets and won all four of their games on their way to the summit of Pool C on the first day of action at the Standard Bank St Mary’s Waverley Hockey Festival on Thursday.
The prestigious hockey extravaganza features 32 of the best teams in South Africa and runs through until Sunday.
Rhenish and St Stithians College for Girls are in second and third place respectively, with seven and six points. However, unlike St Mary’s DSG, they have each played three games.
Coach Nolwazi Nkabinde‘s St Mary’s side was solid in defence and a menace when on the attack.
The KwaZulu-Natal team rocketed to a 5-0 victory over Windhoek High in their first match of the festival. Four hours later, they subjected Clarendon to a second loss of the day, beating the East London side 1-0.
St Cyprian’s began their campaign with a 0-3 loss at the hands of Rhenish. Matters did not get much better for them because they ran into an on-fire St Mary’s DSG in their second encounter. Nkabinde’s charges slotted two goals without a reply to claim their third win.
The ladies from Kloof rounded off an outstanding day with a 1-0 win over the hosts, St Mary’s Waverley.
Rhenish, like St Mary’s DSG, kept a clean sheet in each of their matches. However, unlike the KZN girls, they didn’t claim a 100 percent record. The Stellenbosch school outplayed Clarendon 3-0 and followed that with another 3-0 victory over St Cyprian’s. In their last match, though, they were held to a 0-0 draw by St Mary’s Waverley.
St Stithians registered two wins and a loss on their way to third place in the pool at the close of day one. They won 1-0 against Pretoria High School for Girls, breezed past Windhoek High 2-0, and then lost to Clarendon in the late afternoon.
The hosts, St Mary’s Waverley, recorded all three possible results. They began their campaign with a 1-1 draw against St Cyprian’s. Then, they gathered steam and rolled to a 3-0 victory over Pretoria High School for Girls. In their last outing, against the table toppers, St Mary’s DSG, they fell to the ladies from KZN in a tight contest.
Windhoek High will be seeking redemption after a tough first day when they run out onto the pitch on Friday morning. They have a tough assignment against Rhenish in the first of Pool C matches. St Stithians, who will be aiming to keep pace with the leaders, will take St Cyprian’s at the same time.
RESULTS
Pool C
St Mary’s Waverley 1st XI 1-1 St Cyprian’s
St Mary’s DSG, Kloof, 5-0 Windhoek
Rhenish 3-0 Clarendon
St Stithians 1-0 Pretoria High School for Girls
St Mary’s Waverley 1st XI 3-0 Pretoria High School for Girls
Rhenish 3-0 St Cyprian’s
St Mary’s DSG Kloof 1-0 Clarendon
St Stithians 2-0 Windhoek High
St Mary’s Waverley 1st XI 0-0 Rhenish
St Mary’s DSG Kloof 2-0 St Cyprian’s
Windhoek 0-0 Pretoria High School for Girls
Clarendon 1-0 St Stithians
St Mary’s DSG Kloof 1-0 St Mary’s Waverley 1st XI
