St Mary’s DSG, Kloof, faces Eunice for a place in St Mary’s Waverley Festival final
St Mary’s DSG, Kloof, has a date with Eunice High School in the semifinals of the Standard Bank St Mary’s Waverley Hockey Festival. They go head-to-head at 10:50 in what promises to be a humdinger.
Eunice qualified for the semi-finals courtesy of goals from their captain, Bianca Rees-Gibbs, and Anebel Venter in a 2-0 win over Our Lady of Fatima in the last eight.
Coach Nika Coertzen‘s charges reached the quarterfinals after finishing second in Pool B, five points behind Bloemhof after scoring 11 and conceding two in the first stage.
Eunice, last year’s beaten finalist, appeared to lose their winning mojo in the cross-pool matches after a draw with St Cyprian’s and a loss to Rhenish. However, they did enough to move on to the quarterfinals.
“We changed our strategy today and the team bought into the plan and, most importantly, executed it well against Our Lady of Fatima,” Coertzen shared.
Eunice endured a tough start, but sometimes a bit of luck can turn things around and Coertzen’s side capitalised on those moments when fortune smiled on them by taking advantage of opportunities in key moments. That shifted the momentum in their favour.
Eunice‘s semifinal opponents are a familiar foe as they run into St Mary’s DSG, Kloof, at festivals and tournaments throughout the season. They know they’re up against a high-quality opponent.
Coach Nolwazi Nkabinde‘s side punched their ticket to the final four with a 2-1 win over Paarl Gim in the quarterfinals. It was a stern challenge and St Mary’s DSG rose to it.
Coach Danelle van Zyl’s Paarl Gim went 1-0 up only four minutes into the contest, courtesy of an outstanding solo effort from Alanda Rademeyer. She made a run from deep in the Paarl Gim half, shrugging off four attempted tackles before firing high and handsome into the back of the net.
St Mary’s responded immediately. Captain Nicola Forbes laid off a pass to Jamie da Silva at the halfway line and Da Silva dribbled her way into Paarl Gim’s circle, where she won a penalty corner. The push was a little off target, but Da Silva, the stopper, cleaned up well and fired off a powerful shot to level for the KZN girls.
Da Silva was Paarl Gim’s nemesis, continually challenging the defenders with her skilful attacking and tenacious tackling.
St Mary’s kept up the pressure and won a second short corner five minutes later. Like the first one, it was after a Da Silva move into the Paarl Gim D.
St Mary’s DSG kept it simple, Forbes received the pass and fired the shot at goal, but had her effort rejected by the Paarl Gim goalkeeper. However, Tayte Stewart, the injector, had moved to the near post and she latched onto the rebound to slot the ball into the goal.
The match was far from over as Paarl Gim battled to find an equaliser. The contest flowed back and forth, with both sides making forays into each other’s halves, but those efforts yielded no more goals and the match ended 2-1 to St Mary’s DSG.
Past matches between St Mary’s DSG and Eunice, both former winners of the St Mary’s Waverley Festival, have been entertaining. Thus, another thriller appears to be on the cards when they meet for an opportunity to play in the title game. There is everything to play for.
