Ashton College Ballito wins Spar Hockey Durban North Regional title
Ashton College Ballito edged Our Lady of Fatima 1-0 in a thrilling encounter to lift the Spar KZN Hockey Tournament’s Durban North Regional trophy at Ashton College on Sunday. Coach Nic White’s side kept a clean sheet on their way to the title.
Ashton was the sixth team to book a berth for the Spar KZN Tournament Grand Finals scheduled for 26 and 27 July. They join Maris Stella (DBN Central Regional), St Mary’s DSG Kloof (Highway Regional), Epworth School (PMB Central Regional), St Anne’s School (PMB North Regional), and Kingsway High (Durban South Regional).
Ashton gave home fans and visiting spectators a lot to cheer as they decimated their opposition – Crawford La Lucia, Danville, and Durban North College – in Pool A.
The Morgan Nel-captained side fired 10 unanswered goals past their competition to collect maximum points on their way to the summit of their group. They beat Crawford La Lucia 3-0 in their first match, followed it up with a 2-0 win over Danville, and then walloped Durban North College 5-0.
In the semi-finals, Ashton went head-to-head with Reddam House Umhlanga, who had collected eight points on their way to a second-place finish in Pool B. Their results included a 4-0 victory over Northlands Girls’ High and a 7-0 thrashing of Curro Salt Rock. They were, however, beaten 1-0 by Our Lady of Fatima, who was unbeaten in the group.
Ashton had little trouble overcoming Reddam House, winning 2-0, to book a place in the final.
Our Lady of Fatima, who topped the pool, added Northlands and Curro Salt Rock to the list of teams they shrugged aside on their path to the top of the log, triumphing 4-0 over Northlands High before galloping to a 7-0 win over Curro Salt Rock.
Then, in the second semi-final, Our Lady of Fatima ran up a 3-0 win over Danville.
The contest between Ashton and Our of Fatima brought together two evenly matched teams, who went blow-for-blow with neither finding a breakthrough until only two minutes remained in the match.
A goal from the hosts set up a thrilling finish as Our Lady of Fatima through everything into finding an equaliser. They couldn’t and Ashton held on to the win.
The next leg of the Spar KZN Hockey Tournament will be on the 10 May when KZN Coastal teams go into battle.
