Eldoraigne takes the derby honours against Zwartkop
Hoërskool Eldoraigne hosted Hoërskool Zwartkop in interschool hockey matches on Friday and Saturday in Pretoria, with the girls’ 1st XIs meeting on Friday and the boys’ first teams facing off on Saturday.
Their home and away derby began in 2018 and has been fiercely and closely contested ever since.
Both of the big matches delivered impressive intensity, but the hosts, Eldoraigne, emerged victorious in both contests to reverse last year’s heartbreak, when Zwartkop won both games for the first time.
In the girls’ match, Jeanté Korff scored the all-important only goal of the contest as both sides defended with discipline and grit.
Eldoraigne’s head coach, Chadwin Petersen, praised his side’s resilience, especially after last year’s narrow loss to Zwartkop.
“Adversity does not build character, it reveals it,” Petersen stated.
“It was tough losing in 2024 in a match we felt we should’ve won. But this year gave us a fresh opportunity with a new group of players, who rose to the occasion. All credit to Zwartkop. They pushed us to the edge. But our girls showed fantastic character to pull through.”
In the boys’ fixture, Eldoraigne was dominant and sealed a confident 3-0 win thanks to clinical finishes from Duncan Eloff, Nico Janse van Rensburg, and Hanco Nel.
The goal-scoring trio showcased slick combination play and ruthless efficiency in front of goal and capitalised on a Zwartkop side that struggled to find its rhythm in key moments.
Zwartkop boys’ head of Hockey, Martinus Gouws, offered a heartfelt and humorous analogy to describe the defeat: “When I was younger, I had a good friend who lived nearby,” he said. “We’d always play at his house, but when we got up to mischief, his mom would give us a hiding. That’s how Friday night felt. We got a hiding at our friend’s house.”
Gracious in defeat, Gouws praised the opposition: “Congratulations to Eldoraigne, they were brilliant in every aspect. We, unfortunately, couldn’t get going. Too many unforced errors and poor execution in the attacking third let us down.
“The girls’ game was a nail-biter, very evenly matched, and the deciding goal came late. It’s a tough one to take, but it was a good battle all the same.”
RESULTS
Girls’ 1st XI
Eldoraigne 1-0 Zwartkop
Boys’ 1st XI
Eldoraigne 3-0 Zwartkop
