Three teams gridlocked at the top of Pool B
Northern Gauteng A, Western Province A, and KwaZulu-Natal Coastal A were tied at the top of Pool B in the girls’ u18 section after day one’s action at the SASHOC Inter-Provincial Tournament on Monday.
All three won their opening fixtures and are separated by goal difference only.
KZN Coastal A, who kicked off their campaign with a 4-0 drubbing of Western Province B, are sitting at the summit.
Western Province A lies second after a 3-0 win over KZN Inland A, and Northern Gauteng A holds down third spot, thanks to a 3-1 defeat of Border A.
The event, being hosted by KZN Inland, is being played at St Anne’s DSG, in Hilton, and Maritzburg College, in Pietermaritzburg, and runs through to 5 July.
Sinoxolo Mbekeni‘s Northern Gauteng A scripted an incredible run at last year’s tournament. They went all the way through to the final, where they lost to Southern Gauteng A in a penalty shootout. in 2025, only two players, Andrea Groenewald and Okuhle Ntshaba, are back from that team.
While the lineup is almost completely different, Mbekeni’s side is keen to write another stirring chapter in the province’s hockey history.
“I think we took a while to get going in the game today. We were not doing the right things often enough,” Mbekeni told Supersport Schools Plus after her side scored a hard-fought win.
In the first chukka, Northerns A trailed 0-1 after a field goal from Tarelle Jones gave Border the lead in the 11th minute. That goal, however, stirred Northern Gauteng A to life. Still, it took them a long time before they finally cracked Border’s defence.
At last, though, in the 45th minute, Thato Dimpe registered Northern Gauteng’s first goal. Then, while Border was still feeling their way back, Motlatle Amogelang struck two minutes later with another field goal to give Northerns the lead for the first time.
Zoe Badenhorst hammered the final nail in the coffin with a last-minute strike, again a field goal, to secure victory for Mbekeni’s outfit.
“I think we did well in focusing on the right things and we needed to keep playing our style to ensure success,” Mbekeni summed up the win.
Western Province A arrived in Pietermaritzburg determined to banish memories of last year’s campaign. They finished in a disappointing seventh place in Bloemfontein, and they wanted to consign that effort to history.
Hannah Henderson, Samantha Flint, Georgia Maw, Jehan Abrahams, Khanya Moore, and Zara Berrisford, all members of last year’s side, were especially intent on writing a new, exciting chapter.
The Natalie Esteves-coached side make a good start to that endeavour with a 3-0 victory over KZN Inland to get their campaign underway in style, with Emma Hibbert, Chelsey McGregor, and Thimna Waka netting for Western Province A.
After 32 minutes, Hibbert converted a penalty corner to put Western Province A ahead. McGregor doubled their lead with a field goal nine minutes later, and Waka made it 3-0 in the final seconds of the contest.
KZN Coastal finished third in 2024, and a win in their opener helped lay a sound foundation for another run at the title.
Nicola Dudas inspired Coastal to victory with a brace, which bookended their scoring. She slotted the opener in the 16th minute, which was the first of three goals in three minutes for the KZN side. Zezethu Kunene doubled Coastal’s lead a minute later before Gabi Howarth rounded off the blitz in the 18th minute.
In the 34th minute, Dudas increased the cushion to four goals. That was a mountain too high for Western Province B to climb.
Western Province A will have an opportunity to claim their second win of the tournament when they go up against Border A at 07:30 on Tuesday morning. Northern Gauteng A will joust with Western Province B at 08:55, and KZN Coastal has a date with their neighbours and hosts, KZN Inland A at 10:20.
Results
Northern Gauteng A: 3 – Thato Dimpe, Amogelang Motlatle, Zoe Badenhorst. Border A: 1 – Tarelle Jones.
Western Province A: 3 – Emma Hibbert, Chelsey McGregor, Thimna Waka. KZN Inland A: 0.
KZN Coastal A: 4 – Nicola Dudas (2), Zezethu Kunene, Gabi Howarth. Western Province B: 0.
