Two teams remain unbeaten as playoff permutations come into play
The 2025 SASHOC National Week has reached its halfway mark, and coaches, spectators, and parents are calculating where the teams they support could potentially finish.
By the close of play on Wednesday, day three of the tournament, only Western Province (WP) A and Northern Gauteng A remained unbeaten.
WP sits comfortably atop Pool A with 12 points after four matches, while Northerns occupies second spot in Pool B with nine points from three outings, and with two matches in hand.
The third day of the tournament, which is being hosted at Maritzburg College, in Pietermaritzburg, and St Anne’s DSG, in Hilton, delivered some scintillating action, upsets, and a bucketload of goals.
Western Province A, after beating Boland B 5-0 and Eastern Province A 8-1, faced their toughest test yet against an unpredictable but highly regarded Southern Gauteng A side.
The clash was labelled a potential top-of-the-pool decider, with the winner expected to progress comfortably to the semifinals.
It was a fiery contest from the get-go, with Gauteng piling early pressure on their opponents and winning a short corner.
Their set piece execution was lacking, however, and coach Kyle Reddy’ boys were punished only minutes later when Litha Kraai opened the scoring in the seventh minute.
Southerns, with their large contingent of supporters cheering them on, weren’t going to lie down and they responded in the 19th minute through Zeyad Davids. That, however, was their only goal of the game.
Western Province took charge, ran wild, and tore through Southern Gauteng. In the third chukka, they scored three goals in quick succession, with Kraai netting from a penalty corner, followed by strikes from Joe Gitlin and Daniel Fisher, which made it 4-1.
Province was not yet done, though, and it was that man, again, Kraai, who showed off some insane skills inside the circle to complete his hattrick.
Coach Jody Erasmus’s side then took on KZN Coastal B in their second match in the early evening.
It was one-way traffic, with WP romping to a 10-2 win, which included four goals from captain Jo le Roux. That one-sided victory ensured Province’s passage into the semifinals, and it also ensured they will finish in first place in Pool A.
While WP dominated on Pape’s Astro, Northerns also kept their chance of reaching the semifinals alive with a hard-fought 2-1 win over Southern Gauteng B.
Coach Steven Paulo’s side had impressed on day two with a 3-1 victory against Boland A, and they picked up from where they left off.
Luken Brunette was on the scoresheet once again, and Andrea Clerihew made it two.
The boys from Pretoria have a tricky doubleheader on day four when they face Western Province B and Southern Free State A. The Province B team is atop Pool B but has played a game more than Northerns.
A win in either of those contests will guarantee Northerns a place in the last four.
Permutations
Pool A
Western Province is already through to the semifinals, but there are still spots up for grabs in both Pools.
In Pool A, Southern Gauteng A did themselves a huge favour by beating a Boland B side that played without a goalkeeper 8-1.
After three days of action, they occupy second place with nine points. A win in their final match of the group stages against KZN Coastal B will see them progress to the top four.
Boland B, meanwhile, is in third place with six points and will face Eastern Province A on Thursday.
If Boland wins that clash and Southern Gauteng loses, Boland would likely still miss out on goal difference after conceding eight against Southerns.
KZN Inland A, KZN Coastal A, and Eastern Province are all out of the running.
Pool B
As previously mentioned, Western Province B is in first place in Pool B ahead of Northern Gauteng, who have two games in hand.
Province B tackles Northerns on day four. If they win, they’ll be through to the semis.
The equation for Northerns is quite simple. They need two points from their remaining two matches to progress. Western Province B and Southern Free State will challenge them.
Southern Free State could also sneak into the top two if they win both their matches on Thursday, but they would also need other results within the group to go their way.
Boland A also needs three points against Free State to progress to the playoffs.
Pool B is closer than many think, and it could come down to goal difference. Meanwhile, Southern Gauteng B is out of the running and will be playing to avoid relegation.
CLICK HERE TO READ OUR SECOND REPORT OF DAY 3 ACTION.
Day 3 | Results and scorers
Pool A
Boland B 3: Noah Hendricks (2), Johen Pietersen. KZN Inland A 2: Dane Jackson (2).
Western Province A 5: Litha Kraai (3), Daniel Fisher, Joe Gitlin. Southern Gauteng A 1: Zeyad Davids.
KZN Coastal B 3: Bo Mokoena, Ethan Schilz, Tye Milne. Eastern Province A 2: Keegan Le Roux, Seth Groener.
Southern Gauteng A 8: Zeyad Davids (3), Jared Bailings (2). Ezray Stadt, Khanyisa Kraai, Aiden Blatch. Boland B 1: Noah Hendricks.
Western Province A 10: Jo le Roux (4), Zachary Gibbon (2), Reece Theunis, Daniel Fisher, Aiden Topper, Aidan Hughes. KZN Coastal B 1: Ethan Schilz, Murray Wicks.
Pool B
Western Province B 3: Cameron Groves, Litha Mbiko, Charlie Naylor. Southern Free State 0.
Northern Gauteng A 2: Luken Brunette, Andrea Clerihew. Southern Gauteng B 1: Jordache Arnold
KZN Coastal A 4: Sitshaba Siyoyo, Zach Williamson, Joshua Mungherera, Christopher Abrahams. Boland A 3: Christo Swanepoel (2), Callum van Oudtshoorn.
DAY 4 FIXTURES
Pool A
11:45 – Southern Gauteng A vs KZN Coastal B
13:10 – Eastern Province A vs Boland B
14:35 – Western Province A vs KZN Inland A
Pool B
07:30 – Boland A vs Southern Free State A
08:55 – Northern Gauteng A vs Western Province B
10:20 – KZN Coastal A vs Southern Gauteng B
16:00 – Northern Gauteng A vs Southern Free State A
