Dominant Eastern Province and KZN Coastal into SASHOC National Week final
Eastern Province (EP) A bounced back from a shock loss to Southern Gauteng A on Friday to win their semi-final at the SASHOC National Week, on Hilton College‘s Mansergh Astro, on Saturday.
With a place in the final on the line, EP was on their game from the first whistle and kept Boland in check throughout.
Goals from standouts Lucy Holderness, who has six for the tournament, and Iminathi Rungqu, who has five, sealed a 2-0 victory and Eastern Province’s place in the title game.
They’ll face a KZN Coastal A team, which has won every game they’ve played, in the final. After their clean run through their group, Coastal followed up with a 3-1 win over Western Province A in their semi-final.
Charley-Rose Boyall continued her fantastic tournament form with a brace, which leaves her on top of the goal scoring chart alongside Southern Free State‘s Marichelle Crous, with seven. Teagan Williamson also netted for the local side, while Jamie Gall replied for Province.
Third in 2024, KZN Coastal meets the defending champion, Eastern Province, on Sunday for the title at 10:20 on the Mansergh Astro.
Boland A and Western Province A will meet in the third-place playoff. Both ended the pool stage in second place in their pools and clashes between the neighbours are usually very keenly contested.
KZN Inland A and Northern Gauteng A will battle it out for fifth place.
In the cross-pool playoffs, Inland shocked Southern Gauteng A, who were confident after an upset of Eastern Province, scoring a memorable 2–1 win, thanks to goals from Taslyn van Wyk and Owami Mthethwa.
Northern Gauteng A edged out Southern Free State A 2–1, with Aphelele Mbatsha and Lenique Vogel scoring for the winners, and Marichelle Crous replying for the Free Staters. Vogel’s goal was her fifth of the event.
The losses for Southern Gauteng A and Southern Free State A leaves them to meet for seventh place.
In other matches, Boland B edged out Eastern Gauteng A 2–1, while KZN Coastal B outlasted Southern Gauteng B, winning a tense penalty shootout 3-2 after their match had ended 1–1 in regulation time.
RESULTS
Eastern Gauteng A 1: Willanie Du Preez. Boland B 2: Leilah-Thul Fall.
Southern Gauteng B 1 (2): Caitlyn McLean. KZN Coastal B 1 (3): Isabella Slater.
Western Province A 1: Jamie Gall. KZN Coastal A 3: Charley-Rose Boyall (x2), Teagan Williamson.
Southern Free State A 1: Marichelle Crous. Northern Gauteng A 2: Aphelele Mbatsha, Lenique Vogel.
Eastern Province A 2: Lucy Holderness, Iminathi Rungqu. Boland A 0.
Southern Gauteng A 1: Erica Broskie. KZN Inland A 2: Taslyn Van Wyk, Owami Mthethwa.
