Affies wins from the penalty spot vs Rhenish to clinch All Girls Festival title
After much hard work, Afrikaanse Hoër Meisieskool, Pretoria outlasted Rhenish Girls’ High School on penalties to clinch the 2024 All Girls Festival title at The Girls High School, Potchefstroom, on Saturday.
The title decider was a good, hard fight, with both Affies and Rhenish tigerishly defending to avoid going behind. That, however, left the sides deadlocked at 0-0 after regulation time, thus sending the contest to the penalty spot to decide the winner. Affies took it, just, by three goals to two.
It was a satisfying end to the event for Affies, who began it with a 0-2 setback against Oranje on Thursday. They answered that loss with three wins in succession, beating Rustenburg Girls’ High 1-0, followed by 2-0 victories over Pretoria High School for Girls and HMS La Rochelle respectively.
That left Affies in second place in Pool A, with nine points.
Then, on Friday, they showed BMT to edge out Collegiate Girls’ High School 2-1 on penalties in the quarterfinals. In the semis, they beat Paarl Girls’ High 1-0 to secure their place in the final.
Rhenish’s challenge got off to a flyer when they overran Jeppe High School for Girls 13-0 in their first match. Their Stellenbosch neighbours, Bloemhof, held them to a 1-1 draw in their second outing, but a 2-0 victory over Danville Park Girls’ High and a 1-0 win over Durban Girls’ High left them top of Pool B, with 11 points.
Oranje impressed in the third-place playoff, scoring a 3-0 win over Paarl Girls’ High. Fifth went to Bloemhof, who handed Eunice a 2-1 loss, while Collegiate ended seventh after a 1-0 win over Wynberg Girls’ High.
In 2025, the All Girls Festival heads to the Western Cape where it will be hosted by Wynberg Girls’ High, who co-hosted the event with Rustenburg Girls’ High in its very first year, in 2000.
RESULTS
Collegiate Girls’ High School 1-0 Wynberg Girls’ High
Clarendon High School for Girls (2) 0-0 (1) Danville Park Girls’ High School
HMS Bloemhof 2-1 Eunice
Durban Girls’ High 1-0 Parktown Girls’ High
Paarl Girls’ High 0-3 Oranje
La Rochelle 0- 2 Rustenburg Girls’ High
Affies (3) 0-0 (2) Rhenish Girls’ High School
