Andrea Fortuin backstops Boland into SASHOC National Week final
Andrea Fortuin pulled off three outstanding saves in a penalty shootout to usher Boland A into the final of the SASHOC National Week.
Thanks to her heroics, Boland clinched a 3-0 victory over Western Province A on penalties on Pape’s Astro, at Maritzburg College, on Friday morning.
“She stepped up when it really mattered. She was phenomenal in the shootout,” Chris Gerber, the Boland coach, told SuperSport Schools Plus.
Boland will meet KZN Coastal in the final to be contested at 10:05 on Saturday morning.
Gerber’s charges asserted themselves from the first pushback of the contest. They forced Province onto the back foot and didn’t have to wait long before they were rewarded with a goal, with Cassie Fairbairn firing the ball into the back of the net just three minutes in.
Boland won five penalty corners in the first half, and four of those opportunities went begging. However, on their fifth attempt, they hit pay dirt. Captain Leah du Plessis drilled the ball past Province’s defence to double Boland’s lead in the final seconds of the first half.
It had all gone swimmingly well for Boland. Their defence was operating like a well-oiled machine, denying Province room to manoeuvre and smothering Province’s forwards when they entered the final third. However, Coach Natalie Esteves‘s side still had plenty of fight left in them.
“They had nothing to lose, and they threw everything at us. They had two opportunities and utilised both,” Gerber said.
Nina Wides kept Province in the hunt for a place in the final when struck eight minutes from the end of regulation time by converting her side’s fourth penalty corner with a sweetly struck shot.
That goal injected new life into Western Province, and they continued to pressure Boland. Just two minutes from the end, they equalised, and, like the first goal, it was Wides who scored, once again from a penalty corner. That sent the game into a penalty shootout.
“I told the girls to take a deep breath. We were in a moment that we had prepared and practiced for before,” Gerber said.
Boland took the first penalty and converted. Province would have issued an immediate response had Fortuin not been on top of her game. Unfortunately for them, she was. She didn’t just save Province’s first penalty attempt. She stymied them three times in succession.
Boland, meanwhile, converted three of their four penalties, and that was enough to secure a spot in the final.
Results
Western Province B (3 )3 – Tatum Malherbe, Kate Naiker, Inam Gungebele. Southern Gauteng B: (2) 3 – Dannika Ramroop (2), Kayla Williscroft
Border A: 2 – Busiwe Mayekiso, Kishka Baartman. Northern Gauteng B: 1 – Priella Nsubuga
Boland A: (3) 2 – Cassie Fairbairn, Leah du Plessis. Western Province A: (0) 2 – Nina Wides (2
Northern Gauteng A: 2 – Lisa Grey, Andrea Groenewald. Southern Free State A: 0.
KZN Coastal A: 2 – Jamie da Silva, Caprice Bengtson. Eastern Province A: 0.
Southern Gauteng A: 4 – Tori Tanner-Ellis, Azania Petersen, Keovaan Jansen, Amber Fairon. KZN Inland A: 0.
Fixtures:
07:30 – Southern Gauteng A vs Northern Gauteng A (5 and 6)
08:40 – Border A vs Western Province B (9 and 10)
08:40 – Northern Gauteng B vs Southern Gauteng B (11 and 12)
09:50 – KZN Inland A vs Southern Free State A (7 and 8)
10:20 – Boland A vs KZN Coastal A (final)
11:15 – Eastern Province A vs Western Province A (3 and 4)
