Bloemhof dominates Pool B at St Mary’s Waverley Festival
Hoër Meisieskool Bloemhof breezed through the first day of the Standard Bank St Mary’s Waverley Festival, winning four out of four games, to finish Thursday on top of Pool B.
The hockey extravaganza features 32 teams and runs through until Sunday.
Coach Jenny King‘s charges achieved a maximum haul of 12 points, while the next best teams, Eunice and St John’s DSG, are tied on seven points, but Eunice had a superior goal difference and sits in second place.
From their first fixture, against Roedean, Bloemhof made their intentions clear with a 5-0 rout. Liela van Zyl led the scoring with a brace and Marie Steyn, Bella Visser, and Elré Oosthuizen added a goal each.
The Stellenbosch side found St John’s DSG to be a far tougher challenge, but they came away with a 1-0 win, courtesy of a strike from Daniela Viljoen. Nina Louw‘s solitary goal then clinched victory for them when they faced Garsfontein in the afternoon.
The decline in goal output did not point to Bloemhof engaging autopilot in their successive 1-0 victories. King said her players maintained high energy and intensity levels in all of their matches. They matched that with smooth transfers through the midfield and connections down the flanks.
That consistency led them to a 3-1 win over St Andrew’s School for Girls in their last encounter of the day. Liela van Zyl struck twice, and Nina Louw added a third in the victory.
Eunice had as bright a start as Bloemhof, romping to a 4-0 win over Pietermaritzburg Girls’ High School. They followed up with a 4-1 victory over Roedean before they stumbled against St John’s DSG, going down 0-1. Coach Nika Coertzen‘s charges, then, finished the day with a goalless draw against Garsfontein.
St John’s DSG began with a 0-0 draw against Affies. The ladies from Pietermaritzburg followed that up with a 0-1 loss to the log leaders, Bloemhof in the mid-morning. St John’s needed a victory, and they picked up an important one with a 1-0 defeat of Eunice. In their last match of the day, they faced a familiar foe, their city rivals, Pietermaritzburg Girls’ High, and triumphed 2-0.
Bloemhof will seek to continue their great run when they go up against Affies on Friday morning. St John’s has an assignment against Roedean and Eunice will face off with St Andrew’s as the race for the honours in Pool B heats up.
RESULTS
Pool B
St Andrew’s 2-2 Garsfontein
St John’s DSG 0-0 Affies
Bloemhof 5-0 Roedean
Eunice 4-0 Pietermaritzburg Girls’ High
Affies 1-0 Garsfontein
Bloemhof 1-0 St John’s DSG
Eunice 4-1 Roedean
St Andrew’s School for Girls 2-0 Pietermaritzburg Girls’ High
Bloemhof 1-0 Garsfontein
St John’s DSG 1-0 Eunice
Affies 0-0 St Andrew’s School for Girls
Roedean 0-0 Pietermaritzburg Girls’ High
Bloemhof 3-1 St Andrew’s
Eunice 0-0 Garsfontein
St John’s 2-0 Pietermaritzburg Girls
