Cape Town’s Belgotex Sport Easter Hockey Tournament off to a cracker
There were goals galore, a couple of shock results, and milestones achieved on day one of the Belgotex Sport Easter Hockey Festival in Cape Town on Wednesday.
The annual event runs until Saturday, 5 April, and all the action will be live on the SuperSport Schools App.
One of Africa’s biggest co-ed hockey festivals, it has drawn 96 teams to the Mother City.
The opening day’s action took place at eight venues, which include the Hartleyvale A and B turfs, Western Province Cricket Club‘s two fields, Pinelands High School, Rustenburg Girls’ High, Wynberg Girls’ High, and Herschel Girls School.
Several teams in the boys’ section were impressive and put their hands up as potential successors to last year’s champions, Paarl Gimnasium, who are absent this year.
Worcester Gimnasium was on song and ended the day with wins over Penryn School and St John’s College, from Zimbabwe.
Coach Edrich Janse van Rensburg‘s side netted through Christiaan Jacobs and Jannie Vlok against their Zimbabwean counterparts, while Bhukosi Mapete found the back of the net against Penryn before Jacobs scored his second of the day.
The South African College High School (SACS) Invitational side also showed promising signs.
They played to a goalless draw with Glenwood House but did enough to qualify for the round of 16 after beating Hugenote 2-0, courtesy of goals by Brett van Rooyen and Nicholas Oscroft.
Another Cape Town outfit, Stellenberg High, made it through to the knockout stages and will face Woodridge College, Curro Durbanville, and Langenhoven Gimnasium in the last 16.
Hoërskool Nelspruit is a team to watch. The side, led by Anthony Ruschenbaum, made its presence felt on day one with a 6-0 defeat of Oudtshoorn before playing out to an entertaining goalless draw with Kempton Park.
They have been drawn in Pool C of the Cup section and will face the Paul Roos Gimnasium Invitational side, Hoërskool Outeniqua, and Hoërskool Monument. All the teams in that pool are unbeaten.
Hudson Park High School, from East London, rattled in 10 goals as coach Sipe Matafeni‘s troops defeated Windhoek Gimnasium and the Paarl Gimnasium Invitational team in their first two outings.
Against Windhoek, Helio Ruiters netted a brace and was joined on the score sheet by Nathan Kearney and Zizibele Mtongana.
Hudson will continue in the Cup section where they will meet Fairmont High, Bridge House, and DF Malan.
Only one international side qualified for the Cup section, and that was Pro-Ed Akademie, from Swakopmund, in Namibia.
GIRLS SECTION:
While the action lived up to expectations in the boys’ section, the girls also delivered some cracking performances.
One of the tournament favourites, Stellenberg High School, began their hunt for silverware in the best possible way with an impressive 7-0 win over Worcester Gimnasium.
In that clash, three of their players, Ilke van der Merwe, Minke Lourens, and Helen de Kock, celebrated 100 games for the side.
They dominated the game, scoring through Juane Meiring (2), Zanay Gerber (2), Stella Zwiegers, Bea van den Berg, and Lané Schoeman.
They upped the ante in their second clash and thumped the Rustenburg Girls’ Invitational side 13-0.
Coach Paulene de Bruin‘s side charged into the Cup knockout stages where they will take on Zimbabwe’s Peterhouse, Namibia’s St Paul’s College, and Hoërskool Eldoraigne.
Hoërskool Monument and Fairmont High were also on song on the opening day.
Fairmont ripped through Hoërskool Linden and Hoërskool Upington 3-0 and 4-0, respectively, to book themselves a spot in the playoffs.
An interesting battle in the round of 16 awaits between Hoërskool Nelspruit, Rustenburg Girls’ High, Wynberg Girls’ High, and Hoërskool Outeniqua. All four sides are in the same group after dominating their opponents on Wednesday.
Wynberg beat Charlie Hofmeyr 2-1 and Woodridge College 2-0. At the centre of their attack was skipper Jehan Abrahams, who scored in both matches.
It was a good day for Hoërskool Monument, who netted nine goals without reply, to go with the 11 their boys scored without conceding.
Day two will see the teams meeting in the Cup, Shield, and Bowl sections as the tournament intensifies.
RESULTS
DAY 1
BOYS
Pool 1
Worcester Gimnasium 2-1 Penryn School
Worcester Gimnasium 2-1 St John’s (Harare)
St John’s (Harare) 4-0 Penryn School
Pool 2
Stellenberg High 2-0 Linden
Stellenberg 3-1 Middelburg Hoërskool
Linden 1-4 Middelburg Hoërskool
Pool 3
Hoërskool Nelspruit 4-0 Hoërskool Upington
Hoërskool Upington 0-0 Oudtshoorn
Hoërskool Nelspruit 6-0 Oudtshoorn
Pool 4
Fairmont High 4-0 St Dunstan’s College
Fairmont High 9-0 Northcliff
Northcliff 0-1 St Dunstan’s College
Pool 5
Durbanville 2-0 St Dominic’s
Durbanville 3-3 Bridgehouse
Bridgehouse 4-0 St Dominic’s
Pool 6
Paul Roos Invitational 6-0 Kempton Park
Paul Roos Invitational 3-1 Windhoek High School
Kempton Park 2-1 Windhoek High School
Pool 7
Woodridge College 2-2 Ashton College
Ashton College 4-1 Hoërskool Robertson
Woodridge College 4-0 Hoërskool Robertson
Pool 8
SACS Invitational 2-1 Hugenote
SACS Invitational 0-0 Glenwood House
Glenwood House 1-1 Hugenote
Pool 9
Rondebosch Boys’ High Invitational 1-1 Pro-Ed Akademie
Rondebosch Invitational 3-1 Charlie Hofmeyr
Pro-Ed Akademie 3-0 Charlie Hofmeyr
Pool 10
Hoërskool Zwartkop 1-0 Hoërskool Hermanus
Hoërskool Hermanus 3-4 Curro Durbanville
Hoërskool Zwartkop 2-2 Curro Durbanville
Pool 11
Hoërskool Monument 4-0 Hoërskool Strand
Hoërskool Monument 7-0 Somerset College Invitational
Hoërskool Strand 1-0 Somerset College Invitational
Pool 12
Hudson Park 6-1 Paarl Gimnasium Invitational
Paarl Gimnasium Invitational 1-3 Windhoek Gimnasium
Hudson Park 4-2 Windhoek Gimnasium
Pool 13
DF Malan 3-1 Kingswood College
Kingswood College 2-0 Redhill School
DF Malan 3-2 Redhill School
Pool 14
Hoërskool Outeniqua 4-1 Hoërskool Eldoraigne
Hoërskool Eldoraigne 2-1 HTS Drostdy
Hoërskool Outeniqua 3-1 HTS Drosdty
Pool 15
Langenhoven Gimnasium 2-2 Peterhouse
Langenhoven Gimnasium 1-0 Hoërskool Stellenbosch
Peterhouse 1-2 Hoërskool Stellenbosch
Pool 16
Stirling High 1-1 Paarl Boys’ High Invitational
Paarl Boys’ High Invitational 1-4 Punt
Stirling High 0-0 Punt
GIRLS
Pool 1
Stellenberg 7-0 Worcester Gimnasium
Stellenberg 13-0 Rustenburg Girls’ Invitational
Worcester Gimnasium 1-0 Rustenburg Girls’ Invitational
Pool 2
Hoërskool Monument 2-0 Robertson
Hoërskool Monument 7-0 Brackenfell
Robertson 3-2 Brackenfell
Pool 3
Northcliff 2-0 Hoërskool Strand
Northcliff 2-0 Durbanville Invitational
Hoërskool Strand 1-1 Durbanville Invitational
Pool 4
Hudson Park 0-0 Hoërskool Nelspruit
Hudson Park 2-1 Fairmont Invitational
Hoërskool Nelspruit 3-0 Fairmont Invitational
Pool 5
Rustenburg Girls’ High 2-0 Ashton College
Rustenburg Girls’ High 9-0 St Dunstan’s College
Ashton College 4-0 St Dunstan’s College
Pool 6
Kempton Park 2-0 Bridge House
Kempton Park 1-1 Stellenberg Invitational
Bridge House 1-1 Stellenberg Invitational
Pool 7
Fairmont High School 3-0 Linden
Fairmont High School 4-0 Hoërskool Upington
Hoërskool Upington 0-0 Linden
Pool 8
Peterhouse 1-0 Windhoek Gimnasium
Peterhouse 7-1 Langa Hockey Club
Windhoek Gimnasium 4-1 Langa Hockey Club
Pool 9
St Paul’s College 4-0 La Rochelle
St Paul’s College 5-0 Langenhoven Gimnasium
La Rochelle 1-0 Langenhoven Gimnasium
Pool 10
Durbanville 1-0 York High School
York High 13-0 St Dominic’s
Durbanville 12-0 St Dominic’s
Pool 11
Dr. EG Jansen 2-0 Stirling High
Dr. EG Jansen 6-0 Oudtshoorn
Stirling High 8-0 Oudtshoorn
Pool 12
Wynberg Girls’ High 2-0 Woodridge College
Woodridge College 1-0 Charlie Hofmeyr
Wynberg Girls’ High 2-1 Charlie Hofmeyr
Pool 13
Hoërskool Outeniqua 4-0 Hoërskool Hermanus
Hoërskool Outeniqua 6-0 Curro Durbanville
Hoërskool Hermanus 2-0 Curro Durbanville
Pool 14
DF Malan 5-0 Pro-Ed Akademie
DF Malan 5-0 Hugenote
Pro-Ed Akademie 2-2 Hugenote
Pool 15
Paarl Gimnasium Invitational 1-0 Kingswood College
Paarl Gimnasium Invitational 0-0 Punt
Kingswood College 1-0 Punt
Pool 16
Hoërskool Eldoraigne 3-1 HTS Drostdy
Glenwood House 2-1 HTS Drostdy
Hoërskool Eldoraigne 1-0 Glenwood House
CLICK HERE FOR DAY 2 FIXTURES
