Clarendon and Hudson start season strongly, Stirling shows positive signs
The Buco AstroTurf, in Bunkers Hill, hosted the highly anticipated Hoërskool Ooskus Gimnasium Festival in East London on Friday and Saturday.
The annual tournament kicked off the 2025 season for girls’ sides in the Border region.
Out of the eight schools in attendance, it was Clarendon High School for Girls, Hudson Park High School, and Stirling High who finished the weekend on top.
That trio, despite not being at their best, impressed and gave spectators a tantalising taste of what’s to come in 2025.
Both Clarendon and Hudson ended the festival unbeaten after playing to a goalless draw in the final match on day two.
Coach Luaan Sedras’s Clarendon side was the best team defensively, keeping clean sheets in all four of their matches. While they were rock solid at the back, Clarendon also scored only three goals, beating Merrifield College, Stirling High, and Kingsridge High School (KHS) by 1-0 margins.
“This weekend was all about learning lessons. We wanted to figure out combinations and see how the girls gel together,” Sedras told SuperSport Schools Plus.
“We played some good opposition, but now it’s all about taking the lessons and balancing that in more competitive games.”
Execution in the final third and capitalising on the chances created is an area coach Sedras wants his charges to sharpen up before Border Schools Day.
“We are coming short with our finishing,” he admitted. “We are creating opportunities; we are getting into the D, but we’re just not finishing.
“A big focus will be on goalscoring this coming week. I’m quite happy with the structure and midfield. The finishing needs to improve.”
Hudson Park, on the other hand, played three matches, drew two, and thumped Komani’s Hangklip High School 5-1.
Coach Jerry Snyman and his troops headed into the festival wanting to prove last season’s good results were no fluke.
They were held to a goalless draw by Stirling in their opener, but the win against Hangklip gave a glimpse of how dangerous they could be this season.
“I think the fact that we missed key players in key positions showed this weekend,” coach Snyman said.
“We missed the experienced heads of Busiwe Mayekiso and Melnique Langley. Busi comes back next weekend, so that will help the girls going forward.
“Defensively, I thought we were great. I was impressed with some youngsters coming through. They stepped up nicely.”
There won’t be too many changes made by coach Snyman for Border Schools Day. “We want to just fix the small things,” he said.
“The girls must get a grip of our plan up front and in the midfield, and how to defend and receive.
“We haven’t established a ball carrier like last year, but that’s something we’ve been working on.”
Stirling High, meanwhile, fielded a team with a mixture of youth and experience for their first outing of the year.
Coach Michael Dettmer’s side was impressive on the final day and ended the festival with a commanding and dominant 3-0 victory over Lilyfontein School.
The Stirling boss was full of praise for his team afterwards. “It was a good learning curve for the new players in the team,” he enthused.
“Structure-wise, we are trying to change things this year, and it was good to try it out in a formal setting but without much pressure.
“The youngsters impressed me. Lots of them realise now that they are good enough for the first-team level. We’re very excited for the rest of the season.”
Some of the other results included Merrifield College recording a 2-0 win over Ooskus Gimnasium, while KHS took down the Hudson 2nds, and Lilyfontein edged out Greenpoint High School 2-1.
RESULTS
Day 1
Lilyfontein 1-0 Ooskus Gimnasium
Clarendon 1-0 Merrifield
Hudson 0-0 Stirling High
Hudson 2nds 7-0 Ooskus Gimnasium
Kingsridge High School 1-1 Greenpoint
Hudson 2nds 2-0 Hangklip
Merrifield 2-0 Ooskus Gimnasium.
Day 2
Ooskus Gimnasium 3-0 Hangklip
Stirling High 1-0 Merrifield
Kingsridge High School 4-0 Hudson 2nds
Lilyfontein 2-1 Greenpoint
Clarendon 1-0 Stirling High
Ooskus Gimnasium 3-3 Kingsridge High School
Hudson 2nds 1-0 Lilyfontein
Hudson 5-1 Hangklip
Clarendon 1-0 Kingsridge High School
Hangklip 2-0 Greenpoint
Stirling High 3-0 Lilyfontein
Clarendon 0-0 Hudson
