CTIHT: Paarl Gim, Clifton College fly into the final four
Paarl Gimnasium and Bristol’s Clifton College dominated their quarterfinal matches to book their places in the semifinals of the Cape Town International Hockey Tournament on Friday.
Paarl Gim breezed past Hoërskool Kempton Park, powering their way to an emphatic 8-0 victory, while Clifton College outplayed Windhoek Gymnasium 5-0 to secure their slot.
“I am very proud of the girls. They have improved as the season has progressed. We struggled a bit at the start of the season, but we have been able to improve with each game we have played,” Ian Naude, the Paarl Gim coach, said.
At the start of the season, Paarl Gim left a lot of goals on the Astro. They are now leaving fewer goals out there and finishing better. In their last seven games, Naude’s girls have scored a whopping 59 times.
After the completion of Friday’s matches, a total of 153 goals had been scored in the tournament, and 45 of those belonged to Paarl Gim. The other 19 sides had tallied 108 together. No team has come close to the level Naude’s side is playing at.
It appears as if Paarl Gim is aiming for double figures in every match. They achieved that feat against Worcester Gymnasium, overwhelming them 11-0 in their third game of the tournament.
Before their massive victory over Worcester Gim, Paarl Gim smashed 17 unanswered goals past Uppingham and Windhoek High School, winning those games 9-0 and 8-0 respectively. Naude’s team also romped to a 9-0 win over Curro Durbanville in their last group match. They were the only side to not drop a single point in the group stages.
“The best thing about the way we have been scoring goals is that we don’t have a single player dominating the goal scoring. It has been a team effort,” Naude said.
A testament to that is the fact that six players were on the scoresheet in Paarl Gim’s semifinal victory. Marika Neethling and Isabella Nel netted two goals apiece, and Tanya Pieterse, Anine le Roux, Anya Swanepoel, and Alanda Rademeyer struck once each.
So dominant has Paarl Gim been that the top five goal scorers in the tournament are from the team, with Marika Neethling (9), Anine le Roux (6), Karea de Ridder (6), Tanya Pieterse (6), and Alanda Rademeyer (5) leading the way.
Naude’s side has not only been outstanding in the attacking circle, but they have also been rock-solid in defence. They reached the quarterfinals without conceding a goal. In their last seven games, they have given up only two.
“Our cover defence has been really good. Our strikers are reverse-pressing well, our man-marking has been outstanding, and we have not given the opposition sides space to play. We have limited circle entries against us so much so that our ‘keeper has not had much to do,” Naude explained.
In the semifinals, Paarl Gim will square up against Clifton College. Olly Keenan’s charges earned their spot in the final four courtesy of a comfortable 5-0 win over Windhoek Gymnasium.
Meg Titcomb led the scoring with a brace and Alice Holford, Evie Edwards, and Bella Herring added a goal each.
Clifton College’s path to the semifinals was not as smooth as Paarl Gim’s. They finished second in Pool B, one point behind the pool winners, Parel Vallei, who beat Clifton 2-1 in their first game.
“We have a young squad that is not used to playing a lot together. In the first match, they were still adjusting to conditions, which wasn’t difficult because the weather here is similar to the UK in the winter,” Keenan said.
After dusting themselves down, they fired seven unanswered goals past Windhoek Afrikaanse Privaatskool. Then, on day three, after the second day had been called off because of severe storms, Clifton College recorded a 4-0 win over Hoërskool Bellville and then edged out Paarl Girls’ High 1-0 in a must-win contest to lay claim to second place.
“I think our game against Paarl Girls was our best match because we showed good game-management in a tight contest,” Keenan reckoned.
His charges will have their hands full on Sunday when they battle against Naude’s juggernaut. Keenan, however, is unfazed by Paarl Gim’s prolific scoring.
“Our goal has been to outscore our opposition in every match. We are not going to try to contain Paarl Gim. We won’t play negative hockey,” he said. “We have a side that plays fast hockey and that is how we will play against Paarl Gim. We will outscore them.”
RESULTS
Pool A
AKS Lytham 2-0 Durbanville High School
St Paul’s College 0-1 Hoërskool Kempton Park
Durbanville High School 0-1 Somerset College
AKS Lytham 1-2 St Paul’s College
Somerset College 1-0 Hoërskool Kempton Park
Pool B
Hoërskool Bellville 0-4 Clifton College
Parel Vallei 1-1 Paarl Girls’ High
Windhoek Afrikaanse Privaatskool 0-1 Hoërskool Bellville
Parel Vallei 5-0 Windhoek Afrikaanse Privaatskool
Clifton College 1-0 Paarl Girls’ High
Pool C
Curro Durbanville 0-5 Windhoek High School
Uppingham 2-0 Worcester Gymnasium
Uppingham 1-0 Curro Durbanville
Worcester Gymnasium 0-11 Paarl Gim
Windhoek High 0-2 Uppingham
Paarl Gim 9-0 Curro Durbanville
Pool D
Hoërskool Outeniqua 0–2 Springfield Convent School
Rustenburg 1–4 Chisipite
Chisipite 1–2 Windhoek Gymnasium
Rustenburg 1–1 Springfield Convent School
Rustenburg 0–4 Hoërskool Outeniqua
Windhoek Gymnasium 2–2 Springfield Convent School
Quarterfinals
Somerset College 5-2 Uppingham
Parel Vallei 2-0 Chisipite
Hoërskool Kempton Park 0-8 Paarl Gimnasium
Clifton College 5-0 Windhoek Gymnasium
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