Da Silva leads St Mary’s to SPAR KZN title
Jamie da Silva was at her best as she bagged two goals to help the hosts, St Mary’s DSG (Kloof), record a 3-0 win over St John’s DSG to win the title at the SPAR KZN Schoolgirls Hockey Challenge Grand Final on Sunday.
It was a sixth Grand Final victory for St Mary’s. No other team has won the trophy as many times as they have.
It was also their second trophy of the season, following the St Anne’s Cup, which they lifted in May.
St Mary’s was not only unbeaten in the tournament, they also didn’t concede a goal over the course of the two days while scoring 29 times.
“I am really proud of the girls. They really found a second gear,” Carla Ann Mackay, the St Mary’s coach, said after the final about her side’s intensity in their playoff matches.
“It’s testament to the girls’ [effort]. They’ve really just kept on growing every single game and haven’t let anything stop them.”
One of the most impressive aspects of the St Mary’s performances was that, despite playing seven games in two days, they still looked fresh and dialled in at the conclusion of the event. The matches were 30 minutes long with no halftime break.
“The girls have put in a huge shift this year with our high performance and our conditioning, which I think sometimes the girls’ schools ignore. We’ve got an amazing biokineticist at the school, Tanner Smith, who’s been pushing them.
“Fitness was never going to be negotiable. So, the girls have been constantly putting in the effort on the field with fitness and strength and conditioning,” Mackay explained.
Speaking of commitment, props to Mackay who oversaw her charges title-winning efforts despite being set to give birth on Monday!
There was no reprieve for St John’s in the early going of the title-decider. St Mary’s set up camp in the opposition half and dialled up the pressure on the Pietermaritzburg girls from the opening whistle.
Their dominance won them two early penalty corners, one of which struck a post.
If there is any concern that coach Mackay might have ahead of the forthcoming Top 12 Tournament, it might be her team’s penalty corner conversion rate. Before the final, they had scored only once from 20 shorties.
However, while they found it a challenge to score from penalty corners, St Mary’s were full of goals from the field, which was testament to their ball movement, ball speed and composure in front of goal.
They breezed through the tournament on the strength of their ability to score those field goals, and it was no different in the final.
A team under siege can repel only so many attacks and after five minutes of intense pressure, the Georgia Pollock-captained side found a breakthrough. Jamie da Silva, who was outstanding all tournament long, received a pass deep inside the St John’s circle and kept her cool to find a gap between the goalkeeper and the right post.
Two minutes later, Saints strung a series of passes together before Elizabeth Anderson laid off the ball to Alex Bowyer, who nutmegged the St John’s goalie to make it 2-0.
After defending for most of the chukka, Phillip Smerdon‘s came close to pulling a goal back.
They launched an attack into the St Mary’s D and won a penalty corner. In a chaotic passage of play, they hit a post and then, with the goalkeeper beaten, a St Mary’s defender pulled off a goal line save.
It had taken St John’s 13 minutes to create an opportunity, but they showed they had a cutting edge when it came their way.
Two minutes into the second chukka, St Mary’s administered the last rights on the contest. Jenna-Leigh Freese made a strong run down the right channel before she drilled a pass into the St John’s circle where da Silva executed an wicked deflection into the top left corner for a third Saints’ goal and her second of the match.
Despite trailing 0-3, St John’s kept pressing, hoping to muddy Saints’ outstanding defensive record. They dominated the last couple of minutes of play.
Smerdon’s charges won multiple penalty corners after the final hooter had sounded. The hosts, though, held firm and denied them a consolation goal.
It was, nonetheless, a best ever runners-up finish in the event for St John’s.
The title of champions and the trophy was a perfect gift for the St Mary’s captain, Pollock, who celebrated her 18th birthday on Sunday.
The Wykeham Collegiate (TWC) claimed third place with a closely contested 1-0 victory over Durban Girls’ College (DGC), who put up a good showing despite some of their top players being at an SA u21 camp.
In their stead, DGC played a number of young players who showed that there is more exciting quality coming through their ranks in the younger age groups.
They were at their best when under heavy pressure from St Mary’s in the semi-finals, showing admirable grit before at last conceding in the second chukka.
In the third and fourth place playoff, however, TWC found the goal that counted
It was a fine tournament for TWC, who were beaten by St Mary’s DSG on the opening day but won their other three pool games.
In the cross-pool playoffs, they gave St John’s a tough game, dominating the first half. Their Pietermaritzburg rivals finished strongly, however, and mustered up a last-minute goal to book their spot in the final.
Fifth place went to Our Lady of Fatima, who sparkled on Sunday, winning both of their matches convincingly.
They moved the ball constructively around Founders Field and opened with a 6-0 defeat of St Patrick’s College.
The Kokstad girls did themselves proud, however, finishing seventh in their first appearance in the Grand Final.
Later in the day, Our Lady of Fatima cruised to a second win, repeating that 6-0 victory margin in their last outing against Ferrum.
RESULTS
Cross-Pool Playoffs
Ferrum 2-0 Grantleigh
Our Lady of Fatima 6-0 St Patrick’s
St Mary’s DSG 2-0 DGC
St John’s DSG 1-0 TWC
Position Playoffs
Amanzimtoti (1) 0-0 (0) Ladysmith High (9th/10th)
St Patrick’s (2) 0-0 (0) Grantleigh (7th/8th)
Our Lady of Fatima 6-0 Ferrum (5th/6th)
TWC 1-0 DGC (3rd/4th)
St Mary’s DSG 3-0 St John’s DSG (1st/2nd)
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