DAY 1 | Boys | Cape sides in the ascendency at the Belgotex Sports Hockey Festival
Paarl Gimnasium, Somerset College, Fairmont High School, Stellenberg, Worcester Gymnasium, alongside Windhoek High School were the only teams that recorded two victories on the opening day of the Belgotex Sport Easter Hockey Tournament in Cape Town.
The tournament welcomed 80 boys’ and girls’ schools from across South Africa, Namibia, and Zimbabwe on Wednesday.
To accommodate the massive numbers, matches are being played at eight venues, including the Hartleyvale A and B Astro turfs, Pinelands, Rustenburg Girls’, SACS, Wynberg A and B, and the University of Cape Town (UCT).
In the boys’ section, the SACS Invitational side kicked matters off with a 2-0 win over Hugenote. That was followed by a 1-1 draw between Bridge House, and DF Malan.
Last year’s winners, Paarl Gimnasium were soon in action at the UCT Astro, and blasted past Belville High, scoring 12 unanswered goals. Juan Swanepoel netted four times, while LD Nel, Rikus de Kock and Neil De Wet claimed doubles. Solitary goals from Stefan Wiehahn and Stephan Pieterse completed the scoring.
The side from Paarl followed up that win with a comfortable 5-0 triumph over Hoërskool Nelspruit.
Somerset College, another of the top challengers from the Western Cape, didn’t disappoint. They took their opportunities well to grab the Pool D lead.
Coach Mick Ouwerkerk‘s boys entered the tournament on the back of a mixed bag of results at the Bishops 175 Hockey Festival last weekend.
They showed they had put any issues behind them by demolishing The Settlers High School 8-0, with Michael Du Toit, Tyrone Rieth, and Luke Limbert all netting braces, and Travis Coenraad, and Connor Murphy striking, too, to make it eight.
In their second outing, Somerset defeated Hoërskool Rustenburg 1-0. On Thursday, they take on Kingswood College and Windhoek Gymnasium.
The Pool E lead belongs to Durbanville’s Fairmont High School. They were well prepared for the tournament after playing in the York Easter Hockey Festival in George last week. There, Fairmont won three of their five matches, drew one, and went down 0-1 to York High.
They were back on a winning track quickly on Wednesday, however, scoring a tight 3-2 win over Stellenbosch High School in their opener.
Kyle Maclean’s pair and a Thomas Day goal sealed the win, despite Martin Botha scoring twice for Stellies.
Stellenberg and Worcester Gymnasium sit atop Pools F and G respectively after picking up two wins apiece.
The SACS invitational team and Stirling High will need to lift their games on day two if they are to take over the top spot in Pool A, which is currently occupied by Namibia’s Private School Swakopmund.
After a win and a draw against DF Malan, Outeniqua leads Pool B. Their Thursday schedule includes matches against Zimbabwe’s St John’s College, and Bridge House.
Pool H hangs in the balance. York High is in top spot, just ahead of Durbanville.
Woodridge College, under coach Josie Greener, is still winless after playing to draws against Strand High and Hermanus respectively.
Day two of the boys’ section swings into action with a clash between Paarl Boys’ High and Langenhoven Gimnasium.
York High takes on Woodridge, and Durbanville will close matters off at Hartleyvale A against Hermanus.
Catch all the action LIVE on SuperSport Schools.
Day 1: Boys results
Pool A
SACS 2-0 Hugenote
Private School Swakopmund 2-0 Stirling High
Hugenote 0-4 Middelburg
Stirling High 0-0 SACS
Private School Swakopmund 4-0 Middelburg
Pool B
Bridge House 1-1 DF Malan
Outeniqua 2-1 Pro-Ed Akademie Boys
Bridge House 0-2 St John’s College
DF Malan 1-1 Outeniqua
Pro-Ed Akademie Boys 0-0 St John’s College
Pool C
Paarl Gimnasium 12-0 Belville
St George’s Diocesan 2-1 Hoerskool Punt
Paarl Gimnasium 5-0 Hoërskool Nelspruit
Belville High 1-1 Hoërskool Punt
St George’s Diocesan 1-1 Hoërskool Nelspruit
Pool D
Somerset College 8-0 The Settlers
Kingswood College 1-1 Windhoek Gymnasium
Somerset College 1-0 Hoërskool Rustenburg
The Settlers 0-5 Kingswood College
Windhoek Gymnasium 1-6 Hoërskool Rustenburg
Pool E
Fairmont 3-2 Stellenbosch High School
Windhoek High School 3-0 Oudtshoorn
Monument 3-0 Stellenbosch High School
Fairmont 7-0 Oudtshoorn
Windhoek High School 2-1 Monument High
Pool F
Stellenberg 1-0 Paarl Boys’ High
Langenhoven Gimnasium 3-1 Hoërskool Robertson
Paarl Boys’ High 2-0 Redhill
Stellenberg 3-0 Langenhoven Gimnasium
Hoërskool Robertson 0-1 Redhill
Pool G
Worcester Gymnasium 5-0 Curro Durbanville
Hudson Park 1-0 Hoërskool Swartland
Northcliff 1-8 Worcester Gymnasium
Curro Durbanville 1-1 Hudson Park
Hoërskool Swartland 0-0 Northcliff
Pool H
Durbanville 3-0 Strand
York High 2-2 Hermanus
Strand 1-1 Woodridge College
Durbanville 0-1 York High
Hermanus 3-3 Woodridge College
Fixtures on the Hartleyvale A Astro
Thursday, 28 March 2024
08:00- Somerset College vs Penryn (Girls); 09:00- Paarl Boys’ High vs Langenhoven Gimnasium (Boys); 10:00- Punt vs Durbanville (Girls); 11:00- Stellenberg vs Redhill (Boys); 12:00- Somerset College vs Robertson (Girls); 13:00- Paarl Boys High vs Robertson (Boys); 14:00- Northcliff vs Stellenberg (Girls); 15:00- York High vs Woodridge (Boys); 16:00- York High vs Langenhoven Gimnasium (Girls); 17:00- Durbanville vs Hermanus.
