Day 2| Boys| Playoff spots secured as Belgotex Sport Easter Hockey Festival intensifies
Eight teams remain in the hunt to be crowned the champions after securing their places in the Cup quarterfinals of the Belgotex Sport Easter Hockey Festival in the southern suburbs of Cape Town on Thursday.
After a blistering start to the tournament, which saw over 100 goals scored in the boys’ section on Wednesday, the action intensified on day two, and rightfully so, with playoff spots on the line.
The teams that finished first in their respective pools will play for the Cup. Those teams that finished in second place in their pools will battle it out for the Plate, while third place teams will move on to the Shield, with the fourth and fifth placed sides contesting the Bowl.
On Wednesday, the opening day, Somerset College, Paarl Gimnasium, Worcester Gymnasium and Fairmont High were among the standout teams, and they continued their dominance on Thursday.
They all booked their places in the last eight and were joined by Private School Swakopmund, Outeniqua, Stellenberg, and York High.
Somerset, led by Coach Mick Ouwerkerk, will face their toughest challenge yet when they play Paarl Gim in the quarterfinals.
They cemented the top spot in Pool D by beating Makhanda’s Kingswood College, and Windhoek Gymnasium.
Against Kingswood, they claimed a 2-1 win, with the goals coming from the sticks of Michael Du Toit and Connor Hendriks.
In their second encounter, they netted four times against Windhoek Gymnasium. Du Toit was back on the score sheet with a brace, while Luke Limbert and Matthew Sutherland also struck.
Last year’s champions, Paarl Gim, stayed unbeaten as their quest to defend their title remained on track.
They delivered spirited performances against Hoërskool Punt (4-1) and St George’s Diocesan School (5-0) to comfortably take the honours in Pool C.
Just as they had done on Wednesday, both Stefan Wiehahn and Neil De Wet netted for the Stellenbosch outfit, with Wiehahn getting on the board against St George’s and De Wet scoring against Punt.
There was joy for Stellenberg High School, which also ended the pool stages undefeated. Coach Kyle Esau’s side scored a whopping 11 goals in their two matches on day two.
After a 1-0 win over Paarl Boys’ High on Wednesday, they began day two with a 5-0 drubbing of Redhill, and then thumped Hoërskool Robertson 6-0.
Myburgh Wessels scored a hattrick against Robertson, while Jacques Van Dyk added a double and Charl Van Niekerk made it half-a-dozen for Stellies.
Fairmont High School and Worcester Gymnasium will also be high in confidence after delivering strong performances during the round-robin stages. They’ll take on Stellenberg and York High respectively in the quarterfinals. Outeniqua will face Namibia’s Private School Swakopmund for a place in the semi-finals.
SACS, St John’s College (Harare), Namibia’s St George’s Diocesan School and Kingswood College will all contest the Plate quarterfinals.
The other Plate quarterfinals see Hudson Park facing Durbanville and Paarl Boys’ High battling Windhoek High.
DF Malan will tackle Stirling High in the Shield quarterfinals, with Woodridge College up against Northcliff High in the Super Bowl quarterfinals.
On Friday, at the Hartleyvale A Astroturf, the action starts at 09:10, when SACS plays St John’s College.
The Cup quarterfinals will be contested on the Hartleyvale A and B Astros, from 12:40, with the semi-finals to follow later in the day.
All the action will be LIVE on SuperSport Schools.
RESULTS
Pool A
Hugenote 1-0 Stirling High
SACS Invitational 3-0 Middelburg
Private School Swakopmund 2-1 Hugenote
SACS Invitational 3-3 Private School Swakopmund
Pool B
Bridge House 1-1 Outeniqua
Bridge House 2-0 Pro-Ed Akademie
Outeniqua 1-0 St John’s College
DF Malan 1-1 Pro-Ed Akademie
DF Malan 1-0 St John’s College
Pool C
Paarl Gimnasium 4-1 Hoërskool Punt
Belville High 0-0 Hoërskool Nelspruit
Paarl Gimnasium 5-0 St George’s Diocesan School
Hoërskool Punt 1-2 Hoërskool Nelspruit
Belville High 1-3 St George’s Diocesan School
Pool D
Somerset College 2-1 Kingswood College
Hoërskool Rustenburg 3-0 The Settlers
Somerset College 4-0 Windhoek Gymnasium
The Settlers 0-2 Windhoek Gymnasium
Kingswood College 2-0 Hoërskool Rustenburg
Pool E
Stellenbosch High 2-0 Oudtshoorn
Fairmont High 3-0 Monument High
Windhoek High School 3-0 Stellenbosch High
Fairmont High 0-0 Windhoek High School
Monument High 3-1 Oudtshoorn
Pool F
Paarl Boys High 2-0 Langenhoven Gimnasium
Stellenberg 5-0 Redhill
Paarl Boys High 2-0 Hoërskool Robertson
Stellenberg 6-0 Hoërskool Robertson
Langenhoven Gimnasium 3-2 Redhill
Pool G
Worcester Gymnasium 5-2 Hudson Park
Northcliff High 2-0 Curro Durbanville
Worcester Gymnasium 3-0 Hoërskool Swartland
Curro Durbanville 2-0 Hoërskool Swartland
Hudson 2-1 Northcliff
Pool H
York High 2-1 Strand High
Durbanville 3-0 Woodridge College
York 2-1 Woodridge
Durbanville 4-0Hermanus
Strand 1-1 Hermanus
Fixtures on the Hartleyvale A Astro
Friday, 29 March
09:10 – SACS vs St John’s College (Boys); 12:40 – Outeniqua vs Private School Swakopmund; 15:00 – Fairmont vs Stellenberg; 17:20 – Semi-final 1 (Boys); 19:40 – Semi-final 2 (Boys).
Saturday, 30 March
08:00 – Super Bowl Final (Girls); 09:10 – Super Bowl Final (Boys); 10:20 – Shield Final (Girls); 11:30 – Shield Final (Boys); 12:40 – Plate Final (Girls); 13:50 – Plate Final (Boys); 15:00 – 3rd/4th place-playoff (Girls); 16:10 – 3rd/4th place-playoff (Boys); 17:20 – Final (Girls); 18:30 – Final (Boys); 19:40 – Prize Giving
