DAY 2| St Anne’s, Oranje and St John’s DSG dominate in Bethlehem
St Anne’s Diocesan College and Bloemfontein’s Oranje remained in the driving seat after reinforcing their unbeaten records on day two of the Balling Hockey Festival in Bethlehem.
St John’s DSG also won both of their matches on Saturday, recording victories over Eunice and Beaulieu College.
After a dramatic opening day that saw St Stithians College shock Eunice 4-2, more upsets were on the cards, as teams continued to strive for early season rhythm and consistency at Voortrekker’s Marlé Claasen Astro, New Horizon College, and Hoërskool Witteberg.
St Anne’s, from Hilton in the KZN midlands, continued with the dominance they showed on day one, which had brought them six goals in wins over Voortrekker and Beaulieu College. In one of the day’s early games, on the Marlé Claasen Astro, they outplayed Noordheuwel, winning 3-0.
In their second match of the day, they faced last year’s number one ranked team in South Africa, Eunice.
Coach Nika Coertzen’s young Eunice side entered the game on the back of a disappointing loss against St Stithians on Friday, which was followed by a 2-4 setback against St John’s DSG on Saturday morning.
In their clash with St Anne’s, the two sides were neck-and-neck in the first half, with little to separate them, but St Anne’s edged in front and took a slender 2-1 lead into the break.
Just as they had done in their previous matches at the festival, St Anne’s produced a strong second half, controlling matters, both on attack and in defence.
They pulled away from Eunice, scoring three times, with their last goal coming from a penalty corner. But Eunice kept fighting and retaliated with two goals of their own, leaving St Anne’s the 5-3 winners of an entertaining match.
Meanwhile, Oranje continued to make goalscoring look easy. They had netted 13 times on the opening day of the festival, and they added another 12 goals on day two.
In their first outing, Noordheuwel was subjected to a 7-0 hammering, and then the hosts, Voortrekker, saw five goals stuck past them, although they did manage one in response.
Oranje coach Gyster van Schalkwyk will seek more of the same from his players in their final match against Beaulieu at 07:55 on Sunday morning.
In other matches on Saturday, St Stithians College struggled to replicate the form they showed on the opening day, going down to Voortrekker and Beaulieu.
There was joy for Epworth, who thumped Potchefstroom Volkskool 6-1, before Hoërskool Sasolburg sneaked a 4-3 win over Wykeham Collegiate.
Nine matches will be played on Sunday, starting at 07:00, when Union High takes on Monument.
St Anne’s tackle St Stithians College at 09:45, while Wykeham will aim to end on a high when they play Our Lady of Fatima at the New Horizon Astro at 09:45.
Results: Day 2
Marlé Claasen Astro| Voortrekker
Potchefstroom Volkskool 0-0 Union HS
Epworth 1-1 St Dominic’s College
Oranje 5-1 Voortrekker
St Anne’s 3-0 Noordheuwel
Monument 2-0 Witteberg
St John’s DSG 4-2 Eunice
Oranje 7-0 Noordheuwel
Voortrekker 1-0 St Stithians College
St Anne’s 5-3 Eunice
St John’s DSG 2-0 Beaulieu
New Horizon Astro:
Wykeham 4-2 Oranje II
Our Lady of Fatima 2-1 Hoërskool Sasolburg
Beaulieu 1-0 St Stithians College
Epworth 6-1 Potchefstroom Volkskool
Union HS 1-1 Oranje II
Hoërskool Sasolburg 4-3 Wykeham
Witteberg 3-3 Our Lady of Fatima
Monument 2-0 St Dominic’s College
Day 3
Marle Claassen Astro | Voortrekker
07:00 – Union HS vs Monument; 07:55 – Oranje vs Beaulieu; 08:50 – Eunice vs Voortrekker; 09:45 – St Anne’s vs St Stithians College; 10:40 – Noordheuwel vs St John’s DSG; 11:35 – Witteberg vs Potchefstroom Volkskool; 12:30 – Hoërskool Sasolburg vs Epworth.
New Horizon Astro
09:45 – Our Lady of Fatima vs Wykeham; 10:40 – St Dominic’s College vs Oranje II
