DAY 3| Girls| Middelburg defy the odds to reach Belgotex Sport Easter Hockey Tournament final

Hoërskool Middelburg made history on day three of the Belgotex Sport Easter Hockey Festival by booking themselves a place in the Cup final after defeating Rustenburg Girls’ High School 3-0 in the semi-finals on Friday afternoon.

The Mpumalanga school faces Somerset College in the title-decider, at 17:20 on the Hartleyvale A Astroturf, on Saturday.

Entering the tournament, Middies were considered one of the dark horse teams.

They were unphased by others’ perceptions, however, and immediately ripped off two wins on the opening day, swamping Private School Swakopmund 10-1 before defeating Hudson Park 3-1.

On day two, they destroyed Curro Durbanville (6-0) and Hugenote (8-0) to emphatically clinch first place in the group. That secured coach Alti Nel’s team a quarterfinals’ showdown with Woodridge College.

That clash, on Friday morning, proved to be a tough test for the Mpumalanga side. They were held to a goalless draw but advanced to the final four after winning a penalty shootout 3-1.

After that narrow escape, Middies quickly turned their attention to a stern semi-final test against Rustenburg, who had taken out Paarl Gimnasium in the quarterfinals.

In the first two chukkas, it was very tight, with neither team creating many chances. The sides turned deadlocked at 0-0, but Middies changed that in the third chukka.

Imke Grobbelaar and Lumé Smit stepped up when it mattered the most, netting, to open up a 2-0 lead as the contest headed into its last quarter.

Smit was not done and grabbed a second goal in the fourth chukka to seal an impressive 3-0 win for her side.

Reacting to the match, coach Nel expressed how thrilled she was for her team, and how much reaching the final means to the Mpumalanga outfit.

“We’ve been enjoying the Belgotex Sport Easter Hockey Festival. It’s been a great opportunity for our girls,” she told SuperSport Schools.

“The quarterfinal and semi-final were tough matches, but the girls showed they can do it.

“This means a lot to us, and to end up in the best two is kind of crazy. We are very happy and, as parents and a coaching group, proud of the girls,” she added.

In the second semi-final of the day, Monument’s hopes of defending the title they won in 2023 were dashed by Somerset College.

Somerset snatched a 2-1 win, with Annabelle Hamel netting the winner with less than a minute left after Leila Holtzhausen had opened the scoring for the Western Cape side.

The final day’s action kicks off bright and early when Hermanus faces Belville High in the Super Bowl final. The Shield final, meanwhile, will be an Eastern Cape derby between Kingswood College and Stirling High.

The final, at 17:20, and all of the final day’s action will be live on SuperSportSchools.

RESULTS

Cup Quarterfinals
Middelburg 0(3)-0(1) Woodridge
Rustenburg 1-0 Paarl Gimnasium
Outeniqua 0-3 Somerset College
Monument 3-1 Stellenberg

Plate Quarterfinals
Hudson Park 0(1)-0(0) DF Malan
Hoërskool Nelspruit 1(3)-1(2) Windhoek Gymnasium
Fairmont 3-2 Durbanville
Northcliff 1(4)-1(3) Wynberg Girls’

Shield Quarterfinals
Redhill 2-0 Curro Durbanville
Stirling High School 4-0 Hoërskool Rustenburg
Hoërskool Eldoraigne 3-0 Penryn College
York 0(4)-0(3) Kingswood College

Super Bowl Quarterfinals
Bridge House 3-0 Hugenote
Hermanus 1(4)-1(3) The Settlers
Hoërskool Punt 4-0 Worcester Gymnasium
Belville High 1-0 Langenhoven Gimnasium

Bowl Quarterfinals
Pro-Ed Akademie 1-0 Private School Swakopmund
Oudtshoorn 1-0 St George’s Diocesan
La Rochelle 6-1 Hoërskool Robertson
Strand High 1-0 Stellenbosch

Cup semifinals
Middelburg 3-0 Rustenburg Girls’
Somerset College 2-1 Monument

Plate semifinals
Hudson Park 3-0 Hoërskool Nelspruit
Fairmont High 2(8)-2(7) Northcliff

Shield semifinals
Kingswood College 1-0 Hoërskool Eldoraigne
Stirling High 1(3)-1(2) Redhill

Super Bowl semifinals
Hermanus 1-0 Bridge House
Hoërskool Punt 0-3 Belville High

Bowl semifinals
La Rochelle 1-0 Strand High School
Pro-Ed Akademie 5-0 Oudtshoorn

37^th-40^th place playoffs
Hoërskool Robertson 0(3)-0(1) Stellenbosch High

21^st-24^th place playoffs
Curro Durbanville 0(2)-0(1) Hoërskool Rustenburg
Penryn College 0-6 York High

29^th-32^nd place playoffs
The Settlers 3-1 Hugenote
Worcester Gymnasium 2-1 Langenhoven Gimnasium

13^th-16^th place playoffs
DF Malan 2-1 Windhoek Gymnasium
Durbanville 1(2)-1(1) Wynberg Girls

5^th-8^th place playoffs
Paarl Gimnasium 2-0 Woodridge College
Outeniqua 0-2 Stellenberg

Fixtures on the Hartlevale A Astroturf 

Saturday, 30 March 2024

08:00 – Super Bowl final: Hermanus vs Belville; 10:20 – Shield final: Stirling vs Kingswood; 12:40 – Plate final: Hudson vs Fairmont; 15:00 – 3^rd-4^th  playoff: Monument vs Rustenburg Girls’; 17:20 – Final: Somerset College vs Middelburg 19:40 – Prize Giving

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Avuyile Sawula

Avuyile Sawula is a multimedia sports journalist, broadcaster, and writer. He possesses a journalism qualification from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology. During his time in the media industry, he has worked for various online media publications covering a variety of sporting codes. He also has a broadcasting background having worked as a news journalist at one of Cape Town’s commercial radio stations. His reporting beats include hockey, rugby, water polo, and cricket. Apart from writing, he has a knack for creating sports content, and video editing.

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