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DAY 4| Girls| Kontopirakis’s double leads Somerset to Belgotex glory


The Somerset girls team celebrate their Belgotex Easter Hockey Tournamnet truimph in Cape Town. Photo: Belgotex Sport Easter Hockey Tournament
The Somerset girls’ team celebrate their Belgotex Easter Hockey Tournament triumph in Cape Town. Photo: Belgotex Sport Easter Hockey Tournament.

Somerset College‘s centre-forward Alexia Kontopirakis bagged a double in the Cup final of the Belgotex Sport Easter Hockey Tournament to seal a 2-0 win for her side over Hoërskool Middelburg in the southern suburbs of Cape Town on Saturday evening.

Kontopirakis fired when it mattered most for her team. Her first goal came late in the third chukka, and she doubled her tally early in the fourth, much to the delight of the travelling fans in the stands.

Entering the title-deciding clash, both teams sported unbeaten records after winning all of their pool games and their subsequent playoff matches. Between them, they had conceded only one goal throughout the course of the tournament.

Both were made to work hard in the semi-finals, with Middelburg eventually easing to a convincing 3-0 win over Rustenburg Girls’ High, while Somerset caused an upset by eliminating the defending champions, Monument, 2-1.

The first two chukkas of the final didn’t produce many meaningful opportunities, with neither team creating clear-cut chances in front of goal. Middelburg, though, forced Somerset to scramble to keep out a penalty corner in the second chukka.

On the other hand, Somerset reverted to overheads to move the ball and maintain possession.

The game changed in the final seconds of the third chukka when Kontopirakis struck a hammer blow for her side by sneaking the ball into the bottom right-hand corner of the goalbox after finding herself in space. Her second goal was similar in nature.

Good movement and linking play in the box saw the ball find her stick, and she did what she does best by smashing it into the back of the net.

Middelburg, unlike in their semi-final clash, never really got going, and struggled to create goalscoring opportunities.

It was Somerset College’s first-ever Belgotex Sport Easter Hockey Tournament title.

Somerset College captain Julia Brown in action for her team during this year's final of the Belgotex Sport Easter Hockey Festival. Photo: Belgotex Sport Easter Hockey Tournament
Somerset College captain Julia Brown in action for her team during this year’s final of the Belgotex Sport Easter Hockey Festival. Photo: Belgotex Sport Easter Hockey Tournament

Reacting to her team’s win, captain of the Somerset College side, Julia Brown, said she was thrilled with the victory.

“I feel privileged and super-proud of this group of girls I play with,” she told SuperSport Schools.

“We had to dig deep in the final, and that’s the beauty of our team, we are resilient, and a little bit extra, which is something I really love.

“This win will be a great confidence boost for us. We just need to keep going, and keep our heads down,” she concluded.

Earlier in the day, the bronze medal match saw last year’s winners, Monument, take on a stern challenge from Rustenburg Girls’ High.

Both sides entered the match hungry to redeem themselves after losing their respective semi-finals on Friday.

Monnas made better use of their opportunities with their SA u17 star Hannah Quinton, and her namesake, Hannah Smyth, scoring in their 2-1 win. Rustenburg’s solitary goal came from Tatum Malherbe.

In other matches, Woodridge College finished in seventh place after edging out Hoërskool Outeniqua (3-0) on penalties following a goalless draw between the sides. Woodridge and Hudson Park, who finished tenth, after going down 0-1 to Fairmont, were the best of the Eastern Cape teams.

Stellenberg edged our Paarl Gimnasium 1-0 to take fifth spot.

Relive all the action on SuperSport Schools.

RESULTS:
Stellenbosch 2-0 St George’s Diocesan (39th-40th Place)
Hoërskool Robertson 2(5)-2(6) Private School Swakopmund (37th-38th Place)
Strand 5-0 Oudtshoorn (35th -36th Place)
Pro-Ed Akademie 1(1)-1(0) (33rd-34th place)
Langenhoven Gimnasium 1-0 Hugenote (31st-32nd Place)
Worcester Gymnasium 1-0 The Settlers (29th/30th Place)
Bridge House 2-1 Hoërskool Punt (27th-28th Place)
Hoërskool Belville 2-0 Hermanus High School (25th -26th Place)
Hoërskool Rustenburg 3-0 Penryn College (23rd-24th Place)
York High 3-0 Curro Durbanville (21st-22nd Place)
Redhill 1-2 Hoërskool Eldoraigne (19th-20th Place)
Kingswood College 1(4)-1(1) Stirling High (17th-18th Place)
Windhoek Gymnasium 0-2 Wynberg Girls’ High (15th-16th Place)
DF Malan 2-1 Hoërskool Durbanville (13th-14th Place)
Hoërskool Nelspruit 1(3)-1(4) Northcliff High (11th-12th Place)
Fairmont 1-0 Hudson Park (9th/10th Place)
Woodridge College 0(3)-0(0) Hoërskool Outeniqua (7th-8th Place)
Paarl Gimnasium 0-1 Stellenberg (5th-6th Place)
Rustenburg Girls’ High 1-2 Monument High (3rd-4th Place)
Hoërskool Middelburg 0-2 Somerset College (1st -2nd Place)

Avuyile Sawula
error: Sorry ol' chap, those shenanigans are not permissible.