Eastern Province shines on opening day of u16 SASHOC National Week
The u16 Girls’ SASHOC National Week got off to a chilly start on Tuesday at St Anne’s DSG, in Hilton.
The event brings together top young talent from across the country and runs through to Sunday, 13 July, when the national provincial champion will be crowned.
Eastern Province wasted no time making their presence felt. Up against Eastern Gauteng in their opener, they delivered a commanding performance.
They dominated possession and relentlessly created attacking opportunities. Their efforts were rewarded with a stunning 5–0 victory, which was one of the biggest winning margins of the day.
Eastern Province also played a second fixture on Tuesday. Facing Southern Gauteng B, they maintained their attacking rhythm and defensive discipline to secure another emphatic win, this time by a 5-1 margin.
One of the most tightly contested matches of the day came in the Boland derby between Boland A and Boland B. Contests between familiar opponents can be tricky, but Boland A mustered a 3–1 victory.
Frankie Henn opened the scoring for Boland A 16 minutes into the game. Shortly after that, Nicola van der Merwe doubled the lead with a well-taken field goal.
Boland B, though, fought back with determination and their persistence was rewarded when Willanie du Preez pulled one back.
Despite late pressure from the B team, Alanda Rademeyer ensured the Boland A side would win, scoring their third goal.
In another A vs B match, the Southern Gauteng teams met. This time, the spoils were shared with the B team, perhaps, damaging their A side’s title challenge by holding them to a 1-1 draw. The match highlighted the depth of talent in the Southern Gauteng setup.
There were two more draws on the opening day, with Southern Free State and Western Province finishing 2–2 after an end-to-end clash, while KZN Inland and Northern Gauteng also shared the spoils after a 2-2 game.
Southern Gauteng A bagged a win later in the day, beating Southern Free State 2-0, while Northerns ended the day on top of the Pool B table after a narrow 1-0 win over Boland B in their second outing.
KZN Coastal A showed how to do it in a meeting of A and B teams, beating KZN Coastal B 3-0, with their ball control, quick transitions, and cohesion on the field earning them one of the cleanest wins of the day.
RESULTS
Pool A
Eastern Gauteng 0–5 Eastern Province
Southern Gauteng A 1–1 Southern Gauteng B
Southern Free State 2–2 Western Province
Southern Gauteng A 2–0 Southern Free State
Pool B
KZN Inland 2–2 Northern Gauteng
Boland B 1–3 Boland A
KZN Coastal B 0–3 KZN Coastal A
Eastern Province A 5–1 Southern Gauteng B
