EP, Boland into u16 SASHOC National Week semis, champs miss out
Eastern Province A cruised into the semi-finals of the u16 SASHOC National Week on Monday afternoon after a comfortable victory over KwaZulu-Natal Inland B in Bloemfontein.
EP impressed in their 5-1 win. It took them just two minutes to get onto the scoresheet, with Anga Madaka netting, and less than 10 minutes later it was 2-0, thanks to a penalty corner goal from James Chree.
Logan Goddard-Ford increased the Eastern Province lead to 3-0 at the break, but Uyanda Magudulela responded in the third chukka for Inland. Another Goddard-Ford goal, plus one more from regular scoring contributor Keegan Le Roux, made it a convincing four-goal win.
With that victory, Eastern Province also eliminated the defending champions Western Province A – who had beaten them 3-0 in their first game – from the semi-finals.
They both finished with 12 points, but EP enjoyed a better goal difference. Their reward will be a final four showdown with KwaZulu-Natal Inland A. Boland A also picked up 12 points, but they finished top of Pool A with the best goal difference of the three semi-final contenders.
KZN Inland A completed their Pool B assignments with a perfect record of five wins from five games.
On Monday, they broke open a 2-2 tie with KZN Coastal A in the third chukka to claim a 3-2 victory after a back-and-forth contest.
Inland’s Siwaphiwe Mthembu got his team off to a flying start with a goal within the first two minutes, but Luc Boyall levelled for Coastal in the second chukka. Before it was up, however, Thandanani Zuma restored Inland’s lead.
It lasted only two minutes. Keegan de Jager was on target from a penalty corner, and it was 2-2.
The winning goal came from Liyemikhaya Sishi shortly after half-time. Despite five goals being scored in 33 minutes, there were no more to come and Inland claimed the KZN honours.
Meanwhile, Southern Gauteng A punished KZN Coastal B, rolling to a 4-0 win, and Luka Meets starred with five goals as Pool A table-toppers Boland made light work of Southern Free State A, crushing them 7-0.
On Tuesday, the Bolanders will do battle with Coastal A in the semifinals at the University of the Free State.
RESULTS
KwaZulu-Natal Inland A 3 – 2 KwaZulu-Natal Coastal A
Border A 3 – 2 Southern Gauteng B
Southern Gauteng A 4 – 0 KwaZulu-Natal Coastal B
Western Province A 2 – 1 Northern Gauteng A
Boland 7 – 0 Southern Free State A
KwaZulu-Natal Coastal 2 – 0 Boder A
KwaZulu-Natal Inland B 1 – 5 Eastern Province A
