Epworth, Waterkloof, DSG Makhanda cruise to victories at Saints Fest
Epworth School, DSG Makhanda, and Hoërskool Waterkloof ambled to comfortable victories on Wednesday, the first day of the Standard Bank St Stithians Hockey Festival.
The event pauses on Friday and concludes on Saturday, 19 April.
Epworth registered a comfortable 4-1 win over Beaulieu College, DSG beat Hoërskool Garsfontein 3-0, and Waterkloof outplayed Springfield 2-0.
The hosts, St Stithians, were held to a 0-0 draw by Bethlehem Voortrekker and Hoërskool Menlopark‘s encounter against the St Stithians Festival XI lasted only a single chukka before it was called off because of lightning, with Menlopark leading 1-0 at the time.
In Beaulieu’s game against Epworth, the Midrand school immediately took the game to Epworth and threw bodies into their opponent’s final third in search of an opening goal. The Pietermaritzburg girls, however, showed great composure to repel the Gauteng side’s attacking forays.
Then, they found a small opening and launched a counterattack that resulted in the first goal of the festival four minutes into the game. They led 1-0 after the opening chukka.
Within five minutes of the restart, they led 2-0 and they continued to dictate terms until the halftime break.
Once again, after the pause, Epworth found early success, scoring five minutes into the third chukka to move off of the tricky two-goal cushion. Being 0-3 down did not kill Beaulieu’s spirit, though, and they kept hunting for a reply to cut into their opponent’s lead. That spirit was rewarded when they pulled one back.
Epworth quickly restored their three-goal lead, however, before a goalless final quarter left the Pietermaritzburg school with a comfortable opening win.
DSG Makhanda and Garsfontein looked evenly matched in a goalless first chukka. However, the ladies from Grahamstown soon found their stride and they took the lead from a penalty corner variation.
A slip from the stop to Abigail Holderness, on the left, set up the DSG captain for a flick and she made no mistake, converting the opportunity.
The Eastern Cape team was on fire, and they doubled their lead three minutes later through an Ava van der Walt field goal. Garsfontein fought hard to find an answer, but the DSG defence was solid.
From their third penalty corner, DSG extended their advantage to three goals. They went back to what had worked earlier for them, with Holderness, on the left, again firing the ball into the back of the net.
Waterkloof brought the curtain down on the action of the first day of the festival with a 2-0 win over Springfield, striking in the second and third quarters.
On Thursday, the St Stithians Festival team takes on Beaulieu, followed by a duel between Garsfontein and Epworth. At 19:00, a mouthwatering contest between St Stithians and DSG Makhanda concludes the day’s action, which includes 11 matches.
RESULTS
Epworth School 4-1 Beaulieu
DSG Makhanda 3-0 Garsfontein
St Stithians First XI 0-0 Voortrekker (Bethlehem)
Waterkloof 2-0 Springfield
FIXTURES
Thursday
07:30 – St Stithians College Festival XI vs Beaulieu, 07:45 – Garsfontein vs Epworth School, 08:45 – Menlopark vs Voortrekker (Bethlehem), 09:45 – St Stithians College vs Springfield, 12:15 – Waterkloof vs DSG Makhanda, 13:00 – St Stithians College Festival XI vs Epworth School, 14:15 – Garsfontein vs Voortrekker (Bethlehem), 14:30 – Menlopark vs Springfield, 15:30 – Waterkloof vs Beaulieu, 16:30 – St Stithians College Festival XI vs Alumni ladies, 19:00 – St Stithians College vs DSG Makhanda
Saturday
08:00 – Epworth School vs Menlopark, 08:45 – Waterkloof vs Voortrekker (Bethlehem), 10:15 – St Stithians College Festival XI vs Springfield, 11:00 – St Stithians College vs Epworth School, 12:15 – Beaulieu vs DSG Makhanda, St Stithians College vs Waterkloof, 14:45 – Springfield vs Garsfontein, 15:30 – Menlopark vs DSG Makhanda, 15:45 – Beaulieu vs Voortrekker (Bethlehem), 18:00 – St Stithians College vs Garsfontein.
