Eunice and Oranje win, Collegiate ends Greg Beling Festival unscathed
A comprehensive 7-2 victory for Eunice High School over Middelburg Hoërskool and a nervy 1-0 win for Oranje Meisieskool over Hudson Park brought the curtain down on the 2025 Synsport Greg Beling Festival in East London on Sunday.
After three days of intense, entertaining, and high-quality hockey, both Bloemfontein teams returned home with four wins each from five matches.
They both lost to Rhenish Girls’ High School. Oranje went down 0-3 on Friday, while Eunice pushed the Stellenbosch girls hard but was beaten 2-3 on Saturday.
The festival’s final day offered both teams a chance to finish strongly and to build confidence ahead of the St Mary’s Waverley Hockey Festival next month.
Coach Nika Coertzen’s Eunice side was the first to run out on the park against Middelburg Hoërskool. They played clinical hockey and were rewarded with some top-class goals.
Bianca Rees-Gibbs, who netted twice against Rhenish, was back on the scoring sheet, and this time she scored a whopping four goals on her 150th appearance for the side.
The deadly Anebel Venter also joined the scoring action before goals from Iliana de Gouveia and Storm Harris completed the drubbing.
While Eunice dominated their fixture, their city rivals, Oranje, were almost dealt a massive blow by a gritty Hudson Park team.
Coach Gys van Schalkwyk‘s side was far from their best and entered the match on the back of a 1-1 draw with St Anne’s DSG on Saturday night.
They managed just one goal, scored by Camilyn Parkin early in the first chukka. Thankfully, for the Bloemfontein girls, it proved to be enough. They found themselves stymied by Hudson’s goalkeeper, Mbali Khumalo, who pulled off a series of spectacular saves to keep her side in the contest.
Hudson could’ve sprung a surprise, but a lack of go-forward ball allowed Oranje to hold on for the win.
In other matches on the final day, Collegiate Girls’ High defeated Parel Vallei 3-2 in a thrilling match to finish the festival unbeaten.
Coach Michael Abrahams’ team had picked up wins against Middelburg Hoërskool and Bethlehem Voortrekker the day before.
Sunday’s clash was tightly contested, but Collegiate fired in the winning goal in the final chukka and they head back to Gqeberha in a positive mind frame as they prepare for the challenges that lie ahead.
One of the host schools, Clarendon High School for Girls, signed off with a solid 3-0 win over Woodridge College.
Earlier in the day, Hoërskool Sasolburg, who enjoyed a strong festival, outplayed Cradock High 12-0.
It was a commanding victory for coach Jacolene McLaren’s side and was inspired by goals from Tayla-Ann Lee (5), Lezey Bischoff (3), Catlin Erwee (3), and skipper Chana-Dee Gibson.
Voortrekker also won, netting the only goal of the game against Stirling High, while Queenstown Girls’ High beat Glenwood House 2-1.
Merrifield College, guided by coach Antonet Louw, defeated Kingswood College 1-0 to send the Makhanda school packing without a single victory.
Meanwhile, their town rivals, DSG Makhanda, defeated St Anne’s DSG 3-2 in their final match of the festival.
RESULTS
DAY 3
@Clarendon
DSG Makhanda 3-2 St Anne’s DSG
Eunice 7-2 Middelburg
Oranje 1-0 Hudson Park
Kingsridge 3-1 Hoër Volkskool Graaff-Reinet
Clarendon 3-0 Woodridge College.
@Cambridge
Union 1-1 Duineveld
Brandwag 2-0 Curro Waterstone
Westering 1-0 Cambridge
@Selborne College
Collegiate 3-2 Parel Vallei.
@Stirling High
Sasolburg 12-0 Cradock
Jim Fouché 2-0 Framesby
Witteberg 2-1 Alex Road
Voortrekker 1-0 Stirling High
@Merrifield College
Queenstown Girls’ High 2-1 Glenwood House
Merrifield College 1-0 Kingswood College
