Fairtree Super 12 semi-finalists decided
St Mary’s DSG (Kloof), Waterkloof, Rhenish Girls’ High, and Durban Girls’ College were confirmed as the Fairtree Super 12 semi-finalists after Friday’s action in Bloemfontein at C&N Sekondêre Meisieskool Oranje.
Those four teams occupied the top two places in their respective pools.
For a first time since the event’s inception in 2014, there is no Free State representative in the semi-finals. It is also the first time that two KwaZulu-Natal sides have made the semi-finals at the same time.
The first of the KZN teams is St Mary’s DSG, who are through to the final four for a third time. They ruled the roost in Pool A, winning all five of their games.
Coach Carla Ann Mackay’s charges will play against their neighbours and rivals, Durban Girls’ College (DGC), in the semi-finals. Saturday’s showdown will be the third time the sides have met in either the semi-finals or final of a tournament this year.
DGC finished second in Pool B, after registering two wins and three draws. It’s their third time in Fairtree Super 12 semi-finals. Their best finish was third place in 2022.
Rhenish secured the top spot in Pool A after drawing with DGC in the last match of day two. The Stellenbosch side won three and drew two matches, which took them to 11 points. Like St Mary’s, they’ll be in the semi-finals for a third time. They made the final four last year, too, but coach Chris Gerber’s team had to settle for fourth on both of their previous semi-final appearances.
Rhenish will square up against Waterkloof, which is the only side to be making its debut in the top four. Waterkloof’s only previous appearance at the Super 12 was in 2016, when they finished in 10th place. Klofies grabbed second place in Pool A, winning twice, drawing once and losing twice.
The match of the day on Friday was between Paarl Gimnasium and Oranje, who finished third and fourth in Pool A respectively. While St Mary’s had accumulated an unassailable 15 points, the second spot remained up for grabs until the final Pool A game was played. Any one of Waterkloof, Paarl Gim, and Oranje could have made it through to the semis, depending on the result.
In a thrilling encounter, Paarl Gim and Oranje fought out a 0-0 draw, which included a pause in play after a power cut knocked out the floodlights for a while. Not even that pause in proceedings could throw either team off course, and they took to the field with their intensity undiminished when play restarted.
Pool B had less drama and the only jostling that happened was for the top spot, which came down to the final group match between Rhenish and DGC. The KZN girls had to win to claim first place, but they were unable to do so and needed an equalising goal three minutes from time to pull off a draw.
Pretoria’s Garsfontein and Menlopark went at it in the first cross-pool match of the tournament, with Garsies coming away with a 2-0 win. In another cross-pool clash, Bloemhof and St Anne’s crossed swords, and Bloemhof cantered to a 3-1 win over the KZN side.
Results
St Stithians 1-0 Menlopark
Durban Girls’ College 4-1 St Anne’s
Oranje 0-1 St Mary’s DSG
Paarl Gim 1-1 Garsfontein
Waterkloof 1-0 Bloemhof
Rhenish 4-0 St Stithians
Durban Girls’ College 2-2 Eunice
St Anne’s 2-1 Menlopark
Waterkloof 0-1 St Mary’s DSG
Bloemhof 0-1 Garsfontein
St Anne’s 0-0 St Stithians
Menlopark 1-0 Eunice
Oranje 0-0 Paarl Gim
Rhenish 1-1 Durban Girls’ College
Garsfontein 2-0 Menlopark
St Anne’s 1-3 Bloemhof
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