Kraai stars as Western Province win U16 SASHOC title
Litha Kraai, who plies his trade for SACS in Cape Town, scored a total of 10 goals and finished the u16 tournament this past week as the player of the tournament in Bloemfontein.
The Province boys, who were looking to replicate the feat of their senior side that won the u18 title a week ago, dominated proceedings from the first game until the final where they thumped the KZN Inland A side (6-2).
The side opened their campaign with an emphatic (9-1) victory against the KZN Inland B side on day one. It was the second day of the tournament when Province kicked on, as they were scheduled to play two competitive matches against Northern Gauteng A and Eastern Cape’s Amathole side.
The side looked untouchable as the days went by. Southern Free State were always going to prove to be a tough nut to crack; however, Jody Erasmus’s side manned up, scoring four goals and only conceding one in the process.
For a spot in the final looking possible than ever, the side brushed off Boland to cement their spot in the showpiece. Kraai and Theunis Reece both scored a brace in that game.
The final was one-way traffic for the Cape side. They opened the scoring in the first minute through Zachary Gibbon. A flurry of goals in the 12th, 13th and 28th minute saw the side take a (4-0) lead after the first two chukkas.
Province added two more goals to their tally in the third chukka through Gibbon and Matthew Lassen.
The Inland side finished the game the strongest, when they registered two goals in the 49th and 60th minutes respectively.
The match ended (6-2) in favour of Western Province.
Captain Joshua Le Roux finished the campaign alongside the top goal scorers with six to his name. Reece Theunis finished the campaign on eight goals.
The full standings from the tournament:
Western Province
KZN Inland A
Southern Gauteng A
Boland A
Northern Gauteng A
KZN Coastal A
KZN Coastal B
Southern Free State A
KZN Inland B
Amathole
Southern Gauteng B
Western Province B
