Lightning strikes twice as Southern Gauteng get maximum points on day one in Bloem
The Southern Gauteng A-team scored a total of eight goals in two matches on the opening day of the u18 IPT girls’ tournament which kicked off in Bloemfontein on Sunday.
The tournament, separated in two sections saw a total of 16 matches played throughout the day.
A total of 26 goals were scored in Section A, as one of the hosting teams, the Northern Free State struggled to get going, and succumbed to two defeats against Boland and Southern Gauteng.
The team of the day, however, was the Southern Gauteng A side. The team, coached by Natasha Le Roux were tasked with playing two competitive matches in one day – one against Eastern Province before a later game against Northern Free State.
The team started the brightest in the first match, scoring as early as the eighth minute through their dangerous forward Chanel Genis through a field goal.
Their lead was quickly doubled within two minutes when Anathi Masondo managed to get her name on the scoreboard, building a solid lead early in the match for her team.
Le Roux’s team remained certain of bringing the heat to Province, as they played an attacking brand of hockey coupled with good defending and counterattacks which left Province exposed at the back.
Goals by Ifeoma Ndubueze (penalty corner), and Hannah Smyth would see the Gauteng side take a (4-0) lead into the break, with two chukkers to play and Province heavily under the pump.
The side came out in the third chukka and within three minutes scored from a well-executed penalty corner which saw the ball land on the stick of Hannah White, who slotted the goal in.
Despite a late surge by Province when they scored two quick goals courtesy of Elizabeth Porter, and Gabriella Tiat, the damage was already done, and Reabetswe Phume sealed the deal for the side right on the hooter to give the Joburg side a well deserved (7-2) win, the biggest of the day.
In other matches of the day, Western Province asserted its dominance by putting four past Mpumalanga before KZA Inland A sneaked one past the Eastern Cape’s Amathole.
Southern Free State A closed the day off by gifting Eastern Province their second defeat of the tournament by winning that one, (2-0).
A further eight matches will be on display in day two of the tournament. The match to look out for will probably be between Western Province A and KZN Coastal A. Kick off in that game is at 17:30.
After day one, Southern Free State star, Taheera Augousti is tied with Boland’s Tanya Pieterse in the leaderboard with two goals each.
Results | Day 1
Boland A 3 (0): (Tanya Pieterse (2), Johre Blommetjies). Northern Free State 0.
Southern Gauteng A 7 (4): (Chanel Genis, Anathi Masondo, Ifeoma Ndubueze, Hannah White, Hannah Smyth, Juliana Million, Reabetswe Phume). Eastern Province A 2 (0): Elizabeth Porter, Gabriella Tiat.
Southern Free State A 2 (1): (Itumeleng Semoli, Taheera Augousti). Southern Gauteng B 0.
Northern Gauteng 2 (0): (Anlu Harmse, Danielle Mccann); KZN Coastals A 2 (1): (Elizabeth Anderson, Emily Macquet).
Mpumalanga 1 (0): Lize Oosthuizen. Western Province A 4 (3): Stella Van Schalkwyk, Keziah Petersen, Jodie Blows, Paige Thomas.
KZN Inland A 2 (2): (Ella Shuttelworth, Emily Wilson). Amathole A 0.
Southern Gauteng A 1 (0): (Megan Fell). Northern Free State 0.
Southern Free State A 2 (1): (Taheera Augousti, Reatile Pitso). Eastern Province A 0 (0).
Day 2 fixtures:
09:00- KZN Coastal A vs Mpumalanga A
10:25- KZN Inland A vs Western Province A
11:50- Amathole A vs Northern Gauteng A
13:15- Eastern Province A vs Southern Gauteng B|
14:40- Northern Free State vs Southern Free State A
16:05- Boland A vs Southern Gauteng A
17:30- Western Province A vs KZN Coastal A
18:55- Mpumalanga vs Amathole A
