No surprises as top four book semifinal spots
KwaZulu Natal Coastal A, Western Province A, Eastern Province A, and Boland A, punched their tickets to the semifinals of the u16 SASHOC National Week girls’ event on Monday in Bloemfontein.
The four teams dominated their pools, with three of them remaining unbeaten.
Keamogelo Baakaleng scored her first goal of the tournament as Coastal A swooped to claim first place in Pool A with a 1-0 win over Western Province A. In Pool B, Eastern Province A fought out a 1-1 draw with Boland A.
Western Province A’s loss to Coastal A was their first of the tournament. The KZN side, Eastern Province A and Boland A are all yet to lose, and all sport records of four wins and one draw.
In a battle of two Pool A powerhouses, Baakaleng’s 43-minute strike broke the deadlock. Heading into the match, Western Province A, the defending champions, looked like the team to beat in their group. They had scored 14 goals, 10 of which were field goals, and conceded only three while going unbeaten.
Coastal A, meanwhile, did not look as menacing in the D. They had scored nine goals on their way to three wins and one draw. However, they had a better defence and had, in fact, not conceded a single goal in the competition. It was, therefore, a battle of the best defence in the Pool A going up against the best strikers in the group. The team with the best defence triumphed.
Coastal A will next face Boland A in the semi-finals, while Western Province A will go toe-to-toe with Eastern Province A.
Pool B’s action on Monday had a similar slant, with the penthouse dwellers fighting it out for the top spot on the last day of group matches. They provided a thrilling contest.
Both sides were already guaranteed a place in the next round when they squared up, but there was no letting up from either team as they gave it all they had.
Before the match, Eastern Province’s goal difference was better by only a single goal. After their 1-1 draw, that proved enough to earn them first place in the pool.
The game began fantastically for Boland, with Nicola van der Merwe striking in the third minute to give her side the lead. It was her third goal of the tournament.
The Western Cape side held on to their slender advantage for 25 minutes, but Lucy Holderness then scored her fourth goal of the tournament to level matters.
That goal tied Holderness with four other players – Raffael Abrahams, Chanette van Vuuren Jansen, Jana Prinsloo, and Asanele Zuma – who occupy second place on the tournament’s goal scoring chart. Holderness’s team-mate, Kerrin Gillies leads the way with five goals.
Day four was not only about the log leaders, but it was also about the basement dwellers in both groups.
In Pool A, KZN Coastal B faced Southern Free State A. Coastal B has endured a trying campaign in which they have conceded 23 goals and scored only three in reply. Two of those three came in their final group match, which they lost 2-5. Southern Free State A’s five goals helped them complete the pool stage with a goal difference of 0.
Boland B and Border A, who anchored Pool B, played to a 0-0 draw, which left both with negative goal difference.
Like Coastal B, Boland B has managed only three goals in the tournament. However, their defence has been little less porous. They conceded 15 goals, for a goal difference of -12.
Border, on the other hand, struggled as much as Coastal B on the defence, also giving up 23 goals. At the other end of the field, they mustered only two goals. And that’s why they finished last in the group.
RESULTS
Boland B 1-3 Southern Gauteng B
Southern Gauteng A 6-0 Border
Boland A 1-1 Eastern Province A
Western Province A 0-1 KZN Coastal A
Southern Free State A 5-2 KZN Coastal B
Northern Blues A 3-0 KZN Inland A
Border 0-0 Boland B
