Oranje and Eunice shine in season’s first Hyundai Friday Night Lights matches
Oranje Meisieskool and Eunice kicked off the 2025 edition of the Hyundai Friday Night Lights in style against Pretoria sides, Menlopark and Waterkloof.
The Bloemfontein schools triumphed in contests that produced exciting, edge-of-your-seat action, with both winning 3-1.
Marichelle Crous, Camilyn Parkin, and Anné Prinsloo were on target in Oranje’s victory, while Storm Harris, Georgia Kambanis, and Claire Volschenk found the back of the net for Eunice in their win.
Friday’s clash was the second meeting of the season between Oranje and Menlopark. In their first meeting, at the Balling Festival in Bethlehem earlier this month, Oranje beat Menlopark 5-3. Coach Gys van Schalkwyk‘s charges knew the right buttons to press and they produced another great performance to perform the double over the ladies from Pretoria..
Oranje was on the offensive from the outset, but Menlopark did a good job of repelling wave after wave of the home side’s attacks through the first and second chukkas.
Oranje’s pressure on Menlopark paid off eventually and they were rewarded with just under seven minutes left in the second quarter when they won a penalty stroke after a shot on goal struck a defender in front of the goalbox. Marichelle Crous stepped up to the penalty spot. It wasn’t the cleanest of strokes, but Crous beat the goalkeeper to her right to give Oranje the lead.
The Bloemfontein girls continued to attack relentlessly and they dialled up the pressure as the clock wound down in the third quarter. With two minutes remaining, they intercepted an overhead in Menlo’s territory and counterattacked through Crous. She picked out Camilyn Parkin in the circle, and Parkin calmly slotted the ball into the goal with a little flip off her reverse stick to make it 2-0.
Then, when Menlopark lost possession while on the offensive, a quick Oranje counterattack earned the home team a short corner at the end of the third chukka. Van Schalkwyk’s charges made no mistake as they extended their lead to 3-0 through Anné Prinsloo’s pinpoint drag flick.
With two minutes to go, Katelyn Blokepoel pulled one back for the never-say-die Menlopark side, but it was too little too late.
At Eunice, Storm Harris fired the home side into the lead with less than 30 seconds left in the first chukka. Her goal came after the sides had traded exploratory attacks into each other’s half.
In the third quarter, Georgia Kambanis extended Eunice’s lead shortly after the restart following the halftime break.
Despite the two-goal cushion, coach Nika Coertzen’s charges attacked as if they had yet to register a goal in the contest. Waterkloof responded by igniting counterattacks. Eunice’s defence stood firm, though. When they succeeded in breaching the hosts’ defensive wall, Waterkloof found themselves face to face with Christene Fouché, the Eunice goalkeeper, who resolutely defied their goalscoring efforts.
Lenique Vogel denied Fouché the pleasure of a clean sheet when she beat the Eunice goalie from the penalty spot with six minutes left in the contest. On the scoreboard, at last, Klofies were reinvigorated and pushed hard for an equaliser.
Claire Volschenk laid to rest any hope Waterkloof had of snatching a draw, however, when she restored Eunice’s two-goal advantage with less than five minutes to go.
Fouché’s opposite number, Zoe le Roux, was also outstanding, despite being beaten three times. Waterkloof would have lost by a wider margin had it not been for her heroics in goal.
RESULTS
Oranje 3-1 Menlopark
Eunice 3-1 Waterkloof
