Paarl Girls’ High meets La Rochelle and the Herschfield Derby returns
The Paarl Girls’ High first-team hockey side will be out to maintain their winning run when they host La Rochelle Girls’ High School in a Paarl Derby on Friday evening.
On a weekend that’ll see the two rivals do battle in various sporting codes, the first-team hockey fixture, scheduled for 18:00, promises to be one of the highlights.
The sides will enter the clash in contrasting form. Girls’ High will be the more confident outfit after recording a solid 3-0 win over Somerset College last week.
La Rochelle, meanwhile, suffered a closely-contested 0-1 loss against Springfield Convent School on home turf.
Against Somerset, Halle Williams found the back of the net twice for Girls’ High before Charlotte Louw completed the scoring.
That win added to a mixed bag of results recorded by coach Marc Landman’s side so far this season. Before the Somerset triumph, they drew 1-1 with Springfield, llost 0-2 against Oranje, and secured a top-10 finish at the All Girls’ Festival.
They will fancy their chances against a young La Rochelle outfit and will also use the clash as preparation for their last two matches of the term, tough outings against Rhenish Girls’ High and HMS Bloemhof, respectively.
Speaking of Rhenish and Bloemhof, the Stellenbosch powers will also be in action on Friday night.
Rhenish was held to a 1-1 draw by Herschel Girls School last week. They head to Cape Town to face a dangerous St Cyprian’s School team that defeated Parel Vallei 5-2 in their most recent match.
Bloemhof, meanwhile, will take on Reddam House Constantia at home. They’re looking to bounce back after suffering a narrow 1-2 defeat against Paarl Gimnasium last time out.
One of the matches to keep an eye out for in Cape Town, though, will be the meeting between Herschel and Springfield.
Dubbed the “Herschfield Derby“, the sides will reignite their rivalry, and it’s Springfield who will have the home-ground advantage.
Led by coach Ziyaad Ismail, the girls from St John’s Road will be confident after their victory against La Rochelle a week ago, which was decided by a goal from Jenna Kalis.
They’ll be wary, though, of a Herschel side that’s found its rhythm and mojo and has played some fine hockey in recent weeks.
Herschel is one of the few teams that has managed to combat Rhenish this season, and that will boost their confidence. Besides a solid defence, they are strong up front, and they’ll look to last week’s goal scorer, Anna Sherren, to produce her A-game once again.
In other matches around the province, Parel Vallei hosts Somerset College, while Curro Durbanville tackles Westerford High School.
Durbanville has a meeting with DF Malan, and Stellenberg faces Wynberg Girls’ High in a league match.
FIXTURES
Friday, 16 May
16:00 – Curro Durbanville vs Westerford High
17:30 – HMS Bloemhof vs Reddam House Constantia
18:00 – Paarl Girls’ High vs La Rochelle
18:30 – Parel Vallei vs Somerset College
18:30 – Durbanville vs DF Malan
19:15 – St Cyprian’s School vs Rhenish
19:20 – Springfield Convent School vs Herschel Girls School
Saturday, 17 May
10:00 – Stellenberg vs Wynberg Girls’ High
