Pool B undecided ahead of last round of group games at SASHOC National Week
Western Province A planted one foot in the semi-finals of the SASHOC National Week when they drew 0-0 with Western Province B at Maritzburg College on Tuesday.
Coach Natalie Esteves’ side hasn’t lost, recording three wins and a draw in their four outings.
Province has one more match to go on Thursday and a win in that fixture would confirm their passage into the semi-finals.
Making it to the top four would be a huge improvement over their seventh-place finish in the 2024 tournament.
Province has 10 points from four games. A draw against second-placed KZN Coastal, whom they meet on Thursday morning, would put them into the final four.
Coastal, meanwhile, has nine points and would need Northern Gauteng A and Province B to do them favours should they fail to beat Province A.
The KZN girls kept their semi-final dream alive with a tight 1-0 win over Northerns. The three points they picked up for the win kept them three clear of their neighbours, KZN Inland.
However, unlike Coastal, who have played four games, Inland has played only three matches and has two games to go on Thursday.
Coach Morne Odendaal‘s side inserted themselves into the conversation for a semi-final berth by beating Border A 4-1 on Wednesday, with goals from Emma Williams, Annabelle Balmer, Jasmin Kelly, and Siphokazi Mpontshane. Busiwe Mayekiso replied for Border.
Border has found the going tough at the SASHOC National Week and had scored only one goal ahead of their clash with KZN Inland, by Tarelle Jones in a 1-3 loss to Northern Gauteng A.
That defeat was followed by an 0-7 setback against Western Province A and a 0-5 defeat at the hands of KZN Coastal A.
It looked as if they might be in for more of the same as KZN Inland made a blistering start, drawing blood in the first minute of play with a wonderful field goal from Emma Williams.
However, in a move that was uncharacteristic of their form, Border issued an almost immediate response to Inland’s goal with a reply from Busiwe Mayekiso in the fourth minute. For the next 32 minutes, it remained 1-1.
Six minutes into the second half, Balmer broke the stalemate with a penalty corner conversion. Then, in the final stages of the contest, the host province executed a one-two punch to put the match beyond Border’s reach.
Kelly increased their advantage to 3-1 with a field goal, which was followed soon after by Mpontshane’s second goal of the IPTs and Inland’s fourth.
Odendaal’s side has an opportunity to put the top two teams under pressure when they go up against last year’s runners-up, Northerns, at 07:30.
Should they make it past Northerns, they will have an opportunity to punch their ticket to the semi-finals when they face Western Province B at 17:25.
The top of the table contest between Western Province A and KZN Coastal will be in the spotlight at 10:20.
Results
Western Province A: 0. Western Province B: 0.
KZN Coastal A: 1 – Jada Blair. Northern Gauteng A: 0.
KZN Inland A: 4 – Emma Williams, Annabelle Balmer, Jasmin Kelly, Siphokazi Mpontshane. Border A: 1 – Busiwe Mayekiso.
