Rhenish follows the process on their way to the top
Rhenish Girls’ High School has been following the process and sticking to their playing principles in Pool C at the annual Standard Bank St Mary’s Waverley Hockey Festival.
With a well-organised and stubborn defence, coach Chris Gerber’s side was the only team that did not concede a goal in the first stage of the tournament, which ended on Friday.
“We pride ourselves on our defensive ability and the girls did exceptionally well in that department,” Gerber said.
However, Rhenish hasn’t simply stonewalled teams. Gerber’s charges have also been outstanding in the opposition’s half, scoring 18 unanswered goals on their way to the top of Pool C. That left them with 19 points out of a possible 21, following six wins and a single draw.
The girlsfrom Stellenbosch arrived at the festival earmarked as one of the teams with the potential to lift the title and they lived up to the hype in the first stage.
“The ladies worked hard to get to this stage, and they are not letting the favourites’ tag drag them down,” Gerber said.
Rhenish beat Clarendon 3-0, St Cyprian’s 3-0, Windhoek High 2-0, St Mary’s DSG, Kloof 3-0, St Stithians 1-0, and Pretoria High School for Girls (PHSG) 6-0. They drew 0-0 with the hosts, St Mary’s Waverley, on Thursday.
Gerber’s team’s title challenge continues on Saturday in Pool G. They have a date with Garsfontein at 09:25. Then, shortly before 13:00, they tackle Eunice.
St Mary’s DSG, Kloof, finished day one on top of the log in Pool C but relinquished first place to Rhenish after going down to the Western Cape side on Friday morning. Nonetheless, Nolwazi Nkabinde‘s team still confidently bagged second place.
After going down to Rhenish, they handed Pretoria High School for Girls a 3-0 defeat a few hours later. Nkabinde’s side was far from done and they finished pool play with a bang, smashing five unanswered goals past St Stithians to end with 18 points, just one behind the log leaders.
St Mary’s DSG will go up against St John’s DSG at 08:55 in their first Pool F fixture. At midday, they’ll take on Pool B’s table-toppers, Bloemhof.
The hosts, St Mary’s Waverley, rounded off the top three teams in Pool C after finishing with 14 points. They recorded four wins in seven games, with two draws and a loss. The draws and a loss came on Thursday. They didn’t drop any points on Friday.
In their first match of the day, they beat St Stithians 1-0. They followed that with a 5-0 drubbing of Windhoek High and then completed their pool schedule with a 2-1 win over Clarendon.
Their reward is a place in Pool F. They go up against Bloemhof at 08:30 on Saturday and St John’s DSG at 12:55.
RESULTS
Rhenish 2-0 Windhoek
St Stithians 0-0 St Cyprian’s
Rhenish 3-0 St Mary’s DSG, Kloof
St Mary’s Waverley 1st XI 1-0 St Stithians
St Mary’s Waverley 1st XI 5-0 Windhoek
Clarendon 3-0 Windhoek High
St Cyprian’s 4-0 Pretoria High School for Girls
St Mary’s DSG, Kloof 3-0 Pretoria High School for Girls
Rhenish 6-0 Pretoria High School for Girls
St Cyprian’s 3-0 Windhoek High
St Cyprian’s 5-0 Clarendon
Rhenish 1-0 St Stithians
