St Mary’s and Rhenish dominate day one of the Fairtree Super 12
St Mary’s DSG (Kloof) and Rhenish seized the initiative on Thursday, day one of the Fairtree Super 12 Tournament, which is being played at C&N Sekondêre Meisieskool Oranje in Bloemfontein, from 8 to 10 August.
St Mary’s, after playing three games, leads Pool A, which also includes Oranje, Paarl Gimnasium, Garsfontein, Bloemhof, and Waterkloof.
Rhenish sits at the top of Pool B, ahead of Durban Girls’ College, St Stithians, Eunice, Menlopark, and St Anne’s.
St Mary’s hit the ground running on Thursday and made an impressive start to their challenge for the honours. The KZN side bagged a maximum nine-point haul and leads Pool A with wins from each of their three matches. In their opening game, coach Carla Ann Mackay‘s team made their intentions clear with an emphatic 4-0 win over Garsfontein.
As early as the fourth minute, Anna Birt found the back of the net to put the KZN girls ahead. It took a further 25 minutes before another goal was recorded, which was when the prolific Elizabeth Anderson struck to double the Saints’ lead.
That goal marked the beginning of a nine-minute purple patch during which St Mary’s scored three times. The other goals came from the sticks of Alexandra Bowyer and Nicola Forbes.
Their second tie was a tougher contest against Paarl Gim. It was goalless after the first half.
Coach Ian Naudé’s charges then broke the deadlock with a goal from Joné de Winnaar. St Mary’s equalised 10 minutes later through Anderson and Birt scored the winner just a minute after that.
Later in the day, Mackay’s charges went head-to-head with Bloemhof and registered another 2-1 win. Anderson slotted her third goal of the tournament and the first for St Mary’s in the ninth minute.
Liela van Zyl replied for Bloemhof in the 23rd minute to level the scores. However, Bloemhof didn’t hold onto the draw for long as Bowyer scored her second goal of the tournament, which was also the second for St Mary’s in the match.
Paarl Gim, Oranje, and Waterkloof are in second, third, and fourth place respectively in Pool A, having all won one, drawn one, and lost one, which leaves them on four points each. Paarl Gim is ahead of the other two because they have scored more goals.
Rhenish tops Pool B after sailing through day one of the Super 12 tournament without tasting defeat. Coach Chris Gerber‘s side has seven points after winning two of their three games and drawing the other.
In their first match, the Leah du Plessis-captained team found themselves trailing 0-1 in the first five minutes of the contest, after Nicola Thomas’s early goal for St Anne’s. However, the KZN side held onto the lead for only 12 minutes before Philippa Viljoen equalised with a field goal three minutes before the half-time break.
Du Plessis converted a penalty corner two minutes after the restart to put Rhenish ahead. Ten minutes later, Gerber’s side increased their lead further and finished the game as 3-1 winners.
In their second outing, the Stellenbosch girls breezed to a 3-0 win over Menlopark.
Kaitlyn van Binsbergen struck in the very first minute of play to put her side ahead. For the next 27 minutes, the score remained unchanged. Then, Puck Bakker doubled Rhenish’s advantage. Gerber’s side made sure of the points in the 38th minute with a third goal.
In the last match of the day, Rhenish played out a 0-0 draw with Eunice. With that draw, Eunice separated themselves from Durban Girls’ College (DGC), who have four points and are in third place in Pool B, although they have played a game less. Eunice has five points from a single win and two draws, while DGC has a single win and one draw.
Day two will provide a thrilling spectacle, with a couple of KZN versus Free State matches set to light up the turf. Pool A leaders St Mary’s tackle Oranje in a clash that is crucial for the tournament hosts, while in Pool B DGC and Eunice meet in a rematch of the St Mary’s Waverley Festival final.
Results
Pool A
Paarl Gim 1-1 Bloemhof
Oranje 0-1 Waterkloof
St Mary’s DSG 4-0 Garsfontein
Oranje 0-0 Bloemhof
Garsfontein 0-0 Waterkloof
Paarl Gim 1-2 St Mary’s DSG
Oranje 2-1 Garsfontein
St Mary’s DSG 2-1 Bloemhof
Paarl Gim 1-0 Waterkloof
Pool B
Rhenish 3-1 St Anne’s
Durban Girls’ College 3-2 Menlopark
St Stithians 1-1 Eunice
Rhenish 3-0 Menlopark
Eunice 2-0 St Anne’s
Durban Girls’ College 1-1 St Stithians
Rhenish 0-0 Eunice
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