St Mary’s Kloof, Oranje on song at St Mary’s Waverley Hockey Festival
St Mary’s DSG Kloof and Oranje hit the ground running on Thursday, the rain-affected first day of the St Mary’s Waverley Hockey Festival in Johannesburg.
Their convincing performances saw them shoot to the top of Pool A and B respectively, while the hosts, St Mary’s Waverley, finished the day leading Pool C.
Catch all the action LIVE on SuperSport Schools
The tournament, which is celebrating its Silver Jubilee, delivered high-quality hockey despite losing a large chunk of fixtures due to the threat of lightning in the afternoon.
All of those lost matches were recorded as 0-0 draws, and the affected teams shared the points.
Georgia Short was on fire, finding the back of the net five times in two matches to help St Mary’s DSG Kloof get their title defence off to a winning start. She scored a brace as the KZN girls came back from 1-2 down to beat Parel Vallei 4-2. Next, she registered a hat-trick in their 6-0 triumph over The Wykeham Collegiate (TWC).
The three-time champions finished the day with seven points from two wins and a draw. They were joined on that total by Hoërskool Waterkloof, who defeated Roedean and Afrikaanse Hoërmeisieskool, Pretoria (Affies). St Mary’s, though, owns a superior goal difference, having scored 10 goals and conceded only two.
Perennial favourites, Oranje, enhanced their chances of a first-place finish in Pool B with a clean defensive record, defeating St Stithians 3-0, Clarendon 6-0 and Pietermaritzburg Girls’ High 1-0. They had to settle for a recorded 0-0 draw when their match against Garsfontein was rained out.
Paarl Gimnasium is hot on Oranje’s heels with eight points from two wins and two draws. Reddam House Constantia and Bloemhof are third and fourth with seven points apiece.
The hosts, St Mary’s Waverley, catapulted to the top of Pool C, thanks to two wins and two draws in four matches. They edged out Somerset College 2-1 in their opening fixture, then shared the points with Collegiate and St Cyprian’s because of the bad weather, before finishing with a 3-0 win over Windhoek High in their final match of the day.
Those results left the home side with eight points. Competition in the pool is tight, however. Eunice, Menlopark, and Collegiate, who have all played one fewer match, are tied for second with five points after a win and two draws each.
There is all to play for in Pool D on day two. Like Pool C, the group was affected by the inclement weather, with only five of the scheduled 12 matches being played.
Three teams – Rhenish, St Andrew’s School for Girls, and St Anne’s – are tied on five points, but Rhenish leads the pack with the best goal difference.
In the early afternoon, the ladies from the Western Cape defeated the St Mary’s Waverley Festival XI 4-0. The inclement weather prevented play in their other two matches.
Meanwhile, St Andrew’s School and St Anne’s recorded 1-0 wins over the St Mary’s Waverley Festival XI and Pearson, respectively.
RESULTS
Pool A
St Mary’s DSG Kloof 4-2 Parel Vallei
St John’s DSG 1-0 Affies
Waterkloof 5-0 Roedean
Durban Girls’ College (DGC) 0-0 The Wykeham College (TWC)
Waterkloof 2-1 Affies
Parel Vallei 1-1 St John’s DSG
St Mary’s DSG Kloof 6-0 TWC
DGC 2-0 Roedean
St Mary’s DSG Kloof 0-0 Roedean
DGC 0-0 Affies
St John’s DSG 0-0 Waterkloof
TWC 0-0 Parel Vallei
Pool B
Clarendon 0-0 Garsfontein
Oranje 3-0 St Stithians
Paarl Gim 1-0 Pietermaritzburg Girls’ High (PGHS)
Bloemhof 1-0 Reddam House
Oranje 6-0 Clarendon
Paarl Gim 1-1 St Stithians
Reddam House 2-1 Garsfontein
Bloemhof 1-0 PGHS
Paarl Gim 0-0 Clarendon
Bloemhof 0-0 St Stithians
Oranje 0-0 Garsfontein
Reddam House 0-0 PGHS
Clarendon 1-0 Bloemhof
Paarl Gim 3-0 Garsfontein
Reddam House 4-0 Stithians
Oranje 1-0 PGHS
Pool C
Collegiate 1-0 St Cyprian’s
St Mary’s Waverley 2-1 Somerset College
Menlopark 5-2 Windhoek
Eunice 4-0 Penryn
St Mary’s Waverley 0-0 Collegiate
Menlopark 0-0 Somerset College
Eunice 0-0 Windhoek Girls’ High
St Mary’s Waverley 0-0 St Cyprian’s
Collegiate 0-0 Menlopark
Penryn 0-0 Menlopark
Eunice 0-0 Somerset
St Mary’s Waverley 3-0 Windhoek Girls’ High
Pool D
Rhenish 4-0 St Mary’s Waverley Festival XI
Our Lady of Fatima 1-1 St Andrew’s School
St Anne’s 1-1 Herschel
Pearson 0-0 Paarl Girls’ High
St Anne’s 0-0 St Mary’s Waverley Festival XI
Rhenish 0-0 St Andrew’s School
Our Lady of Fatima 0-0 Paarl Girls’ High
Pearson 0-0 Herschel
Paarl Girls’ High 0-0 Rhenish
Our Lady of Fatima 0-0 Herschel
St Anne’s 1-0 Pearson
St Andrew’s School 1-0 St Mary’s Waverley Festival XI
