The defending champion, Reddam House Constantia, and last year’s runner-up, St Paul’s College, seized the day and put in great performances that shot them to the summit of their groups in the Elite Girls’ section at the Cape Town International Hockey Tournament on Wednesday.
St Paul’s College scripted a brilliant campaign last year, falling only at the final hurdle when they lost 1-3 to Reddam House in the final.
The Namibians, who are eager for another shot at the title, got the tournament underway with a 3-0 win over Somerset College. They followed that up with another 3-0 win over Paarl Girls’ High.
Those back-to-back victories earned them six points and first place in Pool A. Charlie Hofmeyr won one and drew one in their two contests. The ladies from Ceres edged out La Rochelle 1-0 before sharing a 1-1 draw with Paarl Girls’ High.
After bouncing back with a 4-0 win over La Rochelle, following their opening loss to St Paul’s, Somerset College rounds up the top three in the group.
Reddam House had to come from behind twice on their way to a 4-3 win over York High in their first match of the day. York took charge of the contest with a sixth-minute strike. Reddam House fought their way back and equalised in the first minute of the second chukka.
In a fascinating back-and-forth, York re-established their lead in the 16th minute, but Reddam House levelled in the 27th minute, only for York to take the lead again just two minutes later.
Reddam House’s character was put to the test, and they passed that test by netting twice in the final five minutes of the match to snatch victory.
They next locked horns with an in-form Rhenish Girls Invitational side that was fresh off a dominant 7-0 win over HS Drostdy in their opening match. In a far tighter clash, Reddam House took the lead in the 11th and held on to it until full-time, which left them in first place in Pool B.
Rhenish Girls Invitational, York High, and Bellville High follow in second, third, and fourth place, respectively, each with one win and one draw, but separated by goal difference.
Evolve Girls
Hoërskool Punt shrugged off the challenges of The Settlers High and HS Strand as they marched to the top of Pool A in the Evolve Section. Both were comfortable victories, by 4-1 over The Settlers and 3-1 over HS Strand.
Curro Durbanville also recorded wins over the same opposition, beating Strand 2-0 and The Settlers 3-0, but Punt holds first place on goal difference, having scored more goals.
Western Province Invitational and Upington High quickly turned Pool B into a two-horse race, finishing the day with similar points totals and goals difference. Western Province Invitational tops the group after a 1-0 win over Worcester Gimnasium and a goalless draw against Upington. The Northern Cape school edged out Bridge House 1-0 in their other match.
Union High and Edgemead took control of Pool C with two victories each. Union High recorded a 2-0 win over HS Hugenote in their first outing and then whipped Curro Hermanus 7-0 later in the day.
Those victories gave them a superior goal difference over Edgemead, who also notched up a 7-0 win over Curro Hermanus and defeated Hugenote 1-0.
HS Stellenbosch and HS Swartland find themselves in the same boat as Union High and Edgemead. They both won their opening encounters and are separated by goal difference.
Pool D log leaders, Stellenbosch, were tested by Pinelands High before emerging 3-2 victors in their first outing. They had an easier contest against HS Jan van Reibeeck later in the day and romped to an 8-0 win.
Swartland, on the other hand, cruised to a 6-1 win over Jan van Reibeeck in their first fixture and then edged out Pinelands 2-1 in their second match.
Results
Elite Girls
Pool A
St Paul’s College 3-0 Somerset College
Charlie Hofmeyr 1-0 La Rochelle
St Paul’s College 3-0 Paarl Girls
Somerset College 4-0 La Rochelle
Paarl Girls 1-1 Charlie Hofmeyr
Pool B
Reddam House Constantia 4-3 York High
Rhenish Girls Invitational 7-0 Drostdy
York High 3-2 Bellville
Reddam House Constantia 1-0 Rhenish Girls Invitational
Bellville 1-0 HTS Drostdy
Evolve Girls
Pool A
Hoërskool Punt 4-1 The Settlers
Curro Durbanville 2-0 HS Strand
Hoërskool Punt 3-1 HS Strand
Curro Durbanville 3-0 The Settlers
Pool B
Upington 1-0 Bridge House
Western Province Invitational 2-0 Worcester Gimnasium
Bridge House 1-1 Worcester Gimnasium
Upington 0-0 Western Province Invitational
Pool C
Edgemead 7-0 Curro Hermanus
Union High 2-0 Hugenote
Edgemead 1-0 Hugenote
Union High 7-0 Curro Hermanus
Pool D
Stellenbosch 3-2 Pinelands High
Swartland 6-1 Jan van Riebeeck
Swartland 2-1 Pinelands High
Hoërskool Stellenbosch 8-0 Jan van Reibeeck
