Southern Gauteng A and Southern Free State A registered victories that blew Pool A and Pool B wide open on Wednesday, the second day of the u16 girls’ SASHOC Inter-Provincial Tournament.
The event, taking place at Hilton College and St Anne’s DSG, concludes with the crowning of the champion on Sunday, 12 July.
Southern Free State A eased to a 2-0 win over KZN Inland B, thanks to goals from Zené Beukes and Tshiamo Sizane. Beukes gave them the lead two minutes after the halftime break, and Sizane doubled that advantage in the 40th minute.
The triumph marked a brilliant recovery after their 0-2 loss to KZN Coastal A on Tuesday. With the win, Southern Free State moved into third place, with six points from three matches. They have the same points, from the same number of games, as second-placed Northern Gauteng A, who own a better goal difference.
The log leaders, KZN Coastal A, maintained their unbeaten record with a 1-0 win over their compatriots, KZN Coastal B. Coastal B showed great defensive discipline and application in their showdown with familiar opposition, and successfully repelled Coastal A’s attacks for 47 minutes.
However, in the 48th minute, the tournament’s leading scorer, Charley-Rose Boyall, found a chink in their armour and broke the deadlock, lifting her haul to four goals in three games. She is on course to equal or surpass her tally of nine goals from 2025, which led all scorers. The victory lifted Coastal A to nine points, with three victories from three matches, and solidified their position at the top of the log.
Coastal A will be eager to make it four wins from four games when they go up against Western Province A on Thursday morning.
Meanwhile, Northern Gauteng A will aim to consolidate their position in the top two by beating KZN Inland B. Southern Free State A faces KZN Coastal B and will not want to be left behind.
Pool B
Southern Gauteng A, who fell to a 2-4 defeat against KZN Inland A on Monday, put themselves back into the thick of things with back-to-back victories over Eastern Gauteng and Eastern Province A on Tuesday. Their wins turned Pool B into a three-horse race for two semifinal spots.
In their first match of the day, Southerns overcame Eastern Gauteng 3-1. The sides were evenly matched in the first half, with Lindokuhle Sithole breaking the deadlock with a 34th-minute strike. Coach Tebogo Moepye‘s charges extended their lead eight minutes later.
Eastern Gauteng halved the deficit when Kelinke Naudé found the back of the net in the 56th minute. However, their hopes of a share of the points were dashed when Lebogang Ngobese restored Southerns’ two-goal lead in the final moments of the match.
Later in the day, Southerns edged out Eastern Province A 2-1. The ladies from the Highveld took the lead through Juané Botes in the final seconds of the first chukka, and Jessica Olivier made it 2-0 in the 34th minute. Eastern Province pulled a goal back through Josie van Heerden in the 48th minute, but they didn’t have enough in the tank to find a second.
Southern Gauteng A’s two wins left them on six points after three outings. They are in third place, behind the leaders KZN Inland A, who have two victories from two matches, and Eastern Province A, who have two wins after three games.
Inland A, who powered to a 5-1 win over Boland A, will focus on carrying that winning momentum into their match against Eastern Gauteng on Thursday. A win would leave them in a strong position to qualify for the semifinals.
Boland A bounced back from their loss to the hosts with a 2-0 win over Eastern Gauteng in the final match of the day.
Southern Gauteng A will attempt to keep their semi-final ambitions afloat when they cross swords with Boland B. Meanwhile, Eastern Province A will face a resurgent Boland A.
Results
Pool A
Northern Gauteng A 3-1 Western Province A
KZN Coastal A 1-0 KZN Coastal B
Southern Free State A 2-0 KZN Inland B
Pool B
Southern Gauteng A 3-1 Eastern Gauteng
Eastern Province A 2-0 Boland B
KZN Inland A 5-1 Boland A
Southern Gauteng A 2-1 Eastern Province A
Boland A 2-0 Eastern Gauteng
