Victories for Somerset College and York High School against Paarl Boys’ High grabbed the spotlight on the opening day of the Cape Town International Hockey Tournament in the Mother City on Wednesday.
The annual event, which features 64 teams, runs until Sunday, 26 July, when the boys’ and girls’ finals will be played at the Hartleyvale A AstroTurf.
Wednesday’s action delivered fireworks, bucket loads of goals, and some shock results in the Elite boys’ section.
In Pool A, York High won both their matches against HTS Drostdy and Boishaai, respectively.
Against Drostdy, Christiano Veldkornet opened the scoring for the men from George before Drostdy hit back with two penalty corner strikes by Corne Retief.
Joshua Dominic levelled matters for York in the third chukka, and Layton Dafel scored in the final quarter to seal the win.
York, guided by coaches Jason and Shaun Slater, then backed that performance up with a 2-0 win over Boishaai.
Dafel was on the scoresheet again, and Stefan Schoeman scored late in the game to secure maximum points.
Somerset College joined York at the top of the log after also winning both their matches. The Kyran Fortuin-coached side defeated Boishaai 1-0 and Parel Vallei Invitational 2-1.
Against Boishaai, Tongai Mlingo scored the lone goal while Luke Rimmer and Carl Schaefer netted in the second match.
Pool B was littered with goals, with 36 being scored in six matches. Parel Vallei High led the way, winning an extraordinary game against St Paul’s College of Namibia 10-4 before beating Curro Durbanville 4-1 in their second outing.
Luca Jordaan and Luka Meets both netted hat-tricks against St Paul’s, and they were joined on the scoresheet by Hendrik Van Wyk (2), Tristan Rautenbach, and Nicolas Havinga.
Paarl Gimnasium also bagged two wins with 4-2 victories over Worcester Gimnasium and St Paul’s.
Coach Jacques Grobler‘s side relied on their top guns to deliver as Dian Vorster (2), Rikus de Kock, and JJ Geldenhuys netted against Worcester. The trio scored again in their second match, with Bryan Hardine adding his name to the mix.
Merchant Taylors’ School from the United Kingdom also impressed, beating Curro Durbanville 2-0 and Worcester Gim 2-1.
Day two’s action begins with a clash between Parel Vallei Invitational and Paarl Boys’ High at Pinelands High School.
DAY 1: Results
Elite Boys
Pool A
York High 3-2 HTS Drostdy
Reddam House 1-0 Parel Vallei Invitational
HTS Drostdy 2-1 Reddam House
Somerset College 1-0 Paarl Boys’ High
York High 2-0 Paarl Boys’ High
Somerset College 2-1 Parel Vallei Invitational
Pool B
Merchant Taylors’ School 2-0 Curro Durbanville
Parel Vallei High School 10-4 St Paul’s College
Merchant Taylors’ School 2-1 Worcester Gimnasium
Parel Vallei High School 4-1 Curro Durbanville
Paarl Gimnasium 4-2 Worcester Gimnasium
Paarl Gimnasium 4-2 St Paul’s College
Click HERE for day 2 fixtures
