Reddan House Constantia fought off a spirited challenge from St Paul’s College, successfully defending the Cape Town International Hockey Tournament (CTIHT) title with a 3-1 penalty shootout win after a 3-3 draw in the Elite Girls’ final at Hartleyvale A on Sunday afternoon.
Reddam House, who converted all three of their penalties, had to come from behind twice to force a 3-3 draw in regulation time.
In the Evolve Girls‘ section, Hoërskool Punt defeated Union High 1-0 to clinch top honours.
“The girls showed great character today. They fought through the tough patches and never stopped believing,” Chris Hibbert, the Reddam House head coach, told SuperSport Schools News.
His charges made a strong start and dominated the first 10 minutes of the contest, but St Paul’s took the lead in the seventh minute through Sienna Richards.
“We went to the break 1-0 down, but there were no panic stations. We had created a few opportunities in the first quarter, and we knew we would create more,” Hibbert said.
Jess Bester and Tammah Luck had been in unstoppable form in the final third at the CTIHT, scoring 13 of Reddam House’s 21 goals. Unsurprisingly, they brought the Cape Town school back into the contest, with Luck finding the target in the 19th minute, and Bester giving them the lead nine minutes later. That advantage, though, lasted only seven minutes.
St Paul’s delivered a one-two combination that put them in front in the blink of an eye. First, Leila Grögli levelled in the final moments of the third chukka, and then Abigail Rowles edged them in front immediately after the restart.
For most of the fourth chukka, the Reddam House set up camp in the St Paul’s College. By the end of the game, they had made 29 circle entries to the 25 of St Paul’s, and 16 of those entries came in the third and fourth quarters.
The Namibians’ defence did a great job of smothering Reddam House’s attacks. Hibbert adjusted by playing a high striker in the closing moments of the match. It paid off.
Josephine Latham showed great technique as she deflected a crash-ball into the back of the net to draw Reddam House level in the final two minutes of play. That sent to the contest to a penalty shootout.
“We came short on shootouts this season. At St Mary’s Waverley, we came short a couple of times, so we did some work on our shootouts,” Hibbert revealed.
That preparation reaped rewards. Sally Gitlin, Emma Hibbert, and Courtney Thomas converted their penalties, while Reddam House’s keeper, Gabi Miller, put them in a position of strength with a save off St Paul’s College’s second penalty-taker.
“This is our third year at the tournament, and for us to win two titles in that time is a storybook performance. I am really proud of this group. The girls performed really well,” Hibbert said.
Results
Elite Girls
1/2: Reddam House (3) 3-3 (1) St Paul’s College
3/4: Rhenish Girls Invitational 3-1 York High
5/6: Paarl Girls’ High (2) 1-1 (1) Somerset College
7/8: La Rochelle 2-0 HTS Drostdy
9/10: Bellville 2-0 Hoërskool Charlie Hofmeyr
Evolve Girls
1/2: Hoërskool Punt 1-0 Union High
3/4: Hoërskool Stellenbosch 1-0 Curro Durbanville
5/6: Hoërskool Swartland 3-1 Western Province Invitational
7/8: Edgemead 2-0 Hoërskool Upington
9/10: Pinelands 1-0 Bridge House
11/12: Worcester Gimnasium 3-2 Hoërskool Hugenote
13/14: Hoërskool Strand 4-0 HS Jan van Riebeeck
15/16: The Settlers 2-1 Curro Hermanus
- Resolute Reddam House wins back-to-back CTIHT titles - 2026-07-27
- Boyall leads Our Lady of Fatima to maiden SPAR KZN hockey title - 2026-07-26
- DHS counterpunches their way to win over Jeppe - 2026-07-26
