Rhenish Girls’ High School sparkled on Friday at the St Mary’s Hockey Festival in Waverley, winning all four of their matches without conceding a goal against strong opposition.
The Western Cape team, for whom Ruby Celliers earned her 100th cap, began their day with a 2-0 triumph over the recently crowned Belgotex Sport Easter Hockey Tournament winners, Somerset College.
They followed that up with a tight 1-0 win over St Andrew’s School for Girls and then handed Oranje their first loss of 2024.
The Stellenbosch girls exhibited rock-solid defence against Oranje, who had scored many lop-sided victories earlier in the season, holding them scoreless, and a goal from Kaitlyn van Binsbergen broke the deadlock to secure the win.
In their last Pool C encounter, Rhenish saw off Pietermaritzburg Girls’ High School 4-0.
Captain Leah du Plessis opened the scoring and then doubled the Rhenish lead 17 minutes before the end of the game. Lily Newton struck from a penalty corner and Pippa Viljoen netted with seconds remaining to complete a big victory.
It was not an easy day for the team from the KZN capital. They also lost 0-1 to both Somerset College and St Andrew’s, but played to a 1-1 draw with Hoërskool Garsfontein.
In Pool B’s first game, Hoërskool Menlopark defeated Windhoek High School 2-0, and St Anne’s Diocesan College repeated that scoreline in a win over St Mary’s DSG (Pretoria).
The Wykeham Collegiate also beat St Mary’s DSG (Pretoria), winning 1-0, and defeated Paarl Girls’ High School 2-1. They were held to a goalless draw by Windhoek.
Those results marked a strong turnaround for the Pietermaritzburg school, who suffered three losses on the opening day.
The hosts, St Mary’s Waverley, endured a difficult day, losing 0-1 to Menlopark and drawing goalless with Paarl Girls’ High before going down 0-3 to Durban Girls’ College, who have quietly asserted themselves and dominated Pool B.
They won all three of their matches, netting nine times while keeping a clean sheet for the day.
RESULTS
Friday, 5 April
Pool B: Windhoek 0-0 Menlopark; St Anne’s 2-0 St Mary’s DSG (Pretoria); The Wykeham Collegiate 2-1 Paarl Girls’ High; Windhoek HS 0-5 Durban Girls’ College; St Mary’s Waverley 1st 0-1 Menlopark; The Wykeham Collegiate 0-0 Windhoek HS; Menlopark 0-1 Durban Girls’ College; The Wykeham Collegiate 1-0 St Mary’s DSG (Pretoria); St Mary’s Waverley 1st 0-0 Paarl Girls’ High; Windhoek HS 0-2 St Anne’s; Paarl Girls’ High 0-0 St Mary’s DSG (Pretoria); Menlopark 0-0 St Anne’s; St Mary’s Waverley 1st 0-3 Durban Girls’ College
Pool C: Somerset 1-0 Pietermaritzburg GHS; Oranje 3-1 St Andrew’s; Waterkloof 0-0 St John’s; Somerset 0-2 Rhenish; Pietermaritzburg GHS 1-1 Garsfontein; Oranje 1-0 St John’s; Rhenish 1-0 St Andrew’s; Waterkloof 1-1 Garsfontein; St Andrew’s 1-0 Pietermaritzburg GHS; Waterkloof 0-0 Somerset; Oranje 0-1 Rhenish; St John’s 0-0 Garsfontein; Oranje 3-1 Garsfontein; St John’s 1-2 Somerset; St Andrew’s 0-1 Waterkloof; Rhenish 4-0 Pietermaritzburg GHS
POOLS
Pool A: Eunice High School; Herschel Girls School; Clarendon High School; Pretoria High School for Girls; Hoër Meisieskool Bloemhof; Roedean School (SA); Afrikaanse Hoër Meisieskool, Pretoria; DF Malan
Pool B: St Mary’s Waverley 1st XI; Durban Girls’ College; Paarl Girls’ High School; Die Hoërskool Menlopark; The Wykeham Collegiate; Windhoek High School; St Anne’s Diocesan College; St Mary’s DSG (Pretoria)
Pool C: C&N Sekondêre Meisieskool Oranje; Hoërskool Garsfontein; Rhenish Girls’ High School; St John’s DSG; St Andrew’s School for Girls; Hoërskool Waterkloof; Somerset College; Pietermaritzburg Girls’ High School
Pool D: Collegiate Girls’ High School; Paarl Gimnasium; St Stithians Girls College; St Mary’s DSG (Kloof); St Cyprian’s School; Pearson High School; St Mary’s Waverley Festival XI; Our Lady of Fatima DCS
