KZN Coastal A will tackle Boland A in the boys’ final of the u16 SASHOC National Week on Sunday in Hilton.
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Those sides booked their places in the title-deciding match on Saturday after winning cracking semifinal showdowns.
Coastal A, who ended the group stage unbeaten in Pool A, was pushed to the brink by KZN Inland A, winning their match in a penalty shootout after regulation time had produced a pulsating 3-3 draw.
Boland, meanwhile, edged out Western Province A 3-2 in their final four encounter to book a spot in the final for the second time in three years.
In the first semi, Boland started strongly and opened the scoring in the second chukka through Christiaan Fourie. Skipper Luke van der Merwe made it 2-0 soon after, and coach Shaun McIntyre‘s boys were in cruise control, momentarily.
Province recovered in the third chukka, and a goal by Cuan Cadiz gave them hope and belief. Cadiz wasn’t done and levelled the scores with a 49th-minute strike, setting up an exciting conclusion to the clash.
Despite coming back from two goals down, Western Province was unable to build on that momentum. Instead, they allowed Boland a sniff late in the game, and their captain, Van der Merwe, came up with the goods from a penalty corner with three minutes to play to put the Bolanders 3-2 ahead.
They then held on to seal a memorable win.
The second semi, between neighbours familiar with one another, was expected to deliver fireworks. It lived up to expectations.
Leading into the semi-finals, Coastal A was unbeaten, while Inland A had made a remarkable comeback. After losing two of their first three matches, they finished the group stage with back-to-back one-sided wins to end that stage of the competition with the best goal differential.
The KZN derby immediately ignited, and James Buys and Santi Matroos gave Inland a 2-0 lead after the first two chukkas.
In the third chukka, Cameron White pulled one back for coach Keegan Hezlett’s side. Matroos, however, restored Inland’s two-goal advantage only five minutes later.
White, the Coastal captain, matched Matroos by scoring a second at the end of the third chukka, leaving his side trailing by a goal with one more quarter to play.
With just over six minutes remaining, Coastal A equalised, scoring through Luke Lambert from a goalmouth scramble after they had a penalty corner shot stopped.
In the shootout, out of their five takes, Coastal A converted three, through Lord Magkato, Sachin Moothoo, and Hlompho Morake.
Inland A delivered a similar record, with Quinn Bush, Thabani Fakude, and Matroos sending the shootout to sudden death.
Magkato scored again for Coastal A, but Matroos wasn’t able to match him, and Coastal A advanced 4-3 in a dramatic conclusion to an entertaining contest.
In other matches, Western Province B defeated Northern Gauteng B 3-1, while Eastern Province A saw off Southern Gauteng A, also winning 3-1.
Southern Free State A won their encounter against Northern Gauteng A 3-2.
The final day’s action kicks off on Hilton College‘s Beckingham Astro at 07:30 with a meeting between Eastern Province A and Southern Free State A for fifth place.
The final, to be played on the St Anne’s Lower Astro, starts at 11:15.
Day 5 – Results
Western Province B 3-1 Northern Gauteng B
Southern Gauteng A 1-3 Eastern Province A
Southern Gauteng B (2) 1-1 (1) KZN Inland B
Western Province A 2-3 Boland A (semifinal 1)
Northern Gauteng A 2-3 Southern Free State A
KZN Coastal A (4) 3-3 (3) KZN Inland A (semifinal 2)
