KZN Coastal A defeated Western Province A 2-1 to maintain their unbeaten record on day two of the u16 SASHOC National Week in Hilton on Wednesday.
Joining them in the unbeaten bracket were Northern Gauteng A and the defending champion, Southern Gauteng A, from Pool A.
In Pool B, Boland A showed fight and grit to overcome KZN Inland A, while Southern Free State A and Eastern Province A also bagged crucial victories.
In Pool A, Southern Gauteng A kicked off their campaign on Tuesday with a 4-0 win against Northern Gauteng B, thanks to four goals by Matthew Jung.
The Johannesburg outfit took on their counterparts, Southern Gauteng B, on Wednesday, and a solitary goal by Jung with nine minutes left in the match proved to be enough to seal the three points.
Northern Gauteng A also met their provincial counterparts, and scored a 2-1 win over Northerns B.
After a slow start, coach Jarryd Brown‘s troops found their mojo in the second half, and Michael Meiring opened the scoring in the 32nd minute.
Northerns B hit back minutes later through captain Markus Swanepoel, but a Luke Payne strike in the fourth chukka ensured all three points on offer went to the Northern Gauteng A side.
KZN Coastal A, meanwhile, bagged the massive scalp of Western Province A. Coach Keegan Hezlett‘s young guns rushed into a 2-0 lead in the first half, with goals from Sachin Moothoo and captain Cameron White.
Province responded through Ayabonga Maqgaza in the third chukka, but they were unable to breach the KZN Coastal A defence again.
Pool B delivered arguably the match of the day when Boland A took on KZN Inland A.
Inland A, the tournament host, was desperate to pick up a first win of their campaign after going down against Southern Free State A on Tuesday.
It was a classic back-and-forth encounter. At halftime, Boland led 2-0 after Luke van der Merwe and Skyler Goodwin found the back of the net.
Inland A came out looking like a different outfit in the third chukka, playing entertaining hockey in front of their home crowd.
James Buys pulled one back before Corban Emerson made it 2-2 heading into the final chukka.
Early in the fourth quarter, Santi Matroos gave Inland the lead for the first time, but Boland was far from done. They fought stubbornly, and Jacobus Geldenhuys levelled the score at 3-3 with four minutes to play.
The contest appeared headed for a draw, but Van der Merwe rose to the occasion and scored a blinder to win it for his side with two minutes to go in the game.
Eastern Province A beat Western Province B 3-2, while Southern Free State ran out 3-1 winners over KZN Inland B.
Later in the day, those two winners met, and their clash ended in a 1-1 draw.
In the final match of the day, Boland A made it two out of two with a 3-0 victory against Inland B.
Results – day 2
Pool A
Southern Gauteng A 1-0 Southern Gauteng B
Northern Gauteng A 2-1 Northern Gauteng B
KZN Coastal A 2-1 Western Province A
Pool B
Eastern Province A 3-2 Western Province B
Southern Free State 3-1 KZN Inland B
Boland A 4-3 KZN Inland A
Eastern Province A 1-1 Southern Free State A
Boland A 3-0 KZN Inland B
Day 3 – Fixtures
Pool A
07:45 – KZN Coastal A vs Northern Gauteng B
09:10 – Southern Free State A vs Western Province A
13:25 – Northern Gauteng A vs Southern Gauteng B
14:50 – Northern Gauteng B vs Western Province A
19:05 – Southern Gauteng A vs Northern Gauteng A
Pool B
10:35 – KZN Inland A vs KZN Inland B
12:00 – Southern Free State vs Western Province B
14:50 – Boland A vs Eastern Province A
