After four action-packed days of intense competition, the St Dunstan’s Easter Sports Festival concluded with the college’s netball team successfully defending their turf with a gold medal after finishing top of the standings.

The festival began on April 16 with the boys’ and girls’ hockey, while the netball and rugby started the following day. It attracted over 1 000 players and 63 teams from 32 schools.

The Dustonians ended the competition unbeaten on 25 points, with 10 wins and a draw from 11 matches. They topped the scoring charts with 478 goals, while only conceding 193.

They concluded the competition spectacularly, convincingly winning all their two matches on the final day. They began the day with a 53-8 win over Unity Secondary before beating Benoni High seconds 54-1.

Reddam College Waterfall finished second with 23 points while Ashton Ballito ended third a point adrift.

Reddam’s Nicole Weyers was named best shooter while Jeppe’s Boitumelo Lekalakala was named the outstanding attacker. St Dunstan’s Deborah Ighosejewe walked away with the title for the best defender.

Hockey

St Dominic’s Catholic for girls successfully defended their title after convincingly beating Hellenic Academy 3-0 to finish the competition unbeaten.

Star performer and the tournament’s MVP and leading goalscorer, Jemma Ferreira grabbed a hat-trick with beautifully crafted strikes from short corners as they handed the Zimbabwean team its only defeat of the tournament.

Steyn City ended third after beating Hoerskool Goudveld 2-1 in the third-place play-off. Hillcrest beat St Peter’s 3-0 for fifth place while the hosts, St Dunstan’s, defeated Lomagundi 2-0 to finish seventh.

CBC Zimbabwe clinched the gold in the boys’ competition after upsetting favourites St Dunstan’s, who were undefeated going into the final day. After the match ended tied in regular time, the Zimbabwean school triumphed 3-0 after the penalty lottery.

The Dunstonians’ only consolation was Tristan Nidd being named player of the tournament while CBC captain Ryan Winterboer walked away with the leading goalscorer award.

Rugby

Hellenic Academy, Helpmekaar, Wise Owl, Hillcrest High and Lomagundi ended the competition undefeated.

Hellenic subjected Benoni High to their only defeat in the festival with a 29-15 victory, while Lomagundi beat St Charles 60-15 in the first fixtures of the day.

Hillcrest and St Peter’s thrilled the spectators with an attacking brand of rugby with end-to-end action. Hillcrest, who dominated the early proceedings but allowed their opponents to mount a comeback, ultimately narrowly won 40-38.

There were also wins for St John’s Harare, Midlands Christian College, The Heritage School, St David’s Marist seconds, Wise Owl, while St George’s beat CBC Boksburg 70-10 and Helpmekaar beat Springs Boys 10-3.

Kamal Naraghi of St Peter’s topped the scoring charts with five tries. Springs Boys’ Zile Msangweni was named the best backline player while The Heritage School’s Tendekai Evertius was the tournament’s best forward.

Also Read: CAXTON SCHOOLS | St Dom’s downs Steyn City in thriller

Also Read: CAXTON SCHOOLS | St Dunstan’s first XV wins hearts with sportsmanship