NHS hockey girls through to semis
For some, Youth Day was spent on the hockey field, and for the Penryn College and Hoërskool Nelspruit girls' teams, it was a full two days on the AstroTurf for the Mpumalanga hockey play-offs.
NHS girls’ teams from u/14 to first-team level were virtually unstoppable, winning 14 and drawing only two of their encounters.
Penryn was not as successful, however, with the u/16 and first team failing to win a match. Although the girls in blue and red put up a noble fight against the NHS first side, with Pauline Lloyd even scoring the first goal early on in the first half, the hosts came back with a bang to put eight more goals in the box.
Marné van Aarde was particularly impressive, not only scoring six of the eight points, but also controlling much of the play.
According to Conan Olivier, director of sport at Penryn, “Although (both teams) struggled, they acquitted themselves well against teams that have more players to choose from, who sometimes spend more time focused on hockey at the expense of other school activities.”
“They will have realised a few things about their abilities as players, what it means to commit to a team and what is needed to compete against bigger and better schools, and they will be better players because of it,” Olivier explained to Lowvelder.
Both Penryn’s u/16 and first teams will compete in the Noordvaal tournament in August. All four of the NHS teams will progress to the semi-finals of the Mpumalanga play-offs. The u/14A and u/15A sides will play Volksrust and Ligbron respectively.
The u/16A team will take on HTS Middelburg in their semi-final clash and the first team will meet HTS Witbank in the penultimate round.
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• Host schools included Uplands College, Curro Nelspruit, NHS and Penryn College.
Hoërskool Nelspruit play-off results
U/14A
NHS 6 – Ligbron Akademie 0
NHS 7 – Hoogenhout 0
NHS 0 – Ermelo 0
NHS 3 – Lydenburg 0
U/15A
NHS 3 – Ermelo 0
NHS 4 – HTS Witbank 2
NHS 3 – HTS Middelburg 0
NHS 3 – Hoogenhout 0
U/16A
NHS 6 – Ligbron 0
NHS 0 – HTS Witbank 0
NHS 7 – HTS Middelburg 0
NHS 3 – Hoogenhout 0
First
NHS 2 – Secunda 1
NHS 8 – Penryn College 1
NHS 8 – Piet Retief 1
NHS 5 – Ermelo 3.
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Penryn College
U/16
Penryn 0 – Middelburg 2
Penryn 0 – Standerton 0
Penryn 0 – Ermelo 5
Penryn 0 – Secunda 3
First
Penryn 1 – NHS 8
Penryn 0 – Piet Retief 2
Penryn 0 – Ermelo 5
Penryn 3 – Secunda 5.
