Penryn and NHS the new hockey 5s champs
Belgotex Mpumalanga 5s Girls Hockey Tournament saw some of the Lowveld's best female hockey players take one another on in some fast-paced, action-packed matches on Penryn's AstroTurf.
With the Belgotex Mpumalanga 5s Boys Hockey Tournament that concluded on August 20, it was the girls’ turn to show what they are made of at Penryn College on September 1 and 2.
Following pretty much the same script as the boys’ tournament, the Belgotex Mpumalanga 5s Girls Hockey Tournament saw the U15 and U18 teams of Hoërskool Nelspruit (NHS), Hoërskool Bergvlam, Curro, Hoërskool Rob Ferreira, Hoërskool Lydenburg, Lowveld High (LHS) and Penryn College delivered their best stroke, scoop and flick attempts to come out on top in their respective categories.
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After finishing off their round-robin matches, Penryn’s U15 side ended top of their log bagging victories in all five of their fixtures. They kicked off their tournament against Lydenburg, which proved to be their toughest competition. They narrowly defeated their opponents with two goals to one. Thereafter, it was smooth sailing for the hosts with convincing victories over Curro 2, Rob Ferreira, Bergvlam and Curro 1.
Penryn’s unbeaten run crowned them the new U15 champions, dethroning Curro which won the title in 2022.
Lydenburg claimed second place, with Curro 1 ending in third.
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While the U15 group was only made up out of one group, the U18s were split into two: pools A and B.
Curro 1, Penryn 2, Bergvlam and Lydenburg made up pool A, while pool B consisted of Curro 2, Penryn 1, Rob Ferreira, NHS and LHS.
In pool A Penryn 2 ended top of the log, unbeaten with nine points next to their name. NHS also managed a clean sweep in the opposite pool tallying 12 points on the log with a staggering 35-point goal difference.
After the teams battled it out in their separate pools, the top team in pool A played against the second team in B and visa versa. The bottom two teams in each pool matched up against each other.
Curro 2 defeated Penryn 2, NHS won their round two fixture against Lydenburg, Bergvlam beat Rob Ferreira and Curro 1 edged out Penryn 1.
The Nelspruit outfit matched up with Curro 2 in the final fixture. NHS had the upper hand for most of the match, dominating the scoreboard 10-2.
With such a convincing victory, they were crowned the new 5s champions.
Penryn 2 played against Lydenburg for third and fourth position. Penryn secured the bronze medal, Lydenburg had to settle for fourth.
