DANVILLE Park Girls’ High School secured their best finish at the Grand Finals of the SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge by claiming fifth.

The challenge hosted by St Mary’s DSG in Kloof was won overall by defending champions Durban Girls’ College.

For Danville, they capped off an excellent weekend of schoolgirl hockey by bettering their two previous results at the Grand Finals appearances in 2012 and 2014 where they finished in sixth position.

The Durban North regional champions kicked off their Grand Finals, meeting Pietermaritzburg Girls’ High School in their first pool game which ended in a goalless draw.

They followed up their day with two wins over Grantleigh College and Ladysmith High School and went down to overall winners Durban Girls’ College in their final group game.

Ending off the pool games mid-log with nine points, they advanced to the cross-pool playoff, meeting Suid Natal Hoërskool.

With a narrow victory, Danville secured their place in the fifth-place playoff, meeting travelling team and newcomer, St Dominic’s Newcastle. Danville opened up their game with an early goal, followed by their second in the ninth minute, and their third in the eleventh minute.

Looking good going into half-time, they led by 3–0. St Dom’s knocked in their first after five minutes of play in the second half. Danville responded with a fourth goal three minutes later. In the last minute, the Northern KZN representatives found the back of the goals for their second. The final score was 4–2 for Danville, earning them a well-deserved fifth place overall.

For Anqobile Nkayi, captain of the Danville hockey team, the goal was to make it out of the group stages and secure the best result possible.

Speaking on the SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge, Anqobile was full of praise for the annual tournament.

“The SPAR Schoolgirls Tournament is extremely beneficial, especially in terms of our development and self-belief. We often don’t get the opportunity to play some of the schools from other parts of the province. We are super stoked to be a part of the Grand Finals, and we certainly see the tournament as one that will help us all grow as players,” she said.

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