Toti 10th in hockey tourney grand finals

FINISHING 10th at the grand finals, Amanzimtoti High School ended their season having played some highly competitive hockey against some of the big names in school girls’ hockey.

The local team met hockey giants St Anne’s and Pietermaritzburg Girls’ High School, and although they went down 4-0 to Saints, they only let one goal in against Girls’ High.

Displaying great spirit both on and off the field in somewhat miserable conditions, Toti can be extremely proud of its efforts. Their scores were 0–4 to St Anne’s College, 0-1 to Pietermaritzburg Girls’ High School, 0–2 to Wartburg Kirchdorf School and a goalless draw against seventh placed Ashton International College. They met newcomers to the tournament, Sarel Cilliers High School from Glencoe in the ninth and 10th playoff. The game was a fast-paced half hour, with Sarel Cilliers managing to break Amanzimtoti’s defences twice, going 2-0 up.

This is Amanzimtoti’s second appearance at the grand finals, with the team donning the bright, quirky lumo pink socks remaining consistent in their end result, having also finished 10th last year.

For the rest of the tournament, the wet weather didn’t dampen the spirits, or the action at the grand finals as St Mary’s DSG took the win in determined fashion on their home turf.

Meeting the defending champions, host school St Mary’s took on Durban Girls’ College in the gold silver game. After 30 minutes of superb flowing play, with both teams sharing equal possession, the score was level on 0-0 with the 2016 winner being decided in a penalty shoot-out.

First to go were College, missing their eight second penalty. Leah Piggott representing Saints was first in line for her team and didn’t manage to capitalise on College’s miss. The final four rolling penalties went Saint’s way, with College unable to penetrate Sarah Cromie’s solid presence in goals in their two attempts. Vice-captain for St Mary’s DSG, Tegan Fourie put the first points on the board, followed by Kiana Cormack slotting in her team’s second. The final score was 2-0 to Saints.

The two giants of the tournament had met earlier in the pool games with Saints managing to win that game 1-0 with their feisty vice-captain netting the all-important goal. In their fifth appearance of the tournament, this is the second time St Mary’s DSG have won. Their first time was in 2012, also tallying up a bronze in 2011 and 2013 and a fourth place last year.

It was not to be for Durban Girls’ College. In their sixth appearance, College were hoping to make this their fourth title in a row, with gold in 2013, 2014 and 2015. The team representing the Durban Central Regional ended their pool games second behind St Mary’s, but tied on points with the hard-working team from King Edward High School. Both College and King Edward finished the pool games on nine points with College advancing to the final having scored more goals.

In the bronze medal game, it was a Maritzburg derby with St Anne’s and Pietermaritzburg Girls’ High duelling it out on the astro. In their second meeting of the tournament, St Anne’s managed to clinch the win to claim bronze. In their first meeting, captain for St Anne’s, Julia Saulez found the back of the net to put her team 1-0 up in an exciting conclusion to the pool B games.

After half an hour in the bronze final, the whistle went for full time with the score sitting on nil nil. Both teams first attempts didn’t manage to find the back of the net, with Girls’ High second attempt also not troubling the scorers. St Anne’s Daniella Rhodes put her team one up with her penalty shot. Levelling the scores for Girls’ High, Nandi Ngubane gave her team a chance. With the pressure on, St Anne’s Steph Wenke got shut down by goalie, Nox Manele with the score now level.

The game moved on to sudden death with St Anne’s captain Julia Saulez leading by example and scoring. Then vibrant keeper for St Anne’s, Megan Rebstein-Dovey rose to the occasion, not allowing the first and final shot in the sudden death to pass her, giving her team the title of bronze winners.

Rob Philipson, MD for SPAR KZN stated, “After 29 games this weekend, 160 young ladies can be extremely proud of themselves for their achievement. Each and every one of the players battled the chilly weather and did so superbly. They not only represented their school, but their region with great pride and grace. Well done ladies to your successes at this wonderful tournament.”

A new initiative this year was the inclusion of a hockey bursary by Varsity College. With the decision being extremely difficult this year, the college awarded two bursaries. The announcement was made at the prize giving, with the recipients being invited to study and play for Varsity College. The two bursary winners were Tegan Fourie from St Mary’s DSG and Courtney Slaney from Westville Girls’ High School.

Results

1 St Mary’s DSG, 2 Durban Girls’ College, 3 St Anne’s College, 4 Pietermaritzburg Girls’ High, 5 Wartburg Kirchdorf School, 6 King Edward High School, 7 Ashton International College, 8 Grantleigh College, 9 Sarel Cilliers High School, 10 Amanzimtoti High School.