Durban Girls College off to great start in hockey tourney
Durban Girls College wins the Durban Central regionals of the SPAR KZN Regional Hockey Tournament and will go on to play in the grand finals in July.
A cohesive, focused and tactical Durban Girls’ College first X1 were in top form as they took the honours on home turf in the blazing heat at the Durban Central and fourth round of the SPAR KZN Regional Hockey Tournaments on Sunday, 15 March.
Durban Girls’ College has dominated this region having won four regionals since the tournament’s inception five years ago, and having carried the SPAR tournament trophy for the last two years.
The tournament was played in two pools with Durban Girls’ College completely dominating their semi-finals in a 7-0 win over Port Natal Hoërskool. Also in good form, after winning two and drawing one game in their pool, was Maris Stella. They equalized in their semi-final with St Henry’s, but after a penalty shoot-out and a resultant score of 2-2, it was up to “sudden death” to seal their fate, seeing St Henry’s go through to play against DGC in the finals.
The final with St Henry’s saw DGC’s technical strength and exceptional teamwork control the game in their favour giving their opponents a tough time in the shooting circle and culminating in a 4-0 score with seasoned strikers Teagan McFall and Caroline Meek netting three and one goal respectively.
With additions to the lineup in this regional, the Durban South Regional defending champions, Durban Girls’ High School moved over to the central region, and Inanda Seminary played their maiden tournament, adding an exciting new mix to what has traditionally been a small tournament.
This growing schoolgirl sports event also creates opportunities for umpires to develop and hone their skills by giving an award to the Most Promising Umpire at each regional tournament. Pam Daniel representing Durban Girls High School was honoured at this regional and will go on to further develop her skills at the grand finals in July.
“The addition of Durban Girls High School as an experienced tournament team and defending champs of their former region, and Inanda Seminary as a newcomer to this event, added a new dimension to the tournament. We were thrilled to see how all the teams embraced the day, got down to the business of trying their utmost best on the astro and provided spectators with some great hockey,” said tournament director, Les Galloway.
