GALLERY: Hockey girls put Tzaneen on the map
All three of our local participating schools, Merensky, Ben Vorster and Stanford Lake College, played excellent games of hockey.
Saturday saw a Tzaneen school showdown on the hockey field as Merensky, Ben Vorster and Stanford Lake College all took part in the Limpopo Hockey Finals.
The Finals was split across two venues, with PHS in Polokwane also hosting games between schools such as; Ben Viljoen, Frikkie Meyer, Ellisras and Piet Potgieter.
Locally, Stanford Lake College hosted the games for our schools on their new AstroTurf.
The first game of the day saw Merensky take on Ben Vorster in the U/14 group.
In the first half, the Merensky girls managed to score two goals.
As the teams swapped sides in the second half, it looked like Ben Vorster were going to start catching up as they were applying some pressure in the Merensky half, but Merensky soon took control again and managed to score a further two goals.
Goals were scored by Amerie Kotze (2 goals), Claudelle Cawood (1) and Chantelle Meyer (1).
The end result of Merensky 4-0 Ben Vorster meant that Merensky U/14 girls were hailed as the Limpopo Champions and received a trophy for their title.
Both Ben Vorster and Merensky U/14s will go through to the Noordvaal tournament.
The second game of the day was Stanford Lake College versus Merensky as the first teams from both schools battled it out for third and fourth place.
Possession was largely even and the teams seemed well matched, however, Merensky learner Tharien Lombard managed to put in one goal, securing them their spot at Noordvaal.
The third game played was the U/16s (Merensky vs. Ben Vorster).
The Vossies were sitting at 1-0 at half time, the goal being scored Jana Oberholzer (captain) and they then managed to squeeze another goal in the second half, ending with a score of 2-0, crowning Ben Vorster as Limpopo Champs for the third consecutive year.
Both schools will however go through to Noordvaal in this age category.
The last game of the day saw the U/15 girls of Merensky and Ben Vorster go head-to-head. The girls were playing for third and fourth place, with only the third placed team making it through to Noordvaal.
At end of play the score was a draw, 1-1, with Luné Fritz scoring for Merensky and Dezi Dreyer scoring for Ben Vorster.
After an 8 second play-off, Luné Fritz from Merensky scored her second goal and Emma Dalrymple-Hay from Merensky also contributed a goal. The Vossies managed to score only one goal in the play-off.
Merensky therefore managed to secure a victory of 3-2 sending them through to the Noordvaal tournament.
Ben Vorster are recognised as fourth in Limpopo in this age category.
Merensky will send teams from all four age groups through to Noordvaal, whilst Ben Vorster will send girls from the U/14s and U/16s.
