SA women cruise to Africa Cup final

Captain Marcelle Keet’s side will play Ghana in Saturday’s decider.

SA unlocked the packed Tanzanian defence with ease and scored goals through Kelly Madsen, Celia Evans (2), Shelley Russell (2), Sulette Damons (4), Bernie Coston (3), Lilian du Plessis (8), Lisa Deetlefs, Tanya Britz (2) and Quanita Bobbs (2).

Head coach Fabian Gregory said she was pleased with their performance.

“Our build-up play down the right-hand side was the standout for me,” said Gregory.

“Shelley Russell at right midfield, Bernie utilising her pace to go around the defence, and then Ilse Davids providing the variant with the type of ball that she plays on the inside.

“Our midfielders were a lot more direct, so in all I am pleased with that aspect but there is still a bit of work to do to bring the left-hand side up to the same level, where we were not as direct as I would have liked us to be.”

Tanzania, whose women’s hockey was resurrected recently by the arrival of their Italian coach Valentina Quaranta, had conceded 31 goals going into the match (1-13 versus Kenya and 0-18 versus Ghana) and SA had the indirect aim of bettering those scorelines.

This has now given the defending champions the psychological advantage going into the gold medal match, which will see either SA or Ghana booking a ticket to the 2014 World Cup in The Hague, Netherlands at the end of May.

– Sapa