THE competition was fierce as teams from nine district schools went head-to-head in the annual Saints Hockey and Netball Challenge.
Teams competed in a round robin format.
The girls netball competition saw defending champions Richards Bay High School (RBHS) dominate from start to finish to lift their third consecutive crown.
They fended off arch rivals Empangeni High School 1 (EHS) 13-8 in a closely contested final.
Earlier RBHS beat Felixton College 16-1 in the first semi-final, with EHS beating eShowe 12-1 in the second play-off.
The hockey fields produced a number of sensational goals as the boys and girls teams competed for victory.
In the boys section, John Ross College (JRC) secured a final spot after beating RBHS 1-0, thanks to a goal from Shaun Msithini.
eShowe and Felixton College played out to a goalless draw in the second semi.
This called for a penalty shoot-out, with Felixton maintaining their cool under pressure and progressed to the final after winning 4-2.
The final was hotly contested, with little separating the two sides.
But after the JRC goalkeeper fell onto the ball during a save, a penalty flick was awarded.
Dwayne Hayes stepped up and buried the ball in the back of the goal box to hand his side a 1-0 win and the title.
The girls hockey section saw tournament favorites EHS beating hosts St Catherine’s 2-1 in an entertaining semi-final.
Peteha Dlomo scored for the Saints, with Itha Kotze and Kimberley Swan scoring for EHS.
The second semi-final saw Felixton College progressing after Thabisile Mthembu scored against Mandini Academy.
The final was a nail-biter with neither team offering an inch.
But with only seconds left on the clock, Swan found the back of the box from a short corner to hand EHS the title.
Schools that competed at the event were St Catherine’s, Empangeni High School, Mandini Academy, eShowe High, Felixton College, Richards Bay Christian School, Richards Bay High School, John Ross College and Richem Secondary School.
All focus will now shift to the Spar Challenge hosted by Grantleigh on Saturday, 7 May.
Ford South Africa via Ritchie Ford had new vehicles on hand for locals to test drive.
For every test drive audited by Ford, R100 were donated to the Saints Challenge event.
