EHS claim third Spar crown

EMPANGENI High School’s (EHS) first team claimed the ‘hockey crown’ at the Spar KZN School Girls’ Hockey Regional Tournament on Saturday at Grantleigh School, after dominating the tournament to successfully claim their third win in a row.

EHS ended on top of the log after the round robin stage with 19 points and met the host school (Grantleigh) in the finals.

The game was a cracker with both sides playing sensational hockey and asking questions at the goal box, resulting in the goalkeepers having to pull out all the stops.

The final ended goalless which saw both teams head into a five-minute one-way sudden death showdown.

EHS dominated this portion of the play, but failed to finish, which resulted in both teams heading into the eight-second shoot-out, with the best of five goals to count.

This was a nail-biting affair which saw EHS claim a 2-1 victory thanks to goals from Anele Dlamini and Mari-Lee Visser.

Nicole Anderson scored for the home side.

But it was EHS goalkeeper, Anelma Wessels, that stood up to the plate, making four vital saves to help her side claim tournament victory and move onto the provincial tournament.

EHS will now go to Durban from 26-27 July to compete in the Spar KZN School Girls’ Hockey Provincial Tournament at St Mary’s and Thomas Moore where they will compete against 10 other regional winners.

‘The standard of hockey grows every year as teams vie for a place in the Durban tournament,’ said tournament director Les Galloway.

Results

1 Empangeni High School 19 points

2 Grantleigh School 13 points

3 Felixton College 12 points

4 Richards Bay High School and St Catherine’s School 10 points

5 Mandini Academy 6 points

6 eShowe High School 5 points

7 Richards Bay Christian School 0 points

Most promising umpire: Wesley Yngsdal