Excitement at Durban North regional of SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge
Our Lady of Fatima players, Georgia Brown, Isabella Slater, and Jenna Shaw netted the goals for their victory.
In a seesaw of results, Our Lady of Fatima reclaimed the Durban North regional title in a well-contested final of the SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge that took place on Saturday, March 16, at Curro Salt Rock. They met defending champions, Danville Park Girls’ High School, going up one-nil midway through the final. Our Lady of Fatima pummelled in a cracker with 10.40 on the clock.
Our Lady of Fatima’s Georgia Brown, who was perched at the top of the D, pounced on the ball during a short corner and wasted no time in firing in her attempt.
This gave her team a goal advantage, which turned out to be the only goal of the regional final. In recent years, the regional title has ping-ponged between Our Lady of Fatima and Danville Park, with Danville being victorious in 2021 and 2023, and Fatima in 2022 and now, raising the trophy after a successful run on Saturday.
This is the fifth time in the 14 years of the SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge that Our Lady of Fatima is making an appearance at the grand finals.
En route to the final, Our Lady of Fatima met the host school, Curro in their first pool game, starting strongly with a four-nil win. Full of confidence, they took on Durban North College in their second game going up eight-nil.
A focused Reddam Umhlanga side gave them a challenge, drawing nil-nil, with their final pool game going three-nil up against Crawford La Lucia. In a smaller, more competitive pool, Danville only played three games. They met Northlands Girls’ High School in their opening game, going up one-nil.
Their second run was against a strong team from Ashton International College, with the result ending in a nil-nil draw after a feisty challenge. Their final game was a victory of two-nil against Crawford North Coast. In the semi-finals, first up- Our Lady of Fatima met Ashton International College.
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From the whistle, Our Lady of Fatima was in top gear, rising to the early ball, intercepting often and playing an all-round better game winning comfortably, netting three fantastic field goals against the Ballito team.
Our Lady of Fatima players, Georgia Brown, Isabella Slater, and Jenna Shaw netted the goals for their victory. In the second semi, Danville took on a determined team from Reddam House Umhlanga. In a fast-flowing game, Danville dominated possession but was just unable to finish off any of their build-ups.
A terrier of a player, Cody Bestebier worked her magic running the ball into the Reddam circle, moving it swiftly across, with a tap heading goalwards. Lurking around the penalty spot, Aaishah Karodia ushered it slickly under the charging keeper for the only goal in that game.
Representing Danville, Tatum Kroutz was awarded the Umpire of the Day. Kroutz is no stranger to this tournament, having played when she was at Danville until she matriculated in 2020.
Taking up the role of umpire, she participated in last year’s tournament and was acknowledged with the Most Promising Umpire award. Our Lady of Fatima is the fourth team to secure a spot at the grand finals.
They join Durban Girls’ College representing the Durban Central regional, the Wykeham Collegiate who was crowned in the Pietermaritzburg North regional and St John’s DSG representing the Pietermaritzburg Central regional.
In back-to-back action, following the Durban North regional, teams battled it out at the Highway regional on Sunday, with St Mary’s DSG being victorious there.
The challenge has a break over Easter, with New Forest hosting the first tournament in April, teams will head to 3 Schools Trust on April 6 for the Durban South regional.
