Ashton International College Ballito are back, being crowned the Durban North Regional champions in the SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge that they hosted on Sunday 13 April. 

 
In an edge-of-your-seat final, Ashton took on defending champs, Our Lady of Fatima. Following their semi-final where they dialled up their classy performance against Danville Park Girls’ High, winning that 3 nil. From the get-go, Fatima dominated with an array of well-crafted attacking moves, including nine slick set plays with six short corners and three long corners being awarded. 

Ashton’s keeper, Isabella Baxter played the game of her budding career, backed by a determined and unpassable back line. Baxter pulled save after save out of her talented hat, with a miraculous stick save that deflected a near perfect missile that was rocketing into the top right corner of the Ashton goal. The last line of defence put her body on the line, diving left and right and with catlike reflexes, was batting away balls fired in by the persistent Fatima forwards. 
 
Ashton got a few rare opportunities testing Fatima’s defenders, but play got quickly pushed back up with Jenna Shaw skilfully leading her troop in Ashton’s half. With 2 minutes left on the clock, Ashton found some freedom and ran the ball down the left then moved it quickly into the circle. Six seconds later, Erin Howard stepping onto her right foot, overbalancing and toppling over, took a reverse-stick sweep, sending the ball whooshing past Fatima’s keeper, Kayla Driver. 
 
Fatima wasted no time and was back peppering Baxter and her backline, desperately trying to find a hole to equalise but time evaporated. Ashton were victorious, after nine years they have reclaimed the title that they have won three times previously, in 2013, 2015 and 2016. 
 
Ashton topped their pool winning all of their games, with Danville finishing second. Both teams netted ten goals each. In Pool B, Fatima conquered all of their opponents, finishing on 12pts, and an impressive Reddam House uMhlanga ended their pool games on 8pts. In the first semi-final, Ashton met Reddam and quickly knocked in two goals to advance to the final. In the second semi-final, Fatima met long time rival, Danville and in a tenacious display, found the back of the net three times to earn their spot in the final game. 
 
Our Lady of Fatima’s Polly Mashau was awarded Umpire of the Day. No stranger to the tournament, Mashau has officiated at the Grand Finals last year. Northlands Girls’ High School’s Riya Singh won the lucky draw prize, walking away with a beautiful new Princess hockey stick.
 
The sixth team to book their spot, Ashton International College is heading to the Grand Finals to meet nine other teams from around KZN. They will be joining St Mary’s D.S.G. (Highway Regional); newcomer Maris Stella (Durban Central Regional); Epworth School (Pietermaritzburg Central Regional); St Anne’s School (Pietermaritzburg North Regional) and the second newcomer, Kingsway High School (Durban South Regional).

Pic: Val Adamson