Ladysmith High School were crowned champions at the uMvoti and oThukela Regional of the SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge on Saturday 13 May at Wartburg Kirchdorf School. 

 
In a spectacular regional final, Ladysmith met defending champions, Domino Servite School. Ladysmith came out blazing from the whistle, with their first charge piercing the Domino’s circle coming after just 20 seconds of play, firing off a cross that flashed right past the front of the goals just out of reach of two charging outstretched Ladysmith forwards. 
 
Ladysmith surged with several threats in the coming minutes, including a set piece only meters outside the circle after 2 and a half minutes. The hard-working defending champs defended well, not allowing their opponents any more real chances early on. 
 
Three minutes into the final, Domino got their first endeavour at the other end, winning a short corner. With great defence, Ladysmith managed to turn the Domino attack around, getting a breather with a 16m free hit. A hundred seconds later, Domino were back on the prowl with their second short corner. The ball moved rapidly to the castle and was diverted left where an eager Cebesile Memela slapped in a cracker of a shot, opening up her team’s account with a glorious goal. 
 
Two minutes later, it was the turn of Ladysmith to try their hand at a short corner. The ball moved niftily from the top of the D, left and then left again. Angie Adams didn’t waste any time, smashing her shot from a step inside the circle, netting her team’s all important equalizer. The scores were now level at 1 all with nearly 13 minutes left of play. 
 
Almost five minutes later, Domino managed to break with a superb run down the right, moving the ball skillfully to the centre where their forward unleashed a magical attempt that flew agonisingly wide of the right-hand post. 
 
With under 6 minutes left of play remaining, Ladysmith’s hard work paid off, earning their second short corner. The ball was ejected to their trapper, who shifted it left. Again, the ball moved further left before it rocketed goalwards but unfortunately for Domino, a defender bravely tried to intercept the missile but only managed to lift the ball dangerously and gave Ladysmith a retake. In their third short corner, a determined Ladysmith continued pursuing their regional winning goal. In similar fashion to their first two corners, the ball whisked left of the castle, and again pushed further left, finding captain Kara Fourie who stepped beautifully, launching a bullet that rocketed beyond all daring defenders, crashing into Domino’s box for the second goal. 
 
Domino nobly kept their heads up, not giving up with several more runs down to Ladysmith’s end but taking a more defensive strategy, Ladysmith concentrated their energies to secure their lead as the game time ran out. At the final whistle, Ladysmith took the win with the scoreline sitting at 2-1. 
 
A crowd favourite, Greytown High School’s Ramon Schoeman was recognised for his skills controlling his games fantastically well with the whistle and was awarded the prize of Umpire of the Day. 
 
This is the second time that Ladysmith High School has won this regional, their first time was over a decade ago in 2012. They are the eighth team that will advance to the Grand Finals that will take place at St Mary’s DSG in July. They will join Danville Park Girls High School (Durban North Regional); St Mary’s DSG (Highway Regional); Kuswag Hoërskool (Durban South Regional), Durban Girls’ College (Durban Central Regional); The Wykeham Collegiate (Pietermaritzburg North Regional); Suid Natal Hoërskool (Sisonke and uGu Regional) and St Dominics Newcastle (Northern KZN Regional). Pietermaritzburg Girls High are the ninth team (Pietermaritzburg Central Regional) to reach the finals and tenth team from the North Coast Regional will be revealed on 20 May.
 
The last remaining regional, the North Coast Regional and the Grand Finals will all be livestreamed on the SuperSport School’s mobile app and website. 
 
For more info like the tournament’s Facebook page or follow on Instagram.
 
Round Robin Results
1 Ladysmith High School 17pts; 2 Domino Servite School 16pts, 3 Wartburg Kirchdorf School 16pts; 4 Greytown High School 14pts; 5 Wembley College 12pts; 6 Hermannsburg School 4pts; 7 Escourt High School 0pts