Dominating, St Patrick’s College had a successful outing to the SPAR KZN Schoolgirls’ Hockey Challenge, defending their title in the Southern KZN Regional hosted by Creston College on Saturday 17 May.

 
This is their second victory in this region, with back-to-back wins, after claiming the first triumph on their home turf last year. This year they met Southcity Christian School in the regional final with the score sitting on 1 nil at the final whistle.
 
The solitary goal came from St Patrick’s fifth short corner in the tenth minute where the ball travelled from the injector, Zaina Breda to the edge of the circle where it was trapped by Rayne Kitching and then passed to Malachi Godden who was at the top of the D. Prior to receiving the ball, Godden quietly drifted to the P Spot where she remained unmarked. With space and time, she patiently waited for her moment and perfectly redirected the golden pass goalwards, just out of reach of Canaan Dinberu who was determinedly perched on the line, in the centre of the goals.  St Pats continued their pressure for the remainder of the game, but Southcity’s livewire Dinberu not allowing any other opportunities beyond her. In a few rare attacks, Southcity built up some fantastic plays that threatened down the other end, but a determined defence didn’t allow the local team to convert their crafty runs. 
 
The finalists had to work hard on their final hurdle ahead of the concluding game, with both deciding games ending tied. In the first semi, St Patrick’s who topped Pool A, met second place in Pool B, Kokstad College for an intense inland derby. Kokstad, who have won the title three times held the defending champs to a nil nil draw. St Pats were first to go in the 8 second penalty, with Rayne Kitching beelining her way to Kokstad’s keeper, Liyabona Dube. Firing off her shot, the ball got snagged up in the defences of Dube but the quick-thinking attacker, retrieved the ball and sent it solidly across the line just in time. The following three penalties didn’t change the scoreline. Going into the final round, St Pat’s Breda charged into the circle, taking several paces to balance herself, wasting no time to send her attempt under the defences of Dube to net her teams second goal, giving them the ticket to advance through to the regional final.
 
In the second semifinal, after an epic day for Port Shepstone High School who finished leading Pool B met Pool A’s second placed Southcity for a coastal derby. Both teams netted excellent goals, with the second semi ending in a 1 all draw. Southcity were first to go in the 8 second penalties, with Leah Scott running midway into the circle, pausing and firing off a rocket of a shot beyond Sheppie’s Jenna-Leigh Grobler. First to go for Sheppie, Zoe Jasson made her way into the circle before pulling left and attempting a reverse stick shot that was convincingly charged down by Southcity’s Dinberu. In the second round, Southcity’s Reagan Rosslee drove the ball in, gliding slightly right before knocking in her shot taking her team’s score to 2 nil. Sheppie’s Sarah Mather-Pike was next up, charging in, she was met near the P spot by Dinberu. Hurried, Mather-Pike quickly tried to slot in her shot but the savvy Dinberu didn’t give her any room to pass, defending her counterattack with the ball rolling on to Mather-Pike’s foot and the whistle blasting for the offence, opening up Southcity’s first opportunity in recent memory to play for the championship honours. 
 
This is the best result that SouthCity Christian School has produced in the last decade, with 2 thirds, 3 fourths and a fifth registering alongside their overall regional stats. St Patrick’s will be keen to better their seventh that they earned at the 2024 Grand Finals.
 
Eight teams have now punched their ticket for the Grand Finals taking place in July, St Patrick’s College (Southern KZN Regional) join 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); the second newcomer, Kingsway High School (Durban South Regional); Ashton International College (Durban North Regional) and Felixton College (North Coast Regional).
 
This coming weekend (Saturday 24 May), the challenge heads to Ladysmith for the penultimate tournament, the uMvoti and uThukela Regional, with the concluding tournament taking place next weekend in Newcastle.

Photo: Rogan Ward
 
All games will be livestreamed on SuperSport Schools. 
 

Results

Regional Final
1 St Patrick’s vs Southcity Christian School 0
 
Semi Final Results
St Patrick’s College 0 (2) vs Kokstad College 0 (0)
Southcity Christian School 0 (2) vs Port Shepstone High School 0 (0)
 
Pool A Results
1 St Patrick’s College 16pts; 2 Southcity Christian School 13pts; 3 Suid Natal Hoërskool 9pts; 4 Creston College 6pts; 5 St Monica’s College 3pts; 6 Ixopo High School 1pt
 
Pool B Results
1 Port Shepstone High School 16pts; 2 Kokstad College 9pts; 3 King Edward High School 6pts; 4 Scottburgh High School 3pts; 5 Bergview High School 2pts