In the big clash of the day Western Province on Wednesday upset defending champions Southern Gauteng by a solitary goal on the third day of the Spar Interprovincial Women’s Hockey tournament being played at the Randburg AstroTurf in Johannesburg.
The goal that separated the two sides was a Henna du Buisson thunderbolt in the 47th minute of play after Southerns had literally defended for almost the entire first 35 minutes. The only glimmer of attack from the hosts was a typical bullocking run by Pietie Coetzee in the 30th minute.
Coetzee left the WP goalkeeper flaying on the ground and slipped the ball to Fiona Butler, whose attempted back-stick strike was cleared off the line.
The girls from the Cape generally played with more purpose and their skills were at a higher level. Southerns at times looked rattled and with their key player Coetzee looking out of sorts, the champions seemed to run out of ideas.
Southerns coach Adrian Carolan had only praise for his opponents: ”Physically they are in a lot better shape than my side. They stepped up a gear in the first 20 minutes and were able to keep that intensity for long periods.”
But with two more pool games to play and a place in the top two almost a certainty, Southerns captain Caroline Jack was upbeat. ”The result today [Wednesday] was irrelevant,” said Jack. ”We went into today’s game to work on a few things. Today was more about performance than results. I feel we are still playing at 70% and we need to get that up to 100% over the next two days.”
Western Province captain Kate Hector gave a little wry smile when quizzed about the difference in fitness levels between the two sides. ”Our preparation has been very good for this tournament. Most of our girls [nine of them] are involved in preparations for the World Cup so the fitness is bound to be there.”
Province’s English coach Simon Organ, however, was cautious. ”We are not in the final yet. This is only game three and there are still two tough pool games to go against Northerns and KwaZulu-Natal.”
In other A-section matches, KwaZulu-Natal edged out Northerns 2-1, while Midlands beat North West by the same margin. In B-section games Eastern Province thrashed Free State 8-0, Border and Mynahs drew 1-1 and Peninsula defeated Witwatersrand 1-0. — Sapa