In a dramatic finale at the Spar Women’s Hockey Interprovincial Tournament, Western Province (WP) retained their title when they defeated Southern Gauteng on sudden-death penalty strokes at the Hartleyvale Astro in Cape Town on Saturday.
The finalists were locked at 2-2 in regulation time and a quarter of an hour’s golden goal play failed to separate the two sides. WP eventually prevailed 5-4 on penalty strokes.
No side deserved to lose this encounter, with Southerns definitely having the better of the first half and the experience of the hosts holding sway in the second.
The Jo’burg women went one up in the fourth minute after Fiona Butler pinpointed a cross from the right to Anika Fisher’s stick and she directed the ball past Mariette Rix. Butler found herself in the mix again when she turned a defender inside out to then find an unmarked Sharne Bailey, and Southerns were 2-0 up after 20 minutes.
WP then showed all the experience of their 568 international caps when they pulled one back just before the break. National player Shelley Russell, who hustled and bustled the whole game, forced a penalty corner and then was on hand to score from a variation that found her on the right-hand post.
Southerns never really threatened offensively in the second half and it was the hosts who forced the only penalty corner of the half. In a rare attacking foray, Southerns lost possession and play swept up-field with WP earning a free hit outside their opponent’s circle. The resultant strike from Tarryn Bright found Megan Robertson and it was all square at 2-2.
Southerns should have by all rights clinched it in the opening minutes of the golden goal extra time. A massive overhead thrown by Lindsey Wright found an unmarked Roxanne Turner, but with just goalkeeper Rix to beat, Turner was unable to make it count.
If the game was a spectacle, the penalty-stroke shoot-out was a nail-biter.
The team’s were level at 4-4 with Southerns’ Carla Botha missing hers and WP’s Taryn Hosking being denied by a brilliant diving save from Leandri Janse van Rensburg. And so to sudden death, where first Southern’s Tsoanelo Pholo’s stroke was saved by Rix and then Bright hit the upright for the champions. Marsha Marescia stepped up, only for Rix to save again, and then it was up to WP skipper Kate Hector to decide the fate of the trophy. She made no mistake.
”My second penalty stroke, my heart rate was very high,” said Hector. ”But, I’m proud of my side. Twice we have come back against Southerns this week. For years we have been the underdogs, so this was a special win — especially in front of your home crowd.”
A beaming WP coach Kerry Bee said she always believed her team were going to win. ”When we were 2-0 down I was not worried. My girls played with big hearts and did exactly what I asked of them.”
For Southerns it was double disappointment as it was also stalwart Wright’s last game before retirement. An emotional Marescia said she had given Wright the captain’s armband in honour of her achievements. ”It doesn’t feel good losing,” said Marescia. ”Especially after we dominated for so long,”
In the A-pool bronze-medal play-off, Northerns defeated KwaZulu-Natal 4-0 with all their goals coming in the second half and all scored by Louisa Moore. Peninsula won the B section after beating North West in the final. — Sapa