In a carbon copy of last year, DSG defeated Kingswood in the final of the SPAR Eastern Cape Schoolgirls Hockey Challenge in Graaff-Reinet on Sunday.
Even the scoreline of 1-0 in the Gqeberha North regional tournament decider at Union High mirrored last year’s result between the two adversaries.
Tournament director Matt Blair said the final – played over 20 minutes – was a fitting culmination to the day’s competition as it produced “some exceptional hockey”.
DSG applied most of the pressure during the game but came up against a resilient Kingswood defence, which they struggled to break down.
Eventually, though, the deadlock was broken in the all-Makhanda derby when Kingswood gave away possession from a 16-yard hit and DSG seized the opportunity to score with two minutes left on the clock.
It was DSG’s fourth title after similar successes in 2016, 2019 and last year.
A total of eight teams, divided into two pools, contested the round-robin stage of the event.
In the one half of the draw, DSG proved too strong for their opponents and comfortably qualified for the tournament decider.
In the other pool, Kingswood were given a proper examination by Graaff-Reinet outfit Volkskool, who produced their best effort of the day to hold them to a 1-1 draw.
The Makhanda side, however, won their remaining two matches while Volkskool played to another draw, 0-0 against Victoria Girls’, which cemented Kingswood’s place in the final.
DSG coach Geowynne Gamiet said he was happy with the way the girls performed in a tough event that had been played in temperatures in the mid-30s.
“It was a good start to the season for us. It sets the tone for the rest of our programme.”
He said they were “exceptional throughout the day” and felt the title was deserved after amassing 14 goals.
The key to a tense final was to remain patient, especially with Kingswood looking for counter-attacking opportunities, he explained.
“They got through a few times, but generally we had the upper hand. We had something like 10 penalty corners and just struggled to finish, so frustration does set in when you are playing against the clock.
“It was just a case of trying to keep pushing forward and eventually we snuck it near the end.”
DSG now turn their attention to the Greg Beling tournament in East London from March 16 to 19, where they will face top schools from around the country.
This year’s SPAR Schoolgirls Hockey Challenge will be played over five tournaments as the traditional sixth, the provincial finals, has been sacrificed in favour of putting more emphasis on the regional events.
The second tournament is the Gqeberha Coastal event, which will be hosted by Victoria Park on March 26.
The best players in the province will be in action in the five regional tournaments of the annual SPAR Eastern Cape Schoolgirls Hockey Challenge, which started this weekend and culminates in May.
National tournament director Les Galloway said they had introduced a slight change this year to allow them to raise the profile of the regionals.
The event has been a regular on the schools hockey calendar since its inception in 2016, being derailed only by the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021.
In previous years, the winners of the regional tournaments qualified for the provincial finals, but Galloway said they had done away with that tournament this year.
“There are various reasons for that decision and one of them is that we would like to raise the profile of the regionals instead of spending a big part of the budget on the provincial finals,” she explained.
“The whole vision of the Challenge is to reach as many schools as possible in all areas and we are very close to achieving that. It is exciting and it shows that schoolgirls’ hockey is alive and well.”
Galloway added that this change would allow them to raise the status of the regional events and therefore create an even bigger incentive for schools to sign up.
“Rather than just focusing on the provincial finalists, which covers just five schools, we want to provide a memorable experience at all the tournaments, in which up to 50 schools can be involved.
“We had a long discussion with SPAR and came up with this decision because, really, the regionals are what it is all about and we want to reach all corners of the Eastern Cape to give everyone an opportunity.”
She cited the case of Umtata High School who debuted in the competition last year when they competed in the East London Inland tournament in Komani.
“They put their hands up and it was so good to be able to include them as this is exactly what we are trying to achieve.”
Another factor in streamlining the competition was the full calendar many schools had with their traditional derby days and interschool fixtures, said Galloway.
“The Challenge is still very high on the schools’ programmes, but we work closely with them because we understand their commitments and it does lead to a challenge sometimes to arrange dates.
“It is a prestigious event that has built traction over the years,” according to her. “So now you have pupils who were in Grade 8 or 9 a few years ago, watching from the sidelines, looking forward to competing.”
“That’s obviously important for us as it provides greater exposure for all players.”
Galloway said a number of participants over the years had gone on to higher honours.
The first tournament was hosted by Union High in Graaff-Reinet on Sunday.
Tournament dates:
March 26: Victoria Park High, Gqeberha
May 6: Oakhill High, Knysna
May 14: Stirling High, East London
May 21: Queenstown Girls’ High Queenstown
