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Province and Southerns guarantee semi-final spots
JONATHAN COOK
in Port Elizabeth
Hockey heavyweights Western Province and Southern Gauteng cemented berths in the semi-finals of the SA Women’s Interprovincial Tournament Wednesday with emphatic wins on day two of pool competition.
Province, last year’s silver medallists, enjoyed a three-goal blitz in the first nine minutes to set up a superb 4-1 victory over last year’s bronze medallists Northern Blues, while defending champions Southern Gauteng were comfortable 4-1 winners over the willing but outgunned North West combination.
A gale force wind and driving rain made play extremely unpleasant in the evening, yet it did not stop a highly motivated Border from beating favourites Eastern Province 4-0 while in the midday game Free State worked very hard to beat winless KZN Coastal Raiders 1-0.
However, the elements did enough to postpone the late-evening game, a B Section clash between SA Country Districts’ A and Eastern Province Settlers. This match will be played Thursday at a time and venue still to be determined.
Fighting for second spot behind WP in Pool B, the Free State clash with Northern Blues will be Thursday’s key encounter. With both teams on equal log points and each having a goal difference of zero, only victory will be enough to ensure Free State’s berth in the semi-finals, while a draw will be enough for Blues, who have a superior “goals for” margin of three.
In the B Section, the unbeaten KZN Inland and Witwatersrand are guaranteed places in Friday’s semi-finals.
WEDNESDAY RESULTS
A Section: Free State 1 KZN Coastal Raiders 0; Western Province 4 Northern Blues 1; Southern Gauteng 4 North West 1; Border 4 Eastern Province 4.
B Section: KZN Inland 5 KZN Mynahs 0; Witwatersrand 8 Southern Cape 0; SA Country Districts B 4 Mpumalanga 4; SA Country Districts A vs EP Settlers (Due to unplayable conditions, postponed to Thursday at a time and venue still to be determined).
THURSDAY FIXTURES
(KC March Astro unless stated)
A Section: Northern Blues vs Free State (12 pm); Western Province vs KZN Coastal Raiders (2 pm); Southern Gauteng vs Border (4 pm); Eastern Province vs North West (6 pm).
B Section: KZN Inland vs Mpumalanga (8 am); Southern Cape vs SA Country Districts A (10 am); KZN Mynahs vs SA Country Districts B (Westering High School 2 pm); Witwatersrand vs EP Settlers (8 pm).
