Epworth
Newcomers – Pietermaritzburg Central Regional – Bronze (2018)
Representing the Pietermaritzburg Central Regional, Epworth School had a fantastic weekend on the turf at the SPAR KZN School Girls’ Hockey Challenge.
They started their tournament with wins over Felixton College from Richards Bay and Our Lady of Fatima from Durban North, both scorelines were 1 up for Epworth. They took on Durban Girls’ College in their third game and managed to hold them to a draw. Their final pool game was against Ferrum High School from Newcastle, with the PMB side going 2 nil up.
Finishing second in the pools, they advanced to the semi-finals on Sunday. “As new comers to the top ten tournament, we knew that it was going to be a hard battle. Our team has the ability to beat anyone on the day, we played our way through the pool stages without losing a match and finished second in our pool, setting up a semi-final against St Mary’s. It was a tough match but after dominating some of the game, we sadly allowed 2 goals in and ended up playing for third position.” explained Assistant Coach for Epworth, Tracy Bratley.
Taking on College for the second time at the Grand Finals. The pool game, both teams didn’t allow in any goals, and in similar fashion the bronze medal game concluded with no goals being scored in full time. The game went to the deciding penalty shootout. Both keepers held firm, and the scoreline didn’t budge until Epworth’s third attempt where TJ Weis calmly stepped up to the spot and guided her shot in to be the winning shot, earning a third overall for Epworth.
“This team has shown their character and finished the season on a high note. I am very proud of the girls and look forward to what we can achieve next year. As the newcomers, we really enjoyed the tournament, it was well organised, and the vibe was really great. Well done to the winners and to SPAR for a superb effort!”
