This past Saturday, 6 April, Union High School’s senior hockey teams came out tops in a full schedule of hockey fixtures against Grahamstown rivals, Victoria Girls’ High School (VGHS). A new match format being implemented by SA Hockey, saw all teams playing matches consisting of four 15-minute quarters each.
After the u/16Bs, u/16As and second team beat VGHS 3 – 0, 3 – 1 and 3 – 0 in their respective encounters, it was the first team’s time to shine and continue their winning ways.
The game started off at a good pace with Union dominating possession which lead to a goal in the 5th minute by Laetitia Theron, putting Union 1 – 0 up. VGHS bounced back not long after with an equalizer. With the scores level, the scene was set for a feast of goals.The Union girls stepped their play up a gear with a goal by Henze Japhta in the 15th minute which saw the first quarter end with the score standing at 2 – 1 in Union’s favour.The second quarter saw Union extend their lead to 3-1 with another goal from Laetitia Theron which was as a result of a superb build-up from good accurate passing. Sara Kingwill then put victory firmly beyond VGHS’s reach with a fourth goal in the 35th minute, which ended the third quarter with Union 4 – 1 up.
“The water breaks in-between quarters in the new match format, caused the girls to lose some momentum and concentration which resulted in them missing out on possible goal opportunities,” says coach Alvin August. The fourth quarter only saw one goal by Henzѐ Japhta in the 59th minute to give Union a convincing and well deserved 5 -1 victory.