Bully for hotshot Clarendon outfit

CLARENDON High became the third school to qualify for the Spar Eastern Cape Schoolgirls Hockey Challenge provincial finals when they won the Border Coastal tournament in East London on Sunday.

Played at Cambridge, the Clarendon girls def Stirling 2-0 in the final, reversing a defeat they had suffered to the same opponents in the pool phase.

Defending champions Hudson Park were undone by Clarendon 3-0 in the semifinals, while Stirling beat hosts Cambridge 2-0 in the other playoff.

Tournament director Bev Forword said the teams produced exciting play throughout the competition.

“The final between Clarendon and Stirling was always set to be a humdinger after their closely contested pool match,” said Forword.

“In that game, Stirling scored a goal against the run of play to push Clarendon to second in their pool.”

She added Clarendon then produced their best performance of the day to be crowned the Border Coastal champions.

Spar Eastern Cape promotions and advertising manager Alan Stapleton was delighted with the success of another high quality tournament.

“It was great to see all the teams giving it their all, enjoying the fun aspect of the day, but also showing their competitiveness,” he said.

“We welcomed two new teams to the event this year in Grens and Alphendale and it’s encouraging to see the growth of the concept.”

The outcome means Clarendon will represent the region in the provincial finals which will be played at Woodridge, just outside Port Elizabeth, on August 12.

They have become the third team to qualify for the finals, joining Union High, who won the Port Elizabeth Inland tournament, and Kingsridge, who were crowned Border Inland champions last Sunday.

The final two teams for the provincial finals will be decided over the next two weeks when the South Western Districts tournament takes place in George on Saturday and the PE Coastal competition is held at Pearson on June 4. — DDC