2021 Ladies IPT Hockey Tournament Finals

The two semi-finals produced to outstanding, but very different games at Hartleyvale Stadium in Cape Town. The stadium which has hosted some great iconic events, but no test match since January 2017. It would add two more iconic matches into its history books as the semi-finals of the tournament took place on Friday.

In the opening game the dominant SPAR KZN Raiders got the kind of start that you would dream about as they opened the scoring in the 2nd minute when Kerryn Swanepoel netted after great work down the right hand side. Having looked in control of the action the Raiders basically said to the hosts its gonna take something special to bring your back into the game. Tarryn Lombard (Glasby) heard the challenge and on the stroke of the first quarter ending fired in a shot with such velocity that Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton would have taken notice.

Star of the tournament for the hosts Quanita Bobbs made it two with a low drag from a penalty corner into the bottom right of the goal before the sublime Ongi Mali made it 3-1 after finishing off a wonderful free flowing team move. With the time heading towards its completion Quanita Bobbs added her second in a player of the match performance. The historic victory put WP into the final of their home tournament and an opportunity to win it for the first time since 2011.

In the second semi-final the hotly anticipated battle of Gauteng took place. It was a game of really four seperate segments. In the first segment the Northern Blues were on top and after a wonder goal from Marguerite van Wyk, they added a second through Xanthe van Zyl to lead 2-0. Unfortunately the second segment started just before half-time for the Blues as Thenjwayo scored a brace and a third was added as Kirsten Paton took control of the game and Southerns led 3-2 through Sylvia van Jaarsveldt.

The third segment was the dramatic equaliser from van Zyl who picked up after superb work from Tegan Fourie. The goal was immense and could be heard from Pretoria as they sent the second semi-final to the shootouts. The final segment is the shootout which should simply be called the Mmatshepo Modipane show. The Southerns keeper was imperious and did not get beaten in the four penalties she faced. Her heroics enough to give Southerns a place in the final.

Elsewhere in the 5-8 playoffs the SA U21 side were victorious over WP Pens, while Free State emerged victorious against the Eastern Province side setting up an exciting final day of action.

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