Update

GRAAFF-REINET NEWS - In a carbon copy of last year, DSG defeated Kingswood in the final of the SPAR Eastern Cape Schoolgirls Hockey Challenge in Graaff-Reinet on Sunday.

Even the score of 1 - 0 in the Gqeberha North regional tournament decider at Union High mirrored last year's result between the two adversaries.

The tournament director, Matt Blair, said the final - played over 20 minutes - produced "some exceptional hockey".

DSG applied most of the pressure during the game but came up against a resilient Kingswood defence, which they struggled to break down.

Eventually, though, the deadlock was broken in the all-Makhanda derby when Kingswood gave away possession from a 16-yard hit and DSG scored with two minutes left on the clock.

It was DSG's fourth title after similar successes in 2016, 2019 and 2022.

A total of eight teams, divided into two pools, contested the round-robin stage of the event.

In the one half of the draw, DSG proved too strong for their opponents, including Union High, and comfortably qualified for the decider.

In the other pool, Kingswood was given a proper examination by Hoër Volkskool, who produced their best effort of the day to hold them to a 1 - 1 draw.

The Makhanda side, however, won their remaining two matches while Volkskool played to another draw, 0 - 0 against Victoria Girls, which cemented Kingswood's place in the final.

DSG now turn their attention to the Greg Beling tournament in East London from 16 to 19 March, where they will face top schools from around the country.

This year's SPAR Schoolgirls Hockey Challenge will be played over five tourna-ments as the traditional sixth, the provincial finals, has been dropped in favour of putting more emphasis on regional events.

The second tournament is the Gqeberha Coastal event, hosted by Victoria Park on 26 March.

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