admin
Sports Reporter
ST John’s College from Harare were crowned Super 12 Hockey Tournament champions after beating Hippo Valley 3-0 in the final that was played at Kumalo Hockey Stadium on Sunday. St John’s three goals came in the first half with Zimbabwe Under-19 Brendon du Preez scoring a brace and Bongani Moyo scoring the other.
Hippo Valley came back an aggressive lot in the second stanza but failed to convert their chances into goals.
St John’s team manager Ross Nel praised his boys for a good display in the final.
“Hippo Valley gave us much room to play our game and we capitalised on that and converted all our chances,” said Nel
Nel was full of praise for the young Hippo Valley team and he believes they will be the team to challenge for glory next year.
“They have a young team (Hippo Valley), definitely they will be a dominant force next year, they played well to reach the final,” he said.
To book a place in the final, St Johns edged less a resistant Prince Edward 2-0.
In the other-semi-final it was a clash of the titans as Hippo Valley edged Peterhouse 4-3 on penalties after the match ended three-all in regulation time.
Last year’s Super 12 winners Falcon College were knocked out by eventual winners St John’s 1-0 in the quarter-finals.
Bongani Moyo of St John’s College was crowned the most valuable player while his teammate, Brendon du Preez was the top goal scorer with 12 goals.
Falcon College, Lomagundi, Hellenic Academy, St George’s College, Eaglesvale, Hippo Valley, St John’s, Gateway, Prince Edward, Peterhouse, Christian Brothers College were the schools that featured in the tournament.
Falcon College played host to this year’s edition which was sponsored by RAM Petroleum.
Meanwhile, the Hockey Association of Zimbabwe (HAZ) will play host to the inter-provincial championships at Kumalo Hockey Stadium from 10-11 August.
HAZ will have the HAZ Cup played on the weekend of 7-8 September and on the last day of the event will be the sport’s national awards.
Results
Pools
A: Falcon 2, Prince Edward 1; Falcon 5, South Eastern College 0; South Eastern College 1, Prince Edward 1.
B: Hippo Valley 3, St Georges 0; CBC 0, Hippo Valley 3; St Georges 0, CBC 2.
C: Peterhouse 4, Eaglesvale 1; Peterhouse 0, Hellenics 0; Hellenics 2, Eaglesvale 1.
D: St John’s 0, Lomagundi 1; Lomagundi 3, Gateway 2; Gateway 1, St Johns 2.
Quarter-finals
Falcon 0, St John’s 1; Lomagundi 4, Prince Edward 5; Hippo Valley 2, Eaglesvale 1; Peterhouse 2, CBC 1.
Semi-final
St John’s 2, Prince Edward 0; Hippo Valley 4, Peterhouse 3
Final
St John’s 3, Hippo Valley 0
Online Reporter