Port Elizabeth – Kaspersky Southern Gauteng meet champions KZN Coastals Raiders in the semi-finals of the South African Men’s Interprovincial Hockey Tournament at the KC March Stadium in Gelvandale, Port Elizabeth Friday.
Southerns’ 6-1 defeat of Western Province Peninsula in their final Pool B match gave them second place with Ricky West hitting a hat-trick and the others coming from Thornton McDade, Brandon Panther and Sean Landsdale.
The other Pool B semi-finalist is Western Province after they beat hosts Eastern Province 3-0 to top the pool.
Western Province will play Northerns Blues in the remaining last-four clash after Northerns held on to their nerve and fought back for a vital 2-2 draw with KZN Inland.
Pool A was won by KZN Coastal Raiders with Northerns Blues second.
WP dashed the hopes of EP with a field goal before half-time from national captain Austin Smith and two more after the break from former KZN Raider Matthew Botha and former Beijing Olympian Lungile Tsolekile.
Northerns netted against KZN Inland through a Kyle Rhodes penalty corner and Justin Reid-Ross’s penalty stroke, while the Pietermaritzburg side scored two goals before halftime through a brace of Karl Oftebro penalty corner drag-flicks.
Inland were rocked back at the death when Oftebro’s penalty corner after the final hooter hit the post.
In the fifth to eighth place playoffs, Inland face Pens and EP meet Border.
The B Section final on Saturday will be contested between Southern Gauteng’s second string, Witwatersrand, and KZN Mynahs, the winner of whom gets promoted to next year’s top eight A Section.
Wits beat Eastern Province Settlers 8-2 and KZN Mynahs won a key match against Free State 2-1.
RESULTS
A section: KZN Coastal Raiders 9 Border 1; Kaspersky Southern Gauteng 6 WP Peninsula 1; Northerns Blues 2 KZN Inland 2; Western Province 3 Eastern Province 0
B Section: KZN Inland B 3 Southern Cape 1; Northern Cape 4 Mpumalanga 2; KZN Mynahs 2 Free State 1; Witwatersrand 8 EP Settlers 2.
