The second day of the SA Hockey Senior IPT A Section tournament in Johannesburg may have arrived with clearer skies than the opening day, but the intensity only intensified as the race for semi-final places and survival took shape across both tournaments.
Image credit: Marcel Sigg
In the women’s competition, KZN Raiders kept their campaign alive with a hard fought victory over WP Peninsula. In a contest that looked destined to end scoreless, one moment of quality finally broke the deadlock. Tegan Fourie proved the difference, converting from a penalty corner to hand the Raiders a crucial victory and keep their hopes of progression alive.
Western Province became the first women’s side to officially secure a semi-final berth courtesy of a Charlene Boshoff masterclass against North West. The game exploded into life in a frantic six minute spell before half-time. Paige Thomas opened the scoring for Province before Keovaan Jansen responded immediately for North West. Boshoff restored the lead, only for Arisha van Niekerk to level on the stroke of half-time. With the contest delicately poised, Boshoff took over after the break, scoring twice more to complete a brilliant hat-trick and seal an emphatic 4-2 victory.
Earlier in the day, Free State continued their impressive form with a composed win over Eastern Province. For much of the encounter the sides cancelled each other out in a tactical arm wrestle, but in the final quarter Free State found another gear. Goals from Solange Jacobs and Omphile Hendricks secured a superb victory that keeps their campaign firmly on track.
The final women’s match of the day produced the first draw of the tournament as Northerns Blues and Southern Gauteng could not be separated in a gripping Gauteng derby. Paris-Gail Isaacs struck on the stroke of half-time to give Southern Gauteng the advantage and they looked set to close out victory. But with just two minutes remaining, Anja Tromp delivered the decisive moment for Northerns Blues, converting to rescue a share of the spoils in a high quality tactical battle.
In the men’s tournament, KZN Raiders became the first side to confirm their place in the semi-finals with a ruthless 5-0 dismantling of SG Witsies. Tristen Boyall, Angelo Walstroom, Christian Lambert, Tyler Tomsett and Veeshan Govender all found the back of the net as the Raiders underlined their credentials as genuine title contenders.
Defending champions Western Province joined them in the top four after an entertaining victory over Northerns Blues. Chad Futcher opened the scoring for the Blues before Niel Raath equalised from the penalty spot. Province then edged ahead through recently capped Thabang Jeyi, scoring his first goal of the tournament for a 2-1 half-time lead.
Raath took control in the second half, adding three penalty corner goals to complete a four-goal haul, while Kenton Melville also got on the scoresheet. Futcher grabbed a second for Northerns Blues and Richard Porter added a late consolation, but Province powered to a convincing 6-3 victory while Northerns Blues were left preparing for a relegation battle in the 5-8 bracket.
Free State edged another thriller when they defeated Eastern Province in a pulsating encounter. Hann-ru van Wyk gave Free State the lead before Sachin Padyacheeequalised from a penalty corner. Melrick Maddocks restored the Free State advantage, only for Padyachee to strike again and level matters for a second time. With the crowd fully invested, Tevin Kok produced the decisive moment, reminding everyone of his immense quality with a superb winning goal.
Southern Gauteng overcame unusual circumstances to claim victory over WP Peninsula. Sihle Ngubane capitalised on a defensive error to give Southern Gauteng the lead at UJ, but James Grieve quickly responded for Peninsula. Cameron le Forestier restored the advantage just before half-time before a power failure forced the match to be relocated to HS Linden. After the restart Gerald Mpopo wrapped up the result as Southern Gauteng secured an important 3-1 win.
With semi-final places beginning to lock in and relegation pressure mounting, Moving Day at IPT 2026 delivered exactly what South African hockey thrives on — intensity, drama and moments of brilliance.
