{"id":4534,"date":"2025-05-04T09:05:56","date_gmt":"2025-05-04T07:05:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/?p=4534"},"modified":"2025-05-04T09:05:56","modified_gmt":"2025-05-04T07:05:56","slug":"province-reign-blues-defend-fitting-end-to-thrilling-tournament","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/04\/province-reign-blues-defend-fitting-end-to-thrilling-tournament\/","title":{"rendered":"Province Reign, Blues Defend. Fitting End to Thrilling Tournament"},"content":{"rendered":"

SA U21 IPT Final Day
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

A week of high drama, rising stars, and unforgettable moments came to a close at Cornwall Hill College with two finals that told two very different stories. For Western Province and Northern Blues, the gold medals came with history, heart, and hero moments. Let\u2019s wrap up the 2025 SA Hockey U21 IPT.<\/span><\/p>\n

WOMEN\u2019S FINAL: Northern Blues 1-0 Western Province<\/span><\/h3>\n

It was a match that lived up to the weight of the occasion \u2014 tight, tactical, and nervy throughout. The first half was played largely between the 25s, with both teams struggling to carve out clear-cut chances. A single penalty corner chance for WP in the first half was safely dealt with, and it was goalless at the break.<\/span><\/p>\n

Early in the second half, both sides traded short corners again, but still the deadlock held \u2014 until one key moment. A re-awarded corner gave the hosts another bite, and Emily Macquet stepped up to drill it home, igniting the crowd and giving <\/span>Northerns<\/span> a crucial lead.<\/span><\/p>\n

Western Province, in their second final in two years, threw everything forward in the closing minutes. But Manisha Desai and her defence stood firm, with WP unable to convert a string of late penalty corners. Jubilation for the Northern Blues, who lift the title unbeaten \u2014 and heartbreak for WP, who once again settle for silver.<\/span><\/p>\n

Final Standings \u2013 Women<\/span><\/p>\n

1. Northern Blues<\/span><\/div>\n
2. Western Province<\/span><\/div>\n
3. North West<\/span><\/div>\n
4. Southern Gauteng<\/span><\/div>\n
5. KZN Raiders<\/span><\/div>\n
6. Free State<\/span><\/div>\n
7. Eastern Province<\/span><\/div>\n
8. Mpumalanga<\/span><\/div>\n

Women\u2019s Individual Awards<\/span><\/p>\n

Player of the Tournament \u2013 Hannah Quinton (Southern Gauteng)<\/span>
\n<\/span>Goalkeeper of the Tournament \u2013 Manisha Desai (Western Province)<\/span>
\n<\/span>Top Goal Scorer \u2013 Elizabeth Anderson (KZN Raiders)<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

MEN\u2019S FINAL: Western Province 7-2 Northern Blues<\/span><\/h3>\n

Western Province entered the final with memories of 2024’s disappointment still fresh \u2014 and they played like a team on a mission. Inside the opening quarter, they delivered a devastating blow: a James Flint double from set pieces and a stunning aerial finish from Matt Rout made it 3-0 before Blues could blink.<\/span><\/p>\n

Corne<\/span> Burger, the tournament\u2019s leading scorer, offered the hosts a lifeline, but Nathan <\/span>Msakiwe<\/span> restored the gap just before halftime at 4-1. Flint would go on to complete his hat-trick, and <\/span>Msakiwe<\/span> added a second with a brilliant deflection to make it 6-1.<\/span><\/p>\n

Roan van Rensburg found a consolation for Blues, but it was Alex Blows, the WP captain, who fittingly had the final say with a late tap-in \u2014 lifting the trophy after an emphatic performance and a dominant final.<\/span><\/p>\n

Final Standings \u2013 Men<\/span><\/p>\n

1. Western Province<\/span><\/div>\n
2. Northern Blues<\/span><\/div>\n
3. Southern Gauteng<\/span><\/div>\n
4. North West<\/span><\/div>\n
5. Eastern Province<\/span><\/div>\n
6. KZN Raiders<\/span><\/div>\n
7. Free State<\/span><\/div>\n
8. Mpumalanga<\/span><\/div>\n

Men\u2019s Individual Awards<\/span><\/p>\n

Player of the Tournament \u2013 James Flint (Western Province)<\/span>
\n<\/span>Goalkeeper of the Tournament \u2013 Jean Schoeman (Northern Blues)<\/span>
\n<\/span>Top Goal Scorer \u2013 <\/span>Corne<\/span> Burger (Northern Blues)<\/span><\/p>\n

The 2025 SA U21 IPT closes with two unforgettable champions \u2014 Northern Blues <\/span>winning the <\/span>women\u2019s crown on home soil, and Western Province erasing last year\u2019s pain with a statement final in the men\u2019s division.<\/span><\/p>\n

To every team, player, coach, umpire, volunteer and fan \u2014 thank you for making this week a celebration of the future of South African hockey.<\/span><\/p>\n

Photos – Silver Edge Photograhpy supplied by SAHA<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SA U21 IPT Final Day A week of high drama, rising stars, and unforgettable moments came to a close at Cornwall Hill College with two Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4535,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[117],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4534","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hockey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4534","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4534"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4534\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4537,"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4534\/revisions\/4537"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4534"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}