{"id":5491,"date":"2026-05-09T06:57:02","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T04:57:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/?p=5491"},"modified":"2026-05-09T06:57:02","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T04:57:02","slug":"sa-hockey-ipt-2026-finals-bound-and-relegation-heartbreak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/09\/sa-hockey-ipt-2026-finals-bound-and-relegation-heartbreak\/","title":{"rendered":"SA Hockey IPT 2026 | Finals Bound and Relegation Heartbreak"},"content":{"rendered":"

The penultimate day of the South African Hockey IPT delivered everything expected of finals weekend. Dramatic shootouts, dominant displays, heartbreak and relief all unfolded as the finalists were confirmed and the relegation battle reached its conclusion.<\/span><\/p>\n

Header Image: Marcel Sigg<\/em><\/p>\n

In the first women\u2019s semi-final Southern Gauteng and Western Province produced a pulsating contest that kept spectators on the edge of their seats throughout. Western Province struck first through Rebecca <\/span>Kaps<\/span> to take the lead into half-time, but Bianca Wood hauled Southern Gauteng level in the final quarter to send the match to a shootout.<\/span><\/p>\n

Western Province looked in complete control when they raced into a 2-0 lead in the shootout, but <\/span>Southerns<\/span> clawed their way back to force sudden death. <\/span>Tamlyn<\/span> Kock and Morgan de Jager held their nerve as Southern Gauteng completed a remarkable comeback to eliminate the defending champions and book their place in the final.<\/span><\/p>\n

The second semi-final saw <\/span>Northerns<\/span> Blues and North West battle fiercely for control early on, but it was the Pretoria side who settled quickest. Ntsopa Mokoena broke the deadlock with a powerful finish before Baylee <\/span>Engelke<\/span> doubled the advantage in the third quarter. North West threw everything forward in response but could not find a way through as <\/span>Northerns<\/span> secured their place in the gold medal match.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the women\u2019s relegation games, Cerian Fourie starred with a hat-trick while Tatum <\/span>Kroutz<\/span>added a brace in a commanding 5-1 victory for KZN Raiders over Eastern Province. <\/span>Thandile<\/span>Deyi<\/span> grabbed the consolation for EP, but the result confirmed Eastern Province\u2019s relegation to the B Section in 2027 while the Raiders secured survival.<\/span><\/p>\n

WP Peninsula also retained their A Section status after a strong final quarter display against Free State. <\/span>Khanyisile<\/span> Gusha<\/span> struck twice either side of an Isabella <\/span>Booysen<\/span> goal to seal a 3-0 victory.<\/span><\/p>\n

Women\u2019s Final Day Fixtures<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 <\/span>7th Place Playoff \u2013 09:00 \u2013 Free State vs Eastern Province <\/span><\/div>\n
\u2022 <\/span>5th Place Playoff \u2013 09:00 \u2013 WP Peninsula vs KZN Raiders <\/span><\/div>\n
\u2022 <\/span>Bronze Medal Match \u2013 13:00 \u2013 Western Province vs North West <\/span><\/div>\n
\u2022 <\/span>Final \u2013 17:15 \u2013 Southern Gauteng vs <\/span>Northerns<\/span> Blues <\/span><\/div>\n

In the men\u2019s competition the defending champions Western Province delivered a ruthless performance in a repeat of the 2025 final against WP Peninsula. Niel <\/span>Raath<\/span> and Carlon <\/span>Mentoor<\/span> both scored hat-tricks while Brett Horn and Reuben <\/span>Sendzul<\/span> added further goals in an emphatic victory. Liam Sorensen netted a late consolation for Peninsula.<\/span><\/p>\n

The second semi-final between Southern Gauteng and KZN Raiders was far tighter, with the breakthrough only arriving shortly before half-time when Marvin Simons produced a clinical finish to hand <\/span>Southerns<\/span> the lead.<\/span> In the second half a brilliantly dinked finish by Cameron le Forestier doubled the lead. <\/span>Lumi<\/span> Matwele<\/span> breathed life into the game with a brilliant reverse <\/span>stick strike to half the deficit<\/span>. <\/span>Southerns<\/span> had a late goal disallowed<\/span> but held on for the win and a place in the final. <\/span><\/p>\n

Earlier in the relegation battle <\/span>Northerns<\/span> Blues came from behind to preserve their A Section status with a dramatic 3-2 victory over Eastern Province. <\/span>Luken<\/span> Brunette opened the scoring before EP turned the game on its head in a devastating 60-second spell through Xander Elkington and Kian Cambier. The Blues responded brilliantly as Taine Tanner-Ellis levelled matters before <\/span>Ruard<\/span> Booysen<\/span> scored the decisive goal to secure survival.<\/span><\/p>\n

Free State also confirmed their place in the A Section for 2027 with a 5-2 victory over SG <\/span>Witsies<\/span>. Ross Breytenbach and <\/span>Melrick<\/span> Maddocks both scored braces while Kaden Henderson added another. Neil van <\/span>Onselen<\/span> and <\/span>Keanan<\/span> Wax replied for <\/span>Witsies<\/span>, who now drop to the B Section.<\/span><\/p>\n

Men\u2019s Final Day Fixtures<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 <\/span>7th Place Playoff \u2013 11:00 \u2013 SG <\/span>Witsies<\/span> vs Eastern Province <\/span><\/div>\n
\u2022 <\/span>5th Place Playoff \u2013 15:00 \u2013 <\/span>Northerns<\/span> Blues vs Free State <\/span><\/div>\n
\u2022 <\/span>Bronze Medal Match \u2013 11:00 \u2013 WP Peninsula vs KZN Raiders <\/span><\/div>\n
\u2022 <\/span>Final \u2013 19:15 \u2013 Southern Gauteng vs Western Province <\/span><\/div>\n

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The penultimate day of the South African Hockey IPT delivered everything expected of finals weekend. Dramatic shootouts, dominant displays, heartbreak and relief all unfolded as Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5492,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[117],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5491","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\/5491","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=5491"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5491\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5493,"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5491\/revisions\/5493"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}