Southern Gauteng Shoot to Top

The Raiders put on a spirited display, but were ultimately outclassed by a superior Southerns outfit, where the experience of national captain Marsha Marescia and veteran Lindsay Wright (nee Carlisle) came to the fore.

 It’s clear that the team which hails from Johannesburg are going to be a force to be reckoned with and the only side that will challenge champions Western Province.

 Leading 1-0 at the interval Southerns continued to dictate play in the second stanza. Anika Fisher and Nita van Jaarsveld converted field goals to give Southerns a comfortable win in the end.

 Both goals were soft and characterised by poor options taken on defence by the Raiders. In the first half Southerns dominated proceedings as they camped in the Raiders half.

 After continuously battering away at the coastal provinces goals, they finally breached the final line of defence when Wright struck from a rebounded penalty corner.

 Raiders’ goal minder Alana Richardson had done well initially to parry the shot away, but the ball fell kindly for the former South African captain to sweetly strike it home in the circle.

 Raiders coach Brendon Carolan admitted that the result wasn’t ideal and that it would take colossal effort to down Province, who KZN play later today. “You’re never happy to lose,” said Carolan.

 “But, you’ve got to be realistic and this was a tough game first up. I thought defensively in field play we contained Southerns, but we let in some soft goals. We also want to create more scoring opportunities and that is going to be our main aim against Province,” he added.

 In an earlier fixture the KZN Midlands held out for a wafer-thin 2-1 win over the newly promoted Eastern Province.

 Midlands had been in a commanding two goal lead, courtesy of strikes from Linda McGregor and Michelle Henwood, while Carey-Lee Raggaval netted for the girls from the bay.