On Wednesday afternoon, 8 March, Union hosted Gqeberhaโs Hoรซrskool Pearson High School for a ๐ ๐๐-๐ช๐๐๐ ๐๐ข๐๐๐๐ฌ ๐๐๐ซ๐ง๐จ๐ฅ๐.
The encounter saw Union’s 1st team girls having to exert a relentless effort from the very first push-back to the final whistle against a highly polished Pearson outfit.
Facing immense pressure from the Pearson side throughout the match, ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐๐ง๐ก๐จ ๐ง๐๐ข๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐ก๐ค๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ฃ ๐ค๐ฃ ๐๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐, ๐ฉ๐ค๐๐ก๐๐ ๐๐๐ง๐ ๐ค๐ฃ ๐ค๐๐๐๐ฃ๐จ๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐๐๐๐ง ๐จ๐๐ค๐ช๐ก๐๐๐ง๐จ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐จ ๐๐๐๐.
Despite their best efforts, however, outstanding teamwork by Pearson saw Union suffering a 4-1 defeat.
๐๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐จ๐ช๐ณ๐ญ๐ด!
Armed with lessons learnt from this encounter against one of SA’s top 10 hockey teams, the girls are keen as mustard to travel to Gqeberha this weekend, where they will compete at the EP hockey trials.
The 1st team match was preceded by an ๐จ/๐ญ๐ฐ๐ and an ๐จ/๐ญ๐ฒ๐ ๐ ๐๐ง๐๐.
From the opening whistle, it was clear that the Pearson sides didnโt travel all the way to Graaff-Reinet for anything less than a win.
They fought hard and played with heart, and in the end, they emerged victorious in both matches.
It was encouraging, however, to witness the potential of our u/14 and u/16 players. The respective encounters against Pearson armed them with valuable match experience early on in the season and, having witnessed some inspired moments of play by the Union girls, we look forward to seeing how these two sides will develop throughout the season.
๐๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ช๐ฑ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ!