Eden wins 14th Country Districts title

GARDEN ROUTE NEWS - Over the years, Eden has been a district whose name has become synonymous with success at the men's South African Country Districts (SACD) tournament.

This year proved no different as Eden secured their 14th SACD title, with three players named in the representative SACD side.

The ladies team finished as runners-up at their SACD tournament and had four players selected for the SACD team. The men's and ladies tournaments were held earlier this month in White River and Middelburg, respectively, with Mpumalanga the host of both tournaments this year.

So close for the ladies

The ladies were up first, from 2 to 8 July. Seeking their third straight SACD triumph, Eden's ladies had a very new side this year with eight SACD debutants in their ranks.

They had a rocky start to their week, losing their first two matches before drawing the third, leaving them with a serious uphill climb if they were to qualify for semi-finals.

A tough win over Mpumalanga Highveld followed by a resounding win against KZN Inland saw them just edge into the semi-finals on goal difference. A tense semi-final battle with Northern Gauteng followed and after matters finished 1-1 in regular time, Eden triumphed 4-1 in the eight-second shootout to progress to the final. There they'd have to face a Limpopo outfit firing on all cylinders in order to secure a hat trick of SACD titles.

Unfortunately for Eden, the Limpopo ladies proved to be too strong and took home gold with a 2-0 victory. Regardless of the final outcome, Eden's ladies put in a mammoth performance through the tournament and were justly rewarded.

Four were chosen for the SACD side that will compete in the Senior Women's Inter-provincial Tournament (IPT) later this year.

These ladies are Marie-Louise Nel, who was also the Goalkeeper of the Tournament, René Pitt, Aimee Cronje and Alakhe Arosi. Samantha Brender-A-Brandis was named as a non-travelling reserve.

The triumphant Eden men's side after their final.

The Eden ladies team which finished second this year. Photo: Afripix

Men's success

Much like the ladies side, Eden's men were fairly green in the gills this year with six debutants in the squad that travelled to White River for their tournament from 9 to 15 July.

Things got off to a much better start for Eden's men and they won their first four matches with a combined goal difference of +24. Their first test came in the fifth and final pool game when they faced hosts Mpumalanga in a clash for top spot in the pool that ended 2-2.

Eden qualified for the semi-finals as top of the pool and dispatched Limpopo 6-0 to reach the final. They were to face Mpumalanga once more in the final, a match that promised to be a thriller. It lived up to the hype as the top two sides of the week served up a final for the ages.

Mpumalanga took the lead in the eighth minute before Eden's Liam Garrett equalised in the 21st minute. Mpumalanga went ahead once more in the 37th minute, but Eden fought back yet again and Robbie Corker levelled matters at the 47-minute mark. The goal set up a tense finish to the contest, and it went right down to the final play.

Eden won a penalty corner with less than a minute to play, and with seconds to spare before the final buzzer, Sean Slater slotted home the winning goal to hand Eden a 3-2 win. This gave Eden their 14th overall SACD title and the second in a row.

Eden vice-captain John Spilhaus, who captained five of the seven games following an injury to captain Kirk Mendoza, was in red-hot form, scoring 12 goals to finish as the Joint-Leading Goal Scorer of the Tournament.

Slater likewise was in fine form and was named the Young Player of the Tournament. Slater was further selected for the SACD men's team, alongside compatriots Scott Mosterd and Gertian van der Linde.

Gertian van der Linde was one of three Eden players to make the SACDs side.