We didn’t come this far to only come this far - Bianca Wood

The Johannesburg-based team beat Northern Blues 2-0 in the women's final on Saturday evening at a packed UJ Hockey Astro.

Wood did not only win the tournament with her team but also walked away with the top goalscorer award. The goal scored in the final took her tally to six goals after the conclusion of the tournament.

Speaking to SABC Sport, Wood says the Southern Gauteng side worked hard to reach the finals.

“I don’t think there are words to describe how we actually feel about this game. All I’m going to say is well done Southerns, well deserved. We fought hard to come this far. We didn’t come this far to only come this far. We came all the way to get the gold and we did,” said Wood

It was a tense match as the score was 0-0 at half-time it took a brilliant strike from the South African International to break the deadlock in the final chukker. Wood says as a striker she has one goal.

“All I’m going to say is I am a striker and I have one job and it’s to put the ball in the back of the net and that’s all I can do.”

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Southerns head coach Louise de Jager had this to say after the game.

“I think my team came out and executed the game plan and stuck to it. We have been growing in belief as the week went in terms of what our actual potential as a team is. I think tonight what we did is we stepped into that potential. Lastly, we capitalised on our opportunities and I think we took our chances and that was the difference in the end.”

She added that it would be difficult to single out a player from her team who deserves to be named in the South African women's team that will go represent the country at the FIH World Cup in August in Netherlands and Belgium.

Photo Credit: Marcel Sigg