{"id":42418,"date":"2024-04-20T20:23:42","date_gmt":"2024-04-20T18:23:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=42418"},"modified":"2024-04-20T20:23:42","modified_gmt":"2024-04-20T18:23:42","slug":"at-last-dhs-wins-at-maritzburg-college-michaelhouse-and-northwood-draw","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=42418","title":{"rendered":"At last, DHS wins at Maritzburg College, Michaelhouse and Northwood draw"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"DHS
DHS had to withstand a strong challenge from Maritzburg College before bagging a first ever win on Pape’s Astro.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Durban High School<\/strong> produced one of the weekend’s top performances as they chalked up their first win on Maritzburg College’s<\/strong> hallowed Pape’s Astro<\/strong> on Saturday. It was a high-quality, entertaining clash.<\/p>\n

Keegan Hezlett\u2019s<\/strong> charges delivered an exhibition of good hockey, giving as good as they got from their hosts in very hot and humid conditions.<\/p>\n

College hit the front first when Julian Konigkramer<\/strong> reacted quickly and snapped off a powerful shot into the DHS backboard after a scramble in the circle. It had been back-and-forth up to that point, with both sides posing questions of the other.<\/p>\n

Through the first three chukkas, DHS played with bursts of intensity that had the potential to wrestle the game away from their opposition, but they never quite put it all together. However, they found a reply to Konigkramer\u2019s opener when Lethabo Mathebela<\/strong> found the back of the net in the second chukka.<\/p>\n

Then, with seconds remaining in the half, Josh Mungherera<\/strong> fired DHS into the lead.<\/p>\n

That lead, however, lulled the visitors into cruise control. College coach Kyle Emerson<\/strong>‘s boys took advantage of the reduced pressure and, when Lethabo Bogacwi<\/strong> was sent off for 10 minutes in the third chukka. they seized control.<\/p>\n

Once more it was Konigkramer who applied the pressure and latched onto an opportunity to level for College.<\/p>\n

However, Hezlett\u2019s DHS team wasn\u2019t prepared to walk away from the match with a draw. Their drive to leave Maritzburg College with full points fuelled another burst of intensity. They took the game to College in the fourth chukka, dominating possession and territory, and the hosts found themselves defending, while DHS did all the attacking.<\/p>\n

Pressing hard, DHS forced several penalty corners.<\/p>\n

Bogacwi atoned for the earlier misbehaviour that landed him in the sin bin, during which time College equalised, by slotting a third for the Horseflies<\/strong>. This time, though, DHS kept up the intensity.<\/p>\n

It was only with a few minutes remaining that they started to watch the clock after an outstanding Sitchaba Siyoyo<\/strong> goal secured the win. He beat goalkeeper Nic Holmes with a cracking reverse stick shot from a narrow angle, wide on the left, to provide a worthy match-winner.<\/p>\n

\"DHS
DHS celebrated joyously after Sitchaba Siyoyo’s stunning match-winner clinched a 4-2 victory.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The DHS-College contest was the second high-octane match in the KZN region in two days. On Friday night, Michaelhouse<\/strong> and Northwood<\/strong> shared the spoils in a fiercely contested game that ended in a 1-1 draw.<\/p>\n

When Michaelhouse offered Nick B\u00e9richon<\/strong>, a KZN native, an opportunity to return to the province, he jumped at the opportunity.<\/p>\n

There was no regret on his part in leaving Garsfontein<\/strong> after a very successful five-year stint up north. The Pretoria side was in good hands under Steve Paulo’s <\/strong>guidance.<\/strong> Michaelhouse’s decision to engage B\u00e9richon was driven by a desire to improve their quality of hockey.<\/p>\n

The institute enjoys a strong hockey tradition that dates back to 1928, the year the sport was introduced by WC Hannah.<\/strong> However, they had not performed to their potential in the past few seasons. Northwood, whom they went up against on Friday night, had the wood over them, with coach Justin Collins’ <\/strong>sides dominated their previous meetings.<\/p>\n

B\u00e9richon’s revival of Michaelhouse’s hockey programme is built around a structured approach to the game, which is uncomplicated, aggressive and attacking, and rooted in basic principles. And that is how they started against Northwood.<\/p>\n

“I thought we were dominant in terms of possession, but we weren’t clinical enough leading up to the circle,” B\u00e9richon summed up.<\/p>\n

Despite their shortcomings in the final third, it was a vast improvement from the hockey they played when B\u00e9richon took over. In January they were disjointed, but against Northwood they strung passes together and opened up spaces. However, they trailed for most of the match because of their failure to finish.<\/p>\n

‘House was unrelenting, however, launching wave upon wave of attack as time ticked down. Their persistence finally paid off just two minutes from the end when they snaffled an equaliser and a share of the spoils.<\/p>\n

Results<\/strong><\/p>\n

Michaelhouse 1-1 Northwood, Maritzburg College 2-4 DHS.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Durban High School produced one of the weekend’s top performances as they chalked up their first win on Maritzburg College’s hallowed Pape’s Astro on Saturday. It was a high-quality, entertaining clash. Keegan Hezlett\u2019s charges delivered an exhibition of good hockey, giving as good as they got from their hosts in very hot and humid conditions. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":42463,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42418","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=42418"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42418\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=42418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=42418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=42418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}