{"id":47682,"date":"2024-06-04T13:23:40","date_gmt":"2024-06-04T11:23:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=47682"},"modified":"2024-06-04T13:23:40","modified_gmt":"2024-06-04T11:23:40","slug":"stirling-to-face-selborne-college-head-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=47682","title":{"rendered":"Stirling to face Selborne College head-on"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Stirling
Stirling High School forward, Hisharm Pillay on the charge for his side. Photo: Stirling High School<\/strong>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In their final match of the second term, Stirling High School<\/strong> makes a short trip to Selborne College,<\/strong> fully aware that they have nothing to lose when the sides take to the field.<\/p>\n

Action in the clash on the Selborne AstroTurf starts at 17:00.<\/p>\n

Catch the action LIVE<\/strong> on SuperSport Schools<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

It has been a season of contrasting fortunes and focusses for the teams. For Stirling, it has been about building, staying competitive, and punching above their weight. For Selborne, it has been a phenomenal season, and they have lost only once at home, going down 2-5 to Grey College<\/strong> in April.<\/p>\n

Last weekend, Stirling hosted Hudson Park <\/strong>and went down to a narrow 2-3 defeat. Selborne<\/strong>, meanwhile, visited Makhanda, where they played to a 1-1 draw against a gritty St Andrew’s College<\/strong> side.<\/p>\n

The task of taking on one of the top schools in the country will be a big challenge for coach Brett Stirk<\/strong> and his Stirling troops.<\/p>\n

They will, however, take confidence from the first half of the season, during which they’ve delivered satisfactory results.<\/p>\n

After finishing in 24th<\/sup> place (out of 40 teams) at the Belgotex Sport Easter Hockey Festival<\/a><\/strong>, Stirling kicked off term two with a clash against Queen’s College at home.<\/p>\n

Many expected Queen’s to enjoy a field day, but Stirling, after trailing 0-2, fought back and scored twice through Hisharm Pillay<\/strong> to rescue a 2-2 draw.<\/p>\n

The week after that, they went 1-4 down against Gqeberha’s Pearson,<\/strong> but they recovered from that setback to record successive 2-2 draws against Kingswood College<\/strong> and Merrifield College<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

They, then, found success against Cambridge High School<\/strong>, beating them 2-0, before going down to Hudson Park last time out.<\/p>\n

\"Photo
Photo: Stirling High School<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“So far this season, we have been competitive in all of our games,” coach Stirk told SuperSport Schools Plus<\/strong>, ahead of the Selborne clash.<\/p>\n

“Pre-season festivals and tournaments allowed us to work with a squad to be ready for the season.<\/p>\n

“I’m quite happy with the progress of the team. They are playing a better style of hockey and improving all the time.”<\/p>\n

Queen\u2019s College<\/strong> is the only team in the Border region that’s come close to causing an upset against coach KJ Friend’<\/strong>s Selborne side. In April, the side from Komani produced a spirited performance to secure a 1-1 draw.<\/p>\n

Since then, Selborne has emphatically brushed aside the challenges of other Border schools, thumping Dale College<\/strong> 10-1 and Cambridge High<\/strong> 6-0.<\/p>\n

Stirling would dearly like to rewrite that script. If they did, it would be one of the upsets of the season.<\/p>\n

“We have been in some tough battles this term. We have often gone a goal behind and had to fight our way back into the game,” Stirk said, reflecting on his side’s matches.<\/p>\n

“I’m hoping these tough games have prepared my team to bring the fight again on Friday night.<\/p>\n

“Selborne often gets the cream of the crop in the East London area. So, it’s an opportunity for my team to cause an upset.”<\/p>\n

Stirling is led by Sam Williams,<\/strong> who plays in the centre of our defence. Meanwhile,\u00a0Josh Williams<\/strong> (not related to Sam) has been identified as a “very influential” player in the midfield.<\/p>\n

Hisharm Pillay,<\/strong> up front, has been in sublime form, scoring many of Stirling’s goals this season. Both Williams<\/strong> (Josh) and Pillay<\/strong> will represent the Border u18A team at the SASHOC National Week<\/a> in Bloemfontein.<\/p>\n

Other matches<\/strong><\/p>\n

After getting back to winning ways, with a 2-0 victory over Graeme College<\/strong> last weekend, Dale College<\/strong> welcomes Kingswood College<\/strong> to Qonce on Friday.<\/p>\n

St Andrew’s College enjoys home ground advantage against Queen’s College<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the clash between Pearson High and Woodridge College<\/strong>, which was scheduled to be played this past Friday, was called off because of severe rainfall. It will now take place this Friday.<\/p>\n

FIXTURES<\/strong><\/p>\n

16:00 – Dale vs Kingswood College
\n17:00 – Selborne College vs Stirling High School
\n18:15 – Pearson High vs Woodridge College
\nTBC -Graeme College vs Port Alfred
\nTBC -St Andrew’s College vs Queen’s College<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In their final match of the second term, Stirling High School makes a short trip to Selborne College, fully aware that they have nothing to lose when the sides take to the field. Action in the clash on the Selborne AstroTurf starts at 17:00. Catch the action LIVE on SuperSport Schools. It has been a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":47683,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47682","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\/47682","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\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=47682"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47682\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=47682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=47682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=47682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}