{"id":56374,"date":"2024-09-04T12:23:35","date_gmt":"2024-09-04T10:23:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=56374"},"modified":"2024-09-04T12:23:35","modified_gmt":"2024-09-04T10:23:35","slug":"dale-college-hockey-optimistic-after-their-1st-xi-turns-the-tide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=56374","title":{"rendered":"Dale College hockey optimistic after their 1st XI turns the tide"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The
The Dale College first team after ending their season with a 1-0 win over Queen’s College in Qonce. Photo: Scott Geer (Scotty Photography)<\/a><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dale College<\/strong> is known for its famous rugby programme, which has, over the years, produced, among others, Springboks’ Keegan Daniel<\/strong>, Gcobani Bobo<\/strong>, and recently, Aphelele Fassi<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

It’s a programme that attracts plenty of talent from the Border region. And while rugby is the headline grabber, Dale’s hockey programme is on the up, having made impressive strides in 2024.<\/p>\n

After a difficult 2023, the Dale 1st XI showed grit, passion, and a deep desire to win in 2024. While the results didn’t always go their way, the effort was never lacking.<\/p>\n

There was a new look to the school’s coaching ranks at the beginning of the season. Junior Mqingwana<\/strong> assumed the role of head coach, assisted by\u00a0 Nazo Mlakalaka<\/strong>\u00a0and Mvume Mqingwana,<\/strong> with Sibulele Zingitwa <\/strong>doing duty as the team’s manager.<\/p>\n

There was plenty of work to be done after a nightmarish 2023 campaign during which Dale was uncompetitive, which led to concerns about the future of the school’s hockey programme.<\/p>\n

That made the goal for the year a simple one: to create an element of competitiveness within the team and to get hockey enthusiasts around the province talking about Dale College once again.<\/p>\n

There were positive signs from the start of the season, with Dale producing some strong and promising results at the Tony Godding Festival<\/a><\/strong> in East London. There, Mqingwana and his troops remained undefeated, beating Voortrekker Bethlehem<\/strong> 4-0, Westering<\/strong> High<\/strong> 2-0, and Linden<\/strong> 5-0, before playing to a 1-1 draw with Curro Waterstone<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

If Dale was serious about rebuilding their hockey programme, they would have to test themselves against some of the country’s leading teams, and that challenge awaited them at the Founders Festival<\/a> <\/strong>at Kearsney College<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The record shows that the Eastern Cape side went down to Kearsney, Rondebosch Boys’ High<\/strong>, Affies<\/strong>, and Parktown<\/strong> before battling their way to a 1-1 draw with Northwood<\/strong>. Despite those defeats, the fight was there, a spirit to keep pressing and working, no matter the score. Over the course of the season, Mqingwana’s boys would have to tap into that well to stay the course.<\/p>\n

Back home, in Qonce, Dale produced mixed results during the Eastern Cape season. There was a big loss to Grey High School<\/strong>, who powered to a 9-0 victory away from home, but the fire still burned inside for Dale, and their never-say-die attitude was rewarded in their very next outing against their old foes, Queen’s College<\/strong>. Despite playing away from home, Dale hung a 3-2 defeat on Queen’<\/a><\/strong>s at their rivals’ reunion in Komani.<\/p>\n

The weeks that followed produced some tougher sledding for Mqingwana and his men. They were subjected to a heavy defeat by Selborne College<\/a> <\/strong>and a series of narrow losses followed, against St Andrew’s College<\/strong>, Cambridge High<\/strong>, Stirling<\/strong>, and Hudson Park<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

In each of those contests, the Qonce crew was not far off of achieving a win, but a few lapses of concentration and a lack of accuracy in front of goal proved costly. They were, however, competitive, which was a far cry from the tribulations of the previous season.<\/p>\n

Despite those setbacks, Dale ended their season trending in the right direction again, scoring a 5-3 win against Merrifield College<\/strong>, which they followed with a comfortable 3-0 defeat of Graeme College<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Then, in their final match of the season, Dale hosted Queen’s in the Pink Day derby and secured a hard-fought 1-0 win to end the year by completing the double over their great rivals.<\/p>\n

\"Dale
Dale College head coach, Junior Mqingwana on the final day of the season. Photo: Scott Geer (Scotty Photography)<\/a><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“The whole season was about getting the boys to believe in the structures that we’ve put in place,” Mqingwana told SuperSport Schools Plus<\/strong> as he reflected on the his team’s 2024 campaign.<\/p>\n

“We had to get them back into the mindset of winning games and I feel that we’ve achieved that. We’re winning the big games now. It’s just the small games that we need to target.<\/p>\n

“I feel we were unlucky against Kingswood, Cambridge, Stirling, and Hudson; those matches are probably our only unticked boxes this season.”<\/p>\n

In 2025, Dale will welcome back the majority of their 1st XI. Mqingwana believes the group will be ready to take the next step.<\/p>\n

“Next year, we’ll have a similar team, and most of the players have had experience from this season,” he said.<\/p>\n

“It’s going to be challenging at times, but it should be a good season where we continue to build, and pick up from where we left off.”<\/p>\n

Dale College in 2024<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tony Godding Festival<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dale 4-0 Bethlehem Voortrekker
\nDale 5-0 Linden
\nDale 2-0 Westering
\nDale 1-1 Curro Waterstone<\/p>\n

Founders Festival<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dale 0-5 Kearsney
\nDale 0-2 Rondebosch Boys’ High
\nDale 1-2 Affies
\nDale 0-6 Parktown Boys’ High
\nDale 1-1 Northwood<\/p>\n

Season
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dale 0-9 Grey High
\nDale 3-2 Queen’s College
\nDale 1-10 Selborne College
\nDale 1-2 St Andrew’s College
\nDale 0-3 Cambridge High
\nDale 2-3 Stirling High
\nDale 1-3 Hudson Park
\nDale 0-7 Selborne College
\nDale 0-1 Kingswood College
\nDale 5-3 Merrifield College
\nDale 3-0 Graeme College
\nDale 1-0 Queen’s College<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dale College is known for its famous rugby programme, which has, over the years, produced, among others, Springboks’ Keegan Daniel, Gcobani Bobo, and recently, Aphelele Fassi. It’s a programme that attracts plenty of talent from the Border region. And while rugby is the headline grabber, Dale’s hockey programme is on the up, having made impressive […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":56387,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-56374","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\/56374","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=56374"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56374\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=56374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=56374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=56374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}