Die kwarteindronde van die NWU Sportreeks het nogmaals opwindende netbal opgelewer, met talle spanne wat hul staal getoon het op die baan.
In die o.14-afdeling het Marais Viljoen indrukwekkend presteer met ‘n oorwinning van 25-12 oor Bergsig. Montana het ‘n naelbytstryd gewen teen Potch Volkies (15-11), terwyl Heidelberg Volkies vir Jeugland met 19-13 uitgestof het. Pietersburg Hoërskool het stewig vertoon met ‘n sege van 18-7 oor Lichtenburg. Marais Viljoen en PHS het ongetwyfeld as die voorste spanne in hierdie groep uitgestaan.
In die o.15-kategorie het PHS welverdiend geseëvier teen Marais Viljoen (20-13), terwyl Montana hul goeie spelpeil gehandhaaf het om Heidelberg Volkies met 22-17 te troef. Potch Volkies se vasberadenheid het uitgestaan in hul sege van 18-8 oor Lichtenburg, en Bergsig het die botoon gevoer teen Jeugland (23-16). Bergsig se strategiese spel en PHS se oorheersing was noemenswaardig in hierdie ouderdomsgroep.
Wat die o.16’s betref, het Potch Volkies ‘n kragtige vertoning gelewer teen Marais Viljoen om met 28-18 te seëvier, terwyl PHS hulself onderskei het as sterk aanspraakmakers met ‘n wegholsege van 35-7 oor Jeugland. Heidelberg Volkies het uitgeblink met ‘n oorwinning van 27-13 oor Lichtenburg, en Bergsig het momentum behou om Montana met 21-17 te troef. PHS en Potch Volkies lyk na gunstelinge om die eindstryd te haal.
Die o.17-afdeling het klipharde kragmetings opgelewer, met Heidelberg Volkies wat net-net met 27-26 die knoop deurgehak het teen Montana. Marais Viljoen het ‘n oortuigende sege van 37-17 oor PHS behaal, terwyl Bergsig hul uitstekende spelpeil voortgesit het teen Lichtenburg (28-16). Potch Volkies het geswoeg en sweet, maar uiteindelik met 16-14 die paal gehaal teen Jeugland. Heidelberg Volkies se veggees en Marais Viljoen se aanvallende strategie was van die hoogtepunte.
In die o.19-afdeling het die kwarteindronde ‘n klimaks bereik, met Heidelberg Volkies wat ‘n naelbytstryd teen Marais Viljoen gewen het (24-22). Montana se ervaring het deurgekom in hul sege van 35-32 oor PHS, terwyl Potch Volkies ‘n indrukwekkende oorwinning van 28-20 oor Lichtenburg behaal het. Bergsig het hul plek in die volgende ronde verseker deur vir Jeugland met 28-20 te verslaan. Heidelberg Volkies en Montana het as topkandidate na vore getree met hul vasberadenheid teen sterk teenstand.
Eunice recorded four victories in five matches at the Synsport Greg Beling Festival. Photo: Shot by Shani Photography
A comprehensive 7-2 victory for Eunice High School over Middelburg Hoërskool and a nervy 1-0 win for Oranje Meisieskool over Hudson Park brought the curtain down on the 2025 Synsport Greg Beling Festival in East London on Sunday.
After three days of intense, entertaining, and high-quality hockey, both Bloemfontein teams returned home with four wins each from five matches.
The festival’s final day offered both teams a chance to finish strongly and to build confidence ahead of the St Mary’s Waverley Hockey Festival next month.
Coach Nika Coertzen’s Eunice side was the first to run out on the park against Middelburg Hoërskool. They played clinical hockey and were rewarded with some top-class goals.
Bianca Rees-Gibbs, who netted twice against Rhenish, was back on the scoring sheet, and this time she scored a whopping four goals on her 150th appearance for the side.
The deadly Anebel Venter also joined the scoring action before goals from Iliana de Gouveia and Storm Harris completed the drubbing.
While Eunice dominated their fixture, their city rivals, Oranje, were almost dealt a massive blow by a gritty Hudson Park team.
Coach Gys van Schalkwyk‘s side was far from their best and entered the match on the back of a 1-1 draw with St Anne’s DSG on Saturday night.
They managed just one goal, scored by Camilyn Parkin early in the first chukka. Thankfully, for the Bloemfontein girls, it proved to be enough. They found themselves stymied by Hudson’s goalkeeper, Mbali Khumalo, who pulled off a series of spectacular saves to keep her side in the contest.
Hudson could’ve sprung a surprise, but a lack of go-forward ball allowed Oranje to hold on for the win.
Collegiate Girls’ High were made to work for their 3-2 win over Parel Vallei on day three of the Synsport Greg Beling Festival in East London. Photo: Shot by Shani Photography
In other matches on the final day, Collegiate Girls’ High defeated Parel Vallei 3-2 in a thrilling match to finish the festival unbeaten.
Coach Michael Abrahams’ team had picked up wins against Middelburg Hoërskool and Bethlehem Voortrekker the day before.
Sunday’s clash was tightly contested, but Collegiate fired in the winning goal in the final chukka and they head back to Gqeberha in a positive mind frame as they prepare for the challenges that lie ahead.
One of the host schools, Clarendon High School for Girls, signed off with a solid 3-0 win over Woodridge College.
Earlier in the day, Hoërskool Sasolburg, who enjoyed a strong festival, outplayed Cradock High 12-0.
It was a commanding victory for coach Jacolene McLaren’s side and was inspired by goals from Tayla-Ann Lee (5), Lezey Bischoff (3), Catlin Erwee (3), and skipper Chana-Dee Gibson.
Voortrekker also won, netting the only goal of the game against Stirling High, while Queenstown Girls’ High beat Glenwood House 2-1.
Merrifield College, guided by coach Antonet Louw, defeated Kingswood College 1-0 to send the Makhanda school packing without a single victory.
Meanwhile, their town rivals, DSG Makhanda, defeated St Anne’s DSG 3-2 in their final match of the festival.
Grey College’s all-conquering Tony Godding Festival team. Photo: Grey College.
The Grey College hockey team enjoyed a successful Synsport Tony Godding Festival campaign in East London, completing the four-day event with an unbeaten record under the leadership of coach Dallan Phillips after a sound 5-0 win over Hudson Park on Sunday.
Grey High joined their Bloemfontein brother school as the only other side to emerge from the early season event with a clean record.
“The boys started the festival a bit slowly but grew stronger as the event progressed. As a group, we’re pleased with the progress we’ve made, especially in terms of our team build-up play,” Phillips told SuperSport Schools Plus after his team’s last game.
Besides beating Hudson Park, the Bloemfontein boys also recorded wins over Pearson, St Andrew’s College, and Queen’s College. They tallied 16 goals, with Waldo Konig‘s four leading the Grey College goal scorers. Phillips’ charges also conceded four goals, which came in their first two matches.
“Now, we shift our focus back to Bloemfontein, where we will work on sharpening our defensive discipline and improving our one-v-one defence ahead of the Nomads tournament in Johannesburg next weekend,” Phillips said.
Grey High wrapped up their campaign on Saturday. They beat Cambridge High, Jim Fouché, Hudson Park, and St Andrew’s School. Their biggest test came in a 1-0 win over Saints on Saturday morning.
“The game was played in some tough conditions. It was also our fourth game of the festival and only their second, so physically quite tough on us, but we coped,” Andrew Beynon, the Grey High coach, shared with Supersport Schools Plus after the game. “It was good to get a positive result, but we need to be more consistent in phases.”
While there was work to do, the gaffer stressed the need for patience. “We understand that with nine boys making their Tony Godding debuts, we are in a transitional period, and so we need to be patient and supportive as a coaching staff,” he explained.
Despite their inexperience, Beynon’s charges acquitted themselves well, scoring 13 goals and conceding only one.
Dale College stumbled in their first outing at the event, going down 3-6 against Middelburg Hoërskool. They responded well to that setback, though, and bounced back with three consecutive victories over Westering, Alexander Road, and Curro Waterstone. They got better as the festival progressed and registered the highest margin of victory with a 10-0 hammering of Curro Waterstone.
St Andrew’s College also finished on a high note, with a 4-1 win over St Andrew’s School. Selborne College completed their schedule with a 3-2 win over, while Jim Fouché, who endured a mixed run of results, ended with a convincing 4-1 defeat of Westering in their last appearance.
RESULTS
Hudson Park 0-5 Grey College
Framesby 1-2 Sasolburg
Cambridge 2-0 Duineveld
St Andrew’s College 4-1 St Andrew’s School
Selborne College 3-2 Middelburg Hoërskool
Westering 1-4 Jim Fouché
Merrifield 0-2 Kingswood
Dale College 10-0 Curro Waterstone
Cambridge 2-2 Witteberg
Queen’s College 1-1 Woodridge
Stirling 5-2 Alexander Road
Hilton College’s first team in a huddle after their 4-0 win over Westville last week. Photo: Hilton College.
Hilton College and Durban High School (DHS) recorded superb victories away from home on Saturday afternoon. Hilton delivered an outstanding performance in a 2-0 victory over Kearsney College at Kearsney, while DHS defeated their hosts, Michaelhouse, 4-1.
Tadi Hove continued his goal-scoring form for Hilton College as he fired them to victory on the AH Mason Astro, where not many visitors come away with wins.
Hove was one of the scorers in Hilton’s 4-0 win over Westville Boys’ High last week. On Saturday, he took his tally to three goals in two games, striking twice in the space of three minutes shortly before the halftime break.
The teams traded jabs through the first 26 minutes of play before Hove deflected a shot from one of his teammates from the edge of the D past the goalkeeper.
One of Hilton’s targets for the season is to be a great defensive team. It’s an area that they have dedicated a lot of time and attention to, according to their coach, Damian Kimfley. That showed on the field. Matt Thomas and Rob Berman, the two senior figures in defence, rallied the juniors around them into creating an impregnable wall.
Unfortunately for Hilton, their captain, Xavier Enslin, suffered an injury in the first chukka, which led to a hospital visit. Regan Mudau took over operations and ran a steady ship.
Hilton pressed hard and one of those presses resulted in a turnover at the halfway line. From there, Ethan Malthby made an incisive run to the edge of the D before laying off to Hove, who slotted his second goal just before the halftime break.
“The senior players have done well in their leadership roles, and the youngsters stepped up to the plate brilliantly. They look a lot more like the team we want them to be,” Kimfley shared after the encounter.
At Michaelhouse, DHS took the lead over Michaelhouse on the Punchbowl Astro and refused to cede control of the match.
The visitors went ahead shortly before the end of the first chukka when they converted a penalty corner. There was a good response from the home team, who flipped the field and piled pressure on the DHS goal.
Both sides traded attacks, but it was DHS who found the back of the net again, after a fine build-up, only seconds from the break, to go into it with a 2-0 advantage.
The frenetic nature of the contest opened the door for errors to happen and one of those mistakes resulted in DHS being awarded a penalty stroke three minutes before the end of the third chukka. Keegan Hezlett‘s charges made good use of the opportunity and went three goals clear.
Despite trailing 0-3, Michaelhouse kept taking the game to the visitors. Their industry was rewarded when they earned a penalty stroke of their own seven minutes into the fourth quarter. A successful conversion brought coach Nick Bérichon‘s charges back to two goals down at 1-3.
Three minutes later, though, DHS closed out the contest with their fourth goal.
Buhlo Hlwatika (left) scored Kearsney’s only try in their defeat to Hilton College. Photo: Hannah Shirley.
Beaten at home by Westville Boys’ High in their opener, Hilton College righted their ship in devastating style on Saturday, outplaying Kearsney College 53-10 on Stott Field, in Botha’s Hill.
Although the margin was wide, Kearsney could have kept the contest a lot closer but, on three occasions, were let down by their handling within sight of the Hilton try line.
The visitors, however, showed how it should be done, with some excellent interplay between backs and forwards highlighting their approach. They made a strong start and maintained their momentum throughout the match.
Their points scoring began with an early foray into Kearsney’s 22, which delivered good, clean ball for scrumhalf Zander Vorster. He quickly fed it out to his right, where it was moved briskly through the hands to right-wing Khazimla Makali, after a dummy runner had pulled in the home side’s defence. He raced over in the corner to put his side 5-0 in front.
Then, from a 22m drop-out, a good, high kick gave Hilton’s forwards time to get under the ball and challenge for possession. They won it and drove hard, up to the halfway line. Vorster quickly gave the ball to lock André Boshoff, who drew in defenders with a bullocking run. More good ball went right once more and captain Liyema Nela ripped through the Kearsney defence with a sweet dummy. He drew the last defender and released outside centre Guy Fender, who ran in a fantastic try from 35 metres out.
Nela’s trusty left boot added two more points to the Hilton total.
Coach Brad Mcleod-Henderson‘s boys continued to play the game inside the Kearsney half and they benefitted from that when they pilfered a Kearsney throw-in from just outside the 22. Emmanuel Dankwah received the ball from the ruck, ducked down and powered his way through a tackle to charge away from the defenders and over the line to score beneath the uprights. Nela stuck over the easy conversion and Hilton had Kearsney wobbling.
The One-Stripe, though, at last, got onto the scoreboard with a long-range penalty from Doan Nel, which flew straight and true.
Hilton soon added three points of their own, in reply, when Kearsney was blown up for being offsides. This time, Zander Vorster handled the kicking duties, and he, too, was on target.
The visitors worked their way down deep into Kearsney’s 22 where, with patience, they lent on their forwards to hit the ball up. The home side showed admirable resilience in stopping surge after surge. But, with Hilton maintaining possession, something had to give eventually, and Fender provided the finishing touch to boost the visitors’ tally by five points. Nela tacked on two more to give Hilton a big 29-3 lead at the break.
Nela and company continued their energetic assault in the second stanza. They made good ground into the Kearsney 22 but were nearly caught out when Nela’s cross-kick was charged down. Still, Hilton kept possession. Once again, after good work from the forwards, moving the ball to the right did the trick.
Hooker Josh Grant drove hard at the Kearsney defensive line, sucked in two defenders, and then popped the ball out to Guy Fender. He drew the next defender and released to James Peattie, who pinned his ears back and made it halfway through an outside gap before a little offload to wing Makali put him over for his second five-pointer of the contest.
Playing with excellent precision and structure, Hilton, then, outflanked the One-Stripe on the right again, with good ball movement putting Peattie over for five.
The visitors were full of confidence. Their game plan was working because their execution was outstanding, and it brought them another try, this time from a counterattack that began near their try line.
After making ground up the left touchline, scrumhalf Vorster launched a high kick into Kearsney territory, where a couple of defenders got themselves into a muddle, allowing left-wing Ricky Adonis to scoop up the ball. He was dragged down but passed inside to lock Andrew Schnell, who showed off an impressive turn of pace to speed over for a further try.
This time, Hilton entrusted John Grubb with the kick from wide on the left and he made it count to stretch Hilton’s lead to 46-3.
A missed touch-finder provided Hilton with a further chance to attack. Josh Grant dented the Hilton defences before sending a pass off to the backline and Fender was given space to dive over for his hat-trick. Grubb added the extras.
It had been a miserable day for Kearsney, but they managed the last say in the contest with a fantastic counterattacking try.
When Hilton dropped a pass on halfway, the home team quickly shifted the ball to the left, opening up a three-man overlap. Centre Doan Nel hit the accelerator and sprinted into the Hilton 22. Drawing a tackler, he popped it outside. But, with Hilton’s cover defence roaring in to make the tackle, the ball was fed inside to fullback Bukho Hlwatika and he rounded off to the delight of the home crowd.
Nel slotted the conversion kick and the final whistle sounded with Hilton the winner by a handsome 53-10 margin.
POINTS SCORERS
Hilton College 53 (29) – Tries: Guy Fender (3), Khazimla Makali (2), James Peattie, Andrew Schnell, Emmanuel Dankwah. Conversions: Liyema Nela (3), John Grubb (2). Penalty: Zander Vorster. Kearsney College 10 (3) – Try: Bukho Hlwatika. Conversion: Doan Nel. Penalty: Doan Nel.
RESULTS
u19 – Kearsney I 10 Hilton I 53; Kearsney II 15 Hilton II 37; Kearsney III 8 Hilton III 12; Kearsney IV 0 Hilton IV 27; Kearsney V 5 Hilton V 26; Kearsney VI 22 Hilton VI 25; Kearsney VII 5 Hilton VII 36
u16 – Kearsney A 36 Hilton A 17; Kearsney B 17 Hilton B 18; Kearsney C 36 Hilton C 17; Kearsney D 45 Hilton D 8
u15 – Kearsney A 24 Hilton A 20; Kearsney B 20 Hilton B 27; Kearsney C 0 Hilton C 27
u14 – Kearsney A 14 Hilton A 31; Kearsney B 19 Hilton B 10; Kearsney C 21 Hilton C 7
Maritzburg College boys watch on from Basher Ridge as the Red, Black, and White pack down against Northwood’s Knights. Photo: Maritzburg College on Facebook.
For a second week in succession, Northwood School pulled off a gritty late comeback to snatch victory.
On Friday, on Goldstone’s, they edged out Maritzburg College 24-21 in a King Price Derby Series showdown after trailing 10-21 with 10 minutes to play.
Those wins speak volumes about the character of the Knights– and winning on Goldstone’s is a huge achievement – but the manner of the victories will also be cause for concern for coach Jacques Deen. Arguably, both Michaelhouse and College, on the balance of play, controlled more of their games against Northwood. Then again, Northwood won.
“It ain’t over ’til it’s over” is often credited to legendary New York Yankees’ catcher, Yogi Berra, and it’s a saying that applies to the Knights. Even when they’re not at their best, they’re in the game and they play through to the final whistle. They should be commended for that.
With Basher Ridge, packed to the brim with College boys, Adam Cahill gave the home side a 3-0 lead in the seventh minute with a penalty from 28 metres out, just left of the uprights.
From the restart, Northwood surged onto the attack and worked their way into the College 22, where they won a penalty of their own. Ludi van der Walt stepped up and converted the kick to level the scores.
The Knights, then, set up camp in the Maritzburg College 22 after a superb 50/22 kick from fullback Trevor van Vollenstee found touch five metres from the try line.
From a five-metre scrum, they shifted the ball to the left. With some players running dummy lines, the ball was popped to right-wing, Aphiwe Maphisa, who had sneaked in and looped around flyhalf Ludi van der Walt‘s left shoulder. Arching his back, he evaded two would-be tacklers. Then, with excellent vision, he stepped inside off his left foot to wrong-foot the scrambling defenders and go over just to the left of the posts.
Van der Walt tacked on the extras to put the visitors 10-3 ahead.
Utilising a direct, physical approach, College used their forwards to bash away at the Northwood defensive line and force the visiting team back into their half. Their pressure was rewarded with another penalty and Cahill did well to knock through a kick from 43 metres to reduce the deficit by three points in the 23rd minute.
In the second half, College hooker Theo Boshoff powered his way off a driving maul to take the ball to within five metres of the Knights’ try line. All it needed was one pass to the left to 8th-man and captain, Wasi Vyambwera, and the home team was over. He lowered his head and drove across the whitewash, taking a tackler with him, to edge College ahead. Cahill increased the advantage to three points with a successful conversion kick.
Northwood’s response was immediate and they forced their way deep into the 22 of the Red, Black, and White. They moved the ball from a maul quickly to the right wing where Maphisa came oh so close to squeezing his way across the line, but the assistant referee’s flag was up on the touchline.
It was a College throw-in, but the ball wasn’t secured and Northwood grabbed it and went over for what they thought were five points. The referee, though, had his arm raised for an infraction at the lineout and College cleared their lines.
After the hosts laid siege to Northwood’s try line, they hit the ball up through the forwards for phase after phase, but the visitors stood firm. They did, however, stray offsides and that gave Cahill a chance to extend College’s lead with a simple kick from in front of the poles. He knocked it over to make it Maritzburg College 16-10 Northwood.
On the hour-mark, College launched a counterattack just into Northwood’s half. Flyhalf Jordan Thackeray quickly kicked wide to the left where he found Ntsika Mkize in acres of space. The wing gathered the ball and charged into Northwood’s 22, cutting inside. Boshoff carried on the attack before he was chopped down about 10 metres out.
College went to the left from the ruck, where tighthead prop, Alande Ngubane, sold a dummy, drew two tacklers, then lifted his arm through the tackles and fed his loosehead, Indiphile Mlotshwa, who dived over to the delight of the crowd, who roared their approval of the skills of the big men. Maritzburg College led 21-10.
Northwood came back strongly, making good ground when they used the blind side on the right flank. Then, from a lineout, Chad Howe took a clean ball and the Knights drove effectively to force their way across the College try line through Jamie Wimble. Trevor van Volenstee nailed the conversion to pull Jacques Dean’s charges to within four points.
Time had almost expired when Northwood attacked towards the right-hand touchline, from around the halfway line. Stopped out wide, they brought the ball back to the left. A long pass found Jaydon Smith in a little space on the right and he hit the accelerator, burning the nearest defender with an outside break. College’s defence raced to cover his path down the left sideline, but Smith arced inside, leaving the last defender grasping at air, before diving over for a spectacular try just left of the poles.
Northwood led by a point and Van Volenstee made it three with a good conversion kick.
Maritzburg College had a last opportunity to either pull off a draw or a win when they moved the ball through the hands from a lineout, but it was knocked on wide on the left and the referee blew the final whistle. Northwood had won it at the death again.
Maritzburg College 21 (6) – Tries: Wasi Vyambwera, Indiphile Mlotshwa. Conversions: Adam Cahill. Penalties: Adam Cahill (3). Northwood School 24 (10) – Tries: Aphiwe Maphisa, Jamie Wimble, Jaydon Smith. Conversions: Trevor van Volenstee (2), Ludi van der Walt. Penalty: Trevor van Volenstee.
RESULTS
u19 – Maritzburg College I 21 Northwood 24; Maritzburg College II 24 Northwood II 7; Maritzburg College III 15 Northwood III 12; Maritzburg College IV 29 Northwood 7; Maritzburg College V 32 Northwood V 5; Maritzburg College VI 35 Northwood 5; Maritzburg College VII 29 Alexander High I 10; Maritzburg College VIII 20 Michaelhouse VIII 24; Maritzburg College IX 25 Michaelhouse IX 20; Maritzburg College X 26 Michaelhouse X 14
u16 – Maritzburg College A 26 Northwood 45; Maritzburg College B 17 Northwood B 7; Maritzburg College C 25 Northwood 17; Maritzburg College D 24 Northwood D 19; Maritzburg College E 41 Northwood E 12; Maritzburg College F 12 Haythorne Secondary School 17
u15 – Maritzburg College A 20 Northwood A 19; Maritzburg College B 10 Northwood B 5; Maritzburg College C 6 Northwood C 3; Maritzburg College D 44 Northwood D 12; Maritzburg College E 27 Northwood E 12; Maritzburg College F 10 Linpark A 46
u14 – Maritzburg College A 26 Northwood A 12; Maritzburg College B 36 Northwood B 0; Maritzburg College C 29 Northwood C 12; Maritzburg College D 50 Northwood D 0; Maritzburg College E 21 Northwood E 12; Maritzburg College F 5 Northwood F 36
Rhenish Girls High School captain Leah du Plessis scored two goals to lead her side to victory over Eunice on day two of the Synsport Greg Beling Festival. Photo: supplied by Rhenish on Facebook.
Out of the four sides, Rhenish has impressed the most, winning each of their outings, despite playing some of the top teams in the country.
After a dominant showing on Friday, which brought them convincing wins over Voortrekker and Oranje, the Western Cape side followed up with victories over St Anne’s DSG (5-1) and Eunice High School (3-2) on Saturday at the Clarendon AstroTurf.
Their meeting with Eunice was arguably their toughest and most challenging fixture of the weekend.
Like Rhenish, Eunice had not tasted defeat. They headed into the clash off the back of an 8-0 hammering of Hudson Park High School earlier in the day.
The Rhenish vs Eunice showdown was, undoubtedly, the match of the day and it lived up to expectations for all the spectators and those who tuned in on SuperSport Schools.
After a pulsating start, the sides went into halftime level at 1-1 after goals scored by Leah du Plessis, for Rhenish, and Bianca Rees-Gibbs, for Eunice.
Rees-Gibbs edged the Bloemfontein side ahead once more with a PC drag flick in the third chukka, much to the delight of the travelling supporters.
Rhenish, however, came from behind again and scored twice to clinch an intense victory. Du Plessis completed her brace with a deadly PC drag flick, which was similar to her first goal, before Lily Newton converted a penalty stroke late in the game to seal the win.
Rhenish will return to the Western Cape unbeaten while Eunice plays Middelburg Hoërskool in their final match on Sunday. DSG Makhanda, after losing 0-2 to Eunice and 1-3 to Oranje on Friday, bounced back impressively on Saturday.
After beating Hudson Park 5-0 on Friday, they swept the floor with Middelburg Hoërskool (4-0) and Bethlehem Voortrekker (6-0).
Joining them in the winning column were the hosts, Clarendon High School for Girls. They beat Hoërskool Witteberg 1-0 before ending the day’s play with a comprehensive 3-0 win over Alexander Road.
Kingswood College continued to struggle and suffered losses against Hoërskool Sasolburg and Queenstown Girls’ High.
RESULTS
DAY 2
@Clarendon
Sasolburg 2-1 Kingswood College
Collegiate 4-0 Middelburg
Clarendon 1-0 Witteberg
Rhenish 5-1 St Anne’s DSG
Parel Vallei 3-0 Middelburg
Eunice 8-0 Hudson Park
Sasolburg 3-1 Union High
DSG Makhanda 4-1 Parel Vallei
Oranje 1-1 St Anne’s DSG
Rhenish 3-2 Eunice
Clarendon 3-0 Alex Road
@Cambridge High
Montana 2-1 Brandwag
Jim Fouché 1-0 Cambridge High
Cradock 2-1 Lilyfontein
Montana 1-0 Westering
Witteberg 3-0 Woodridge College
Jim Fouché 2-1 Westering
Stirling High 4-0 Hoër Volkskool Graaff-Reinet
Queenstown Girls’ High 1-0 Kingswood College
Pearson 1-0 Voortrekker
Glenwood House 3-0 Hoër Volkskool Graaff-Reinet
Collegiate 6-0 Voortrekker
Duineveld 2-1 Stirling High
@Merrifield College
Alex Road 3-0 Glenwood House
Merrifield 2-2 Woodridge College
Kingsridge 5-0 Brandwag
Duineveld 4-0 Curro Waterstone
Merrifield 3-0 Framesby
FIXTURES
DAY 3
@Clarendon
08:15 – DSG Makhanda vs St Anne’s DSG; 09:30 -Eunice vs Middelburg; 10:45 – Hudson Park vs Oranje; 12:00 – Kingsridge vs Volkskool; 13:15 – Clarendon vs Woodridge College.
@Cambridge
09:30 – Union vs Duineveld; 10:45 – Brandwag vs Curro Waterstone; 13:15 – Cambridge vs Westering.
@Selborne College
09:30 – Collegiate vs Parel Vallei.
@Stirling High
07:00 – Cradock vs Sasolburg; 09:30 – Framesby vs Jim Fouché; 10:45 – Alex Road vs Witterberg; 12:00 – Stirling High vs Voortrekker.
@Merrifield College
08:15 – Queenstown Girls’ High vs Glenwood House; 13:15 – Merrifield College vs Kingswood College.
Grey High’s Danté Elkington scoring the winner in their match against St Andrew’s School. Photo: Shot by Shani Photography
Grey High and Grey College have proved themselves to be two of the most in-form teams through the first three days of action at the 2024 edition of the Synsport Tony Godding Hockey Festival.
The Festival, which started on Thursday and concludes on Sunday, is being played across three East London venues, Stirling High, Merrifield College, Cambridge High, and Selborne College.
Grey High remains unbeaten through four outings. They opened their account with a 6-1 win over Cambridge on Thursday evening and have been unstoppable ever since. On Friday, they breezed past Jim Fouché and Hudson Park, before adding a tight 1-0 win over St Andrew’s School on Saturday afternoon.
Their Bloemfontein counterparts, Grey College, has also been in great form. They pressed the pause button on Pearson‘s run of wins in their lone outing on Friday, scoring a 4-2 win before following that up with a 3-2 victory over St Andrew’s College 24 hours later. In their last fixture of the day, coach Dallan Phillips’ charges cruised to a 4-0 win over Queen’s College. Grey College faces Hudson Park on Sunday morning with a chance to complete the festival undefeated on the line.
St Andrew’s College, meanwhile, bounced back from their defeat at the hands of Grey College with a 2-1 win over Hudson Park. Pearson, on the other hand, dusted themselves off, put the loss to Grey College behind them, and fought their way to a 1-1 draw with Queen’s College. With that result, the Gqeberha school completed their schedule, finishing their Tony Godding campaign with two wins, one draw, and a single loss.
After their big loss to Grey High, Cambridge eked out a 1-0 win over Montana on Friday morning and then exploded for an emphatic 8-0 win over Curro Waterstone later in the day. On Saturday, they added a 2-1 win over Framesby. They have dates with Duineveld and Witteberg on Sunday.
Duineveld, from Upington, had a slow start. They lost their opening match 1-2 to Framesby, on Friday. On Saturday, they were in better form, beating Montana 2-0 and Curro Waterstone 6-1. They will carry the confidence accrued from those wins into their encounter against a suddenly red-hot Cambridge team on Sunday morning.
St Andrew’s School played the last match on Saturday night, and they redeemed themselves with a gripping 3-2 win over Selborne College. They have a date with their namesake, St Andrew’s College at 09:30 on Sunday. They will need to play every bit as well as they did against Selborne to overcome their counterparts from Grahamstown.
Selborne College, on the other hand, has work to do. They will need to put the loss to St Andrew’s School behind them as they head into Sunday. They have a couple of wins under their belt, downing Jim Fouché 4-2 and Woodridge 6-1. They close with a match against HoërskoolMiddelburg on Sunday.
RESULTS
Montana 0-2 Duineveld
Stirling 1-0 Westering
Alexander Road 4-1 Glenwood House
Witteberg 3-1 Curro Waterstone
Cambridge 2-1 Framesby
Kingswood 1-2 Sasolburg
Selborne College 6-1 Woodridge
Merrifield 1-1 Middelburg
St Andrew’s College 2-3 Grey College
Grey High 1-0 St Andrew’s School
Queen’s College 1-1 Pearson
Framesby 1-1 Witteberg
Dale College 3-1 Alexander Road
Kingswood 2-1 Jim Fouché
Curro Waterstone 1-6 Duineveld
Merrifield 0-1 Woodridge
Hudson Park 1-2 St Andrew’s College
Westering 1-4 Sasolburg
Queen’s College 0-4 Grey College
Stirling 2-3 Middelburg
Selborne College 2-3 St Andrew’s School
Montana 3-0 Glenwood House
FIXTURES
08:15 – Hudson Park vs Grey College, 08:15 – Framesby vs Sasolburg, 08:15 – Cambridge vs Duineveld, 09:30 – St Andrew’s College vs St Andrew’s School, 10:45 – Selborne College vs Middelburg, 10:45 – Westering vs Jim Fouché, 12:00 – Merrifield vs Kingswood, 12:00 – Dale College vs Curro Waterstone, 12:00 – Cambridge vs Witterberg, 13:15 – Queen’s College vs Woodridge, 13:15 – Stirling vs Alexander Road.
Sasolburg ended day two of the Synsport Greg Beling Festival as one of the unbeaten teams. Photo: Supplied by coach Jacolene McLaren.
Hoërskool Sasolburg defeated Union High School 3-1 on Saturday to end day two of the Synsport Greg Beling Festival in East London as one of the unbeaten sides.
The annual event began on Thursday and concludes on Sunday.
The school from the Northern Free State began their festival with a nail-biting 2-1 victory over Queenstown Girls’ High on Friday.
On Saturday morning, they took on Kingswood College, from Makhanda, in a match in which they were regarded as the underdogs.
Sasolburg, however, defied the odds and came from behind to claim a 2-1 win.
Union High School, from Graaff-Reinet, stood in the way of coach Jacolene McLaren’s side in their final match of the day.
As had happened in the Kingswood game, Sasolburg conceded an early goal but showed grit and clawed their way back into the game.
They used their chances and scored when it mattered through captain Chana-Dee Gibson before Lize Bischoff added a brace to seal the two-goal victory.
Reacting to her team’s performances so far at the festival, McLaren said she’s pleased with how the team had continued to step up.
“We came into this tournament very excited for the season, and we started well with a win in our first game, and we’ve been stepping up and delivering every game,” she told SuperSport Schools Plus.
“We had played in two tournaments before this one, so the preparation was quite good.”
McLaren’s players have had to dig deep and show their character, which they did in successive come-from-behind wins.
She praised her side for never giving up and staying in the fight. “Against Kingswood, we came from behind after we trailed 0-1, and that took some guts,” McLaren said. “It was tough, but we stepped up to get the two goals. We got the ball into the circle and made sure we got the outcome from our opportunities. The girls did well in that regard.”
The final day of the festival will see Sasolburg taking on Cradock High School at 07:00. McLaren said they want to end on a high, adding that they’re also planning to “keep things simple”.
She explained: “We want to do well, but we won’t make changes. We will just make sure we play our brand of hockey, make sure we maintain the consistency and get our connections right, and work to get better,” she concluded.
Hoërskool Sasolburg’s results at Synsport Greg Beling Festival
Sasolburg 2-1 Queenstown Girls’ High
Sasolburg 1-0 Kingswood College
Sasolburg 3-1 Union High School
Photo: Jeppe High School for Boys on Facebook. (Theo Garrun).
In a match highlighted by massive tackles and rollicking runs, a double by Kuhle Shitlhangu secured an away victory of 37-28 for Jeppe High School for Boys over King Edward VII School in the first of their annual two derbies.
Shitlhango was the first to dot down for Jeppe. Then, towards the end of the game, he stormed down an attempted drop goal from the Reds’ flyhalf, Andrew Jackson, right on the hooter, gathered the ball, and ran almost the length of the field to score his second and make it 1-0 in favour of Jeppe in the first of their two King Price Derby Series matches against KES this year.
Both sides’ physicality seemed to have been ratcheted up a notch from their outings last week, which would’ve been expected given the importance of getting one over an old foe.
Shitlhangu, besides dotting down twice, filled the role of openside flanker expertly, making life difficult for the home side, which earned him the accolade of Man of the Match.
Besides him, Jeppe lock, Glodi Tshipamba, threw his body around all over the park. He dominated in the lineouts too, causing the home side headaches.
The Reds, were impressive with their steadfast defence, often making double hits, which stopped the visitors in their tracks. That ferocious defence kept them in the contest for the entire 70 minutes.
In the second half, though, Jeppe found their stride and their outside backs, especially, left-wing, Lethabo Mashao, revelled in the space created by some slick handling and interactive play between the backs and the forwards, which brought about a turning point in the game.
The home side never stopped taking it to the visitor, however. Scrumhalf and vice-captain, Regan McGurk, shone. His service behind the KES pack was immaculate, but his efforts on defence and at rucks stole the show as he pulled off crucial turnovers at critical junctures
The battle between the kickers, Nehemia Hollenbach and Indi Mbonsiswa, was, as expected, a battle within a battle. Unfortunately for the Reds, Hollenbach came out on top this time, slotting six kicks at goal, including three conversions and three penalties. Mbonsiswa wasn’t far behind, succeeding with two conversions and three penalties of his own to contribute 13 points to the Red Army’s tally.
POINTS SCORERS
Jeppe High School for Boys 37 (6) – Tries: Kuhle Shitlhangu (2), Lethabo Moshau, Aluwani Ndlovu. Conversions: Nehemiah Hollenbach (4). Penalties: Hollenbach (3). King Edward VII 28 (17) – Tries: Tristan Randall, Sam Bruwer, Taig David. Conversions: Indi Mbonsiswa (2). Penalties: Mbonsiswa (3).
Other Teams
u.16: King Edward VII 29, Jeppe High School for Boys 19.
u.15: King Edward VII 11, Jeppe High School for Boys 5.
u.14: Jeppe High School for Boys 32, King Edward VII 10.
