23 April 2023
Westville Boys’ High hosted their near neighbours, Kearsney College, on Saturday with both teams looking to establish some consistency and, of course, claim a win. After going 0-1 down, it was the Griffin who came firing back to take a 3-1 victory.
“It was our first game on the new turf, first home game. We got a lot of support. That was nice for the boys,” Westville Director Hockey, Cameron Mackay, told Pinnacle Schools.
His side plays a well-structured game, trying to extend the field to open up space, while, at the same time, pressing hard to stymie the ability of their opposition to exit their half. In the beginning against Kearsney, however, the boys from Botha’s Hill handled the Westville attempts to pin them back confidently.
“We struggled in the beginning in the press,” said Mackay. “I don’t think we were good enough in it. I think they were isolating our centre forward too easily.”
Still, Westville enjoyed the better of the early territory, but Asanda Nyawose, at the back for the boys in maroon, did a good job marshalling his team’s defences and repelling the Griffin’s early thrusts. He was confident on the ball in directing play away for his team’s goal.
Fritz Rheeder, then, created the first good chance of the contest when he sneaked in to steal the ball in midfield as Westville tried to exit from the back. From the top right of the circle, he fired off a good shot that drew a sharp stop out of goalkeeper Keaton Burns.
Westville, though, continued to play a lot of hockey in Kearsney’s half, but the Kearsney defence stood firm. The Griffin tried to catch them out with swift ball movement on the counter, but without reward.
Then, five minutes into the second chukka, Kearsney won themselves the first penalty corner of the match. Utilising their second castle, which was aligned with the goalkeeper’s left-hand post, a low, hard pass was directed towards that post where Lithabe Shweni lurked. He neatly deflected the ball into the backboards and the visitors had the lead.
“The PC that we conceded was a bit frustrating. Not good enough from us, but a good variation from them,” said Cam Mackay. Westville had been on the offensive a lot more than the visitors and while it must have been deflating to then fall behind, they needed to find a response. They did, and it took just over a minute for the home side to level matters.
Firstly, credit needs to go to the umpire, who could easily have blown for a penalty corner as Westville attacked. However, he let Connor Jenkins, who had been stick tackled, continue playing down the baseline on the left. Despite having three Kearsney defenders in front of him, Jenkins managed to get off a dangerous cross into the middle. A grateful Thabo Dlamini, unmarked, swept the ball into the goal and it was 1-1.
Then, with just over two minutes left in the half, Owen Slack set a Westville attack rolling after neatly dealing with a Kearsney overhead. Again, Westville had success bringing the ball in from the left flank. This time, Caleb van Loenen found himself unmarked near the penalty spot and he easily converted the opportunity low and to the ‘keeper’s left to put the hosts 2-1 up.
At the break, Westville adjusted their press, coach Cameron Mackay said, because Kearsney had too easily been able to break through the Griffin’s defending forwards in the first half.
“Once we changed the press after half-time, we were in control and we played our counter-attacking hockey better,” he said. “We’re adapting to that a little bit more, where we don’t have a lot of midfielders that like to carry that ball, so we have tried to bypass midfield a little bit more on the counter-attack.”
The play opened up more in the second half, with Westville creating more opportunities higher up the field without finding a finish to extend their advantage. At the back, Dylan Wiggett was a calming, steady presence for the visitors. At the other end of the park, Westville captain Daniel Lambert was doing much the same for the Griffin. Alongside him, Owen Slack impressed with his clean distribution.
Near the end of the third chukka, Kearsney managed another penalty corner. They went for a variation again, this time sending the ball to the man to the left of the first castle. He played it back to Dylan Wiggett, who had run forward a few metres for the return, and the defender then returned the ball to the injector. His pass across the face of goal, though, was slightly behind a player on the far post and Westville survived.
Late in the fourth chukka, Westville finally put the game to bed with a blistering goal. They had been threatening, with a series of counter-attacks putting Kearsney under pressure, without getting the better of goalkeeper Hayden Davel. However, there was nothing he could do to stop Caleb van Loenen notching his second goal.
After Kearsney, somewhat untidily stopped the Griffin in front of their goals, the ball rebounded and bounced up for Van Loenen near the top of the D. Without hesitation, he got everything behind it, smashing it like a tracer bullet past Davel and into the back of the Kearsney net.
It was Westville 3-1 Kearsney, and soon the final whistle sounded to give the home team a first victory on their new Astro in their first home game of the season.
“We did better on the counter-attack today, which is cool,” said coach Mackay. “It’s a win we love. But it was a hard-fought game with a lot of physicality, not the best quality. A 3-1 win is definitely something we’ll take.”
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