30 July 2023
In a meeting of the KZN Inland and KZN Coastal champions from the second term, Maritzburg College took on Glenwood in the final of the Primo Big 10 Football Tournament at Hilton College on Sunday. In a high-quality clash of two outstanding teams, it was College that struck a winner five minutes from time.
Striker Grayson Mentory, the Primo Player of the Final, slotted the goal after good build-up play from captain Mateo Horstead and Mazithi Qasha, who also received an award from Primo, as the leading goal-scorer of the event, thanks to his finding the back of the net four times. A superb finisher, Qasha has established an awfully valuable habit of knocking in goals.
On the beautiful, lush turf of the Zungu Field, College were able to exploit their talents to their fullest, playing an attractive quick-passing game.
Glenwood, though, did not make it easy on Horstead’s men. They were feisty, skilled and difficult to break down. They’re a well drilled outfit and it required a crisp combination of passes to finally open them up. And that meant beating goalkeeper Sanele Mthembu, who deservedly received the Primo Goalkeeper of the Tournament Award.
It’s the old saying: it takes two to tango, and without the Durban side giving College all they could handle it would not have been as rewarding a win as it was for the red, black and white.
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“When the elephants meet, it’s the grass that suffers,” Dan Haswell, Chairperson of the KZN High Schools Football Association (KZNHSFA) said at the prize-giving after the Final. “Well done to the two finalists, and to all 10 teams. The Primo Big 10 is ‘the Big 10‘ all at one venue and, on behalf of the Association, thank you to Hilton College for their smooth hosting of the event.”
On behalf of Primo Sportswear – Primo | Facebook –, former Durban City pro, Bobby Deutschmann, praised the Maritzburg College and Glenwood teams: “What was exciting for me was that after six games the effort out there in the final was magnificent, the way you kept it simple. It was a nice quality of football over the two days, but I think the two best sides came through.
“Well done to the winners. Unfortunately, someone has to lose. Well done to both teams, the coaches and the organisers. It’s a privilege being involved with the Big 10. We’ll be here as long as you’ll have us.”
As he always does, Dan Haswell took the time to thank the match officials, who did a fine job of officiating throughout the course of a very competitive weekend.
College coach’s insights
Interviewed by Pinnacle Schools after the prize-giving, Maritzburg College coach, Chemon Petersen, a College old boy, who was a pro footballer for 13 years, said he is enjoying his football more than at any other time in his career. Clearly, he is deriving a lot of pleasure from the manner in which his charges are receiving his coaching, wisdom and instruction.
One thing that worked in his side’s favour, he said, was the excellent playing surface on Zungu Field. “Hilton has lovely facilities and this field, in particular, worked to our strength,” Petersen said. “We’re a ball-playing team. Possession-based football is our philosophy. I think using the field wisely helped us throughout the entire tournament.
“I think it helped, but what people might not understand is that this field is very heavy, as well, so it takes a lot of hard work to impose our style of play.”
Petersen said the aim ahead of the tournament had been to walk away as champions, so goal achieved, but it was as a result of a tremendous amount of hard work and dedication, allied to a strong team spirit and teamwork.
“This is a great bunch of boys, and what we have been trying to instil at Maritzburg College is there is a reason they put the badge on the left-hand side. It’s the heart that’s on the left. If we are playing for what is on our heart, as opposed to our own individual surnames, we are going to get somewhere. That’s the most important thing,” Petersen reckoned.
Praise for Glenwood
He also praised Glenwood for the part they played in an excellent final. “Credit to their school and their coach. They have some fantastic players in their team. They’re a very well-oiled machine.”
College captain Mateo Horstead also had warm words for their opponents in the final: “I must compliment Glenwood. They really did play well. Their midfield is really, really good. They can knock the ball about nicely.
“I think, on the day, we were just a little bit better, and we took our chance. They didn’t take theirs. But it’s an amazing privilege to beat the number one team from the Coastal region.”
The playmaking midfielder, with an eye for a defence-splitting pass, said besides a wholehearted effort from his side, their winning recipe was straightforward: “From the first game to the last, we played our football and kept it simple, and I think that’s what won us the tournament.”
Coach Petersen, who has some cool, catchy sayings, summed it up: “They say, if you want to go fast, you go alone. If you want to go far, you go together.
“That’s what these boys showed: great team spirit, they pulled together, fought for each other, trusted each other, more importantly, and it is amazing to see them come out as champions.”
Group stages
On day one, College had asserted themselves after a hesitant start against the hosts, Hilton College, whom they beat 3-2. After that, though, they swiftly kicked into gear, handling Clifton College 3-0 and Saint Charles College by an eye-opening 5-0 margin. Saints are a decent side, but College in full flow are a wonderful sight to behold.
Glenwood, meanwhile, shared a 1-1 draw with the defending champions, Michaelhouse, and were held to a goalless draw by their great rivals, DHS. In a very tight group, Glenwood then secured their place in the quarterfinals after recording a 2-1 defeat of Kearsney, who were without two injured key players in Asanda Nyawose and James Gillespie.
Westville Boys’ High topped their group, with their results, all victories, including a 2-1 win over Saint Charles, a 1-0 defeat of Northwood, and a 2-1 victory over Hilton College.
Quarterfinals decided
At the conclusion of the opening day, the following quarterfinals were set up for Sunday: Maritzburg College (1st Group A) vs Michaelhouse (2nd best 3rd place team), Westville (1st Group B) vs Hilton College (best 3rd place team), DHS (1st Group C) vs Saint Charles (2nd Group B), and Clifton (2nd Group A) vs Glenwood (2nd Group C).
In the quarters, during their clash, both Maritzburg College and Michaelhouse were awarded penalties but failed to slot them. College, though, went 2-0 ahead before ‘House pulled one back, leaving the final score a 2-1 in favour of the red, black and white.
Westville and Hilton went at it hammer and tongs, but penalties were needed to decide the outcome of the contest. Both sides had opportunities to win it during the shootout, only to have those potential match-winning kicks saved. In the end, though, the home team came through, edging it 8-7 from the spot after neither side scored in regulation time.
Saint Charles pushed DHS hard, but the Horseflies have already shown early in the season that they are a resilient bunch and they mustered up the only goal of the contest to book a spot in the final four.
In the last of the quarterfinals, Glenwood withstood a determined challenge from Clifton, who managed a number of shots, not necessarily on goal, because of the hard-working defence of the Coastal champions. It finished 2-0.
Then, in the semifinals, Glenwood scored a 1-0 win over DHS with a late goal after Theeran Reddy intercepted a pass deep inside the Horseflies’ box, with no one in front of him to challenge. He tapped the ball over the line to send his side into the title-decider, to the unrestrained delight of his team-mates.
Maritzburg College, meanwhile, faced Hilton College for a second time, confident after a win over the same opposition in the pool stages. But Hilton were determined to reverse that result in front of their home supporters.
They gave College a tough game, but the slick passing of the boys from the KZN capital produced the goal that mattered, through the deadly Mazithi Qasha, to move on after a 1-0 win.
RESULTS
Group A
Hilton College 2-3 Maritzburg College
Maritzburg College 3-0 Clifton College
Hilton College 1-1 Clifton College
Group B
Saint Charles College 1-2 Westville Boys’ High
Westville Boys’ High 1-0 Northwood
Northwood 3-5 Saint Charles College
Cross Group Matches A and B
Saint Charles College 0-5 Maritzburg College
Clifton College 5-2 Northwood
Westville Boys’ High 2-1 Hilton College
Group C
Michaelhouse 1-1 Glenwood
DHS 2-1 Kearsney College
Kearsney College 1-1 Michaelhouse
Glenwood 0-0 DHS
DHS 4-2 Michaelhouse
Kearsney College 0-1 Glenwood
9th/10th: Northwood 0-0 (4-3) Kearsney College
QF1: Maritzburg College 2-1 Michaelhouse
QF2: Westville Boys’ High 0-0 (7-8) Hilton College
QF3: DHS 1-0 Saint Charles College
QF4: Clifton College 0-2 Glenwood
SF1: Maritzburg College 1-0 Hilton College
SF2: DHS 0-1 Glenwood
Final: Maritzburg College 1-0 Glenwood
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