Maritzburg College welcomed Clifton College to Pape’s Astro at the start of the weekend for a Friday NITE Lights showdown and supporters came out in their numbers to take in the action under College’s recently unveiled floodlights.
Kyle Emerson, coach of the Maritzburg 1st XI, commented: “To have almost 500 boarders coming and watching the boys is lekker. It’s exciting when they’re down here and we can enjoy the spirit on a Friday and watch some hockey.
“It’s nice to get the families out. Staff are here, people are having picnics. The rugby staff are able to get to watch us, so I think that’s special.”
And while the supporters were predominantly backing the home side, Clifton brought a fair number of their backers along with them, too.
Out on the field, a very young Clifton 1st XI showed no signs of fear of tackling the Red Army on the famous Astro in front of their very vocal supporters. In fact, they appeared to relish the challenge.
While Maritzburg enjoyed a slight edge in possession in the first half, Clifton was more adept at moving the ball through the midfield at pace. The visitors did well to crowd the College midfielders when they received the ball, while they were better able to receive and pass.
Twice the visitors created good chances after forays down the right flank, bringing the ball in along the baseline before dropping it off around the penalty spot. But they couldn’t find a stick to finish the moves and College scrambled the ball away.
In the second half, the game opened up and Clifton hit the front after only three minutes when Maritzburg conceded a penalty stroke. Zach Williamson buried the opportunity confidently to the left of keeper Nick Holmes and the visitors celebrated.
That goal, however, seemed to sting College into action. They began to dominate possession and play most of the game in and around the Clifton 23m.
Within 10 minutes, they were rewarded. After coming ever so close to equalising after outflanking Clifton on the left, College picked up a penalty corner. Clifton netminder Georg Wolhuter pulled off a sharp stick save to his right of the drag flick, but the Durban side was unable to clear the ball from the circle.
College made one or two passes, the ball broke kindly for them, and Rory Schirge pounced from close range to equalise, raising a huge roar from the crowd.
The Red, Black and White kept the heat on and then claimed the lead for the first time in the contest after a scorching reverse stick shot from the left by Uyanda Dlamini found Wolhuter’s far left corner, possibly with a slight touch from Julian Konigkramer.
Clifton had brough a lot to the contest and they were not about to go away, despite College having adapted their game well in the second half of the match. With time running short, they struck back.
After turning over possession on the halfway line, the boys in black quickly counterattacked down the right. Dan Hompes picked up a pass inside, briefly lost possession, but just as quickly robbed the last defender and delivered a delightful reverse stick finish to the left of goalkeeper Nick Holmes, in a similar fashion to College’s second goal, to level the scores.
A short while later a game that had started quietly but had produced four goals in the second half was over.
Reflecting on the contest, College coach Kyle Emerson said: “There is much to get right. There were too many little errors that broke down our fluidity – missed traps, silly passes. That will improve.
“We spent far too much time on the ball, not zipping it around.”
He also said Clifton had executed their game plan well. “Good tactics from Calvin [Price]. His wide centre-back pairing worked in the first half, and we struggled, but in the second half we nullified it and turned over a lot of ball.”
Summing up an early season issue for most teams, he concluded: “You’ve got to take your chances.”
Calvin Price, who took over as Director of Hockey at Clifton this year, was pleased by the manner in which his team had taken on the challenge. “We stepped up. We’re on Pape’s, so you have to make sure you step up,” he said.
While lamenting some good chances that were missed, he said, with a smile: “Overall, we’re happy with that result – 2-2. We’re a young side, with four matrics. We’re growing, and it’s new for me, starting off at Clifton.”
Despite their youth, the visitors looked very comfortable on the ball and, said Price, that was something they had been working on in the two months preceding their opening game, which included gym sessions and training twice a week.
“That’s something we try to work on. We want the ball. We want to play with the ball. We call it Barcelona. We want the ball, and we want to keep it. If we lose it, that’s frustrating. We’re very happy to keep the ball and be comfortable on it.”
For Maritzburg College’s Director of Hockey, Mark Sanders, the floodlights on Pape’s Astro are a game-changer. He explained: “It allows us to train for longer in winter. We have only two hours of sunlight after school closes, so we previously had to squeeze in as much as possible. Now we can train until later. The boys are starting sessions later and ending at 19:00. We manage to get more guys on turf.”
He also expressed his excitement about Friday NITE lights hockey. “The atmosphere and the vibe are second to none. We get the whole of the boarding house to come and support the guys in the evening. It’s phenomenal.”
It’s year two for Sanders in charge of Maritzburg College hockey. The first year, he was hands-off, watching and taking notes. Now, there’s going to be more of his influence visible in College’s hockey.
Sanders said: “Maritzburg College is a school with a rich hockey history, and in my opinion, it has probably been the benchmark for most schools around the country. Obviously, there has been a little dip in recent years, but we plan to change that.
“We’ve introduced a new style. There are some technical things that we are working on, and the boys are responding, so let’s see how it goes.”
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