15 April 2024
Northwood School and Durban High School (DHS) delivered a day loaded with excellent competition up and down the age groups in both hockey and rugby on Saturday at Northwood.
It was tight from top to bottom, with the 1st team hockey and rugby matches both ending in draws.
HOCKEY
On the astro, the 1st XIs provided exciting entertainment, with fortunes and opportunities ebbing and flowing throughout the course of a fascinating contest.
The Knights opened the scoring, but it was DHS who led 2-1 heading into the fourth chukka. Northwood, though, tend to rise to the occasion when they meet the Horseflies, and they stunned the visitors with two goals to take a 3-2 lead. DHS, who had won every game they had played in 2024, found themselves in danger of losing their unblemished record.
Digging deep, coach Keegan Hezlett‘s charges kept fighting to the final whistle, and only five seconds remained when they found the back of the Northwood net for a third time to pull out a 3-3 draw.
“We had a plan for Northwood. We knew this would probably be our biggest clash locally. They’re ranked eighth [in the country] and we’re ranked second, so it was always going to be a big clash,” Hezlett said afterwards.
“We had plans for a penalty corner, which worked, which was awesome to see. Then, I think we lost our way a bit, trying too many variations and not getting our shots off, which was a little bit disappointing.”
Hezlett said DHS had expected Northwood to try and hit them on the counterattack, but the Knights were, nonetheless, able to score in that manner. “It’s quite hard to nullify,” Hezlett said. “We put plans in place, but it doesn’t always work out. When you’re on the ball, you do things without thinking, and then you’re often caught on the counter.
“I’m proud of my guys for the performance. It’s not the result that we were after, but we’ll take the performance. At least we didn’t lose and grabbed a goal at the end.”
There was not much between the schools in the open and u16 age group matches, but Northwood picked up three wins at u14 level, with the other match there ending in a goalless draw.
The competition between the schools was keen. In 12 matches, DHS scored two wins, Northwood won six games and four ended in draws, with two of those finishing 3-3.
It was very tight, with Northwood netting 22 goals overall and DHS 14. That made the average score 2-1, although that’s with rounding off. It was even closer than that.
RESULTS
1st: Northwood 3-3 DHS
2nd: Northwood 2-2 DHS
3rd: Northwood 3-1 DHS
16A: Northwood 1-2 DHS
16B: Northwood 3-3 DHS
16C: Northwood 3-1 DHS
16D: Northwood 0-1 DHS
16E: Northwood 1-0 DHS
14A: Northwood 2-1 DHS
14B: Northwood 1-0 DHS
14C: Northwood 3-0 DHS
14D: Northwood 0-0 DHS
RUGBY
On Reece-Edwards Field, the defences of the Northwood and DHS 1st XVs, which had been so impressive in the lead-up to Saturday’s showdown, showed why they had been so stingy. Both gave up early tries, but that was it for the game! It ended 7-7, although both sides missed penalty kicks that could have swung the contest in their favour.
DHS Director of Rugby Peter Engeldow felt Northwood’s tactical kicking was better than his side’s, and conceded that the Knights, on the day, were probably a little unlucky not to come away with the win.
“We were lucky to draw, in the end. We weren’t clinical enough,” he said. “In key areas, we didn’t execute well enough.”
Northwood have now beaten Hilton College (10-7) and held DHS to a draw, and both of those teams will be in the conversation for the top team in KZN as the season progresses. With those results, coach Jacques Deen‘s charges have ensured that they are right in the middle of that conversation, too, and they might well be at the front of the queue.
Overall, how closely contested were Saturday’s matches? Northwood won nine, DHS won nine, and the 1st XV game was drawn!
RESULTS
1st: Northwood 7-7 DHS
2nd: Northwood 27-33 DHS
3rd: Northwood 5-19 DHS
4th: Northwood 26-17 DHS
5th: Northwood 10-12 DHS
6th: Northwood 17-7 DHS
16A: Northwood 14-21 DHS
16B: Northwood 12-0 DHS
16C: Northwood 31-7 DHS
16D: Northwood 20-0 DHS
15A: Northwood 10-23 DHS
15B: Northwood 7-10 DHS
15C: Northwood 20-5 DHS
15D: Northwood 22-14 DHS
14A: Northwood 12-36 DHS
14B: Northwood 0-24 DHS
14C: Northwood 10-7 DHS
14D: Northwood 10-15 DHS
14E: Northwood 17-10 DHS
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