29 April 2023
The Maritzburg College 1st XI was in for a surprise at the Absa Wildeklawer Football Festival when their opening match early on Saturday at the Sol Plaaitjie University High Performance Complex was not against Saint Stithian’s but against local champions, Homevale. The Johannesburg school had withdrawn from the event.
Slow start
College started off slowly and had to adjust to playing the game at high altitude. They had their chances in the first half, but failed to take them, resulting in a 1-2 loss. In the afternoon, though, they produced a top showing to hand Paul Roos Gimnasium a 2-0 defeat.
“It was 1 000 percent better,” College’s happy Director of Soccer, Nic Haswell, told Pinnacle Schools.
“Classic Maritzburg College, sometimes the boys need a loss to wake up,” he laughed. “In the first game, we didn’t take our first half chances and it bit us. In this game, it looked like we were going to do the same thing. We missed three easy chances. Then we scored two.
“We were 2-0 up in the first half, and I would say we had 60 to 70 percent of the possession, at least. We should have won at least 3-0 or 4-0 against a good, physically strong Paul Roos team.”
Maritzburg College off to a winning start
https://www.pinnacle-schools.com/2023/04/27/football-college-newton/
Goal scorers
The goals were netted by Mazithi Qasha and Philasande Khuzwayo, who was also named the man of the match.
“Our possession style of play really punished Paul Roos, because they are a hard-running, physical team, and you can’t do two games like that in one day up here,” Haswell said. “Our guys were standing, with minimum movement off of the ball, but our passing was so wonderful that they just couldn’t get close to us.
“On these big artificial fields, you can keep the ball so nicely. We would pass and pass and they would become static. Then, with one through pass, it was 2-0 quite quickly.”
Tight group
After day one, each team in College’s group has won one game, so there is everything to play for on Sunday, with places in the quarterfinals up for grabs.
Apart from the expected niggles after the exertions of playing two matches in one day, the College team is fit and ready to take on Brebner at 08:00, Haswell said. That that includes captain Mateo Horstead, who sat out Maritzburg’s opening league game against Newton on Wednesday because of an injury.
He played the full game. “He is a warrior,” reckoned Haswell.
“The boys have got a great spirit now that they’re coming off a wonderful victory, so they’re feeling good.”
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