26 January 2024
Friday started poorly for the KwaZulu-Natal teams contesting the St Andrew’s College (SAC) Shield but improved dramatically later on when Hilton College and Clifton College, who were below their best against St Stithians and Selborne College respectively, turned it around when they swopped their opposition.
Both were sluggish at the start of their early games, which resulted in a 6-8 loss for Hilton to St Stithians and an 8-13 setback for Clifton against Selborne. Later, Hilton handed Selborne an 11-8 defeat, and Clifton downed St Stithians 7-4. Both teams were better in all aspects of the game compared to their earlier performances.
Meanwhile, Thursday had been unkind to Westville Boys’ High and Michaelhouse, both of whom went winless and suffered penalty shootout losses to highly rated opposition, with Westville losing out to St John’s College and ‘House being edged out by Paul Roos.
On Friday, they had a chance to make a tick in the win column when they met each other in a midday match.
There was a bit of a feeling-out period to start the game, with Michaelhouse’s goalkeeper Elliott Springate and Westville’s net-minder Connor Clare doing their bit to keep the contest goalless. Both sets of defenders, too, were doing a fine job of keeping the opposition at a distance, leading to the attackers struggling to manufacture shots.
Nonetheless, both teams managed to get some away, but the ‘keepers ensured the first chukka ended in a nil-nil stalemate.
At last, two minutes into the second chukka, Westville made a breakthrough, with Calvin Deyzel opening the scoring with a ripper.
The Griffin, then, doubled their lead when Jared Byleveldt made Michaelhouse pay for an exclusion by sending a powerful shot speeding beneath Elliott Springate’s left arm and into the back of the net.
The Balgowan boys were, meanwhile, getting no change out of the Westville defence, which remained resolute and unbeaten by the time the half-time whistle was blown.
It had been tight, with the defences dominating, but 10 goals were to follow in the second half.
Halfway through the third chukka, Deyzel found some space on the right and made use of it, beating Springate low to his left, to extend the Westville advantage to three goals. It didn’t take long for them to make it four.
Coach Michael Springer‘s charges made effective use of an exclusion to set up a goal-scoring opportunity and Jared Byleveldt, thanks to an accurate pass onto his right hand, converted from close range.
Michaelhouse were denied a goal by the Westville crossbar, and the Griffin swept swiftly onto a counterattack after picking up the rebound. Captain Max Scully finished nicely across the face of the goalkeeper to make it 5-0. It appeared to be one-way traffic.
Then, Michaelhouse worked their way up the pool, but for the second attack in succession, Westville was saved by the frame of the goal. ‘House, though, were saved by a similar circumstance on their attack that followed.
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With only two seconds left in the chukka, Calvin Stanley just beat the clock and Springate to boost Westville’s lead to 6-0.
Three-and-a-half minutes from time, Michaelhouse had a good chance to break their duck when they were awarded a five-metre penalty. Nicholas Smithers made no mistake and ‘House were finally on the scoresheet.
Westville went back on the offensive and a shot that rebounded off the crossbar, after a deflection from ‘House net-minder Springate, fell kindly for Andrew Boucher, who gathered the ball and powered it past the ‘keeper’s left and into the goal.
Michaelhouse found a quick reply, getting the ball into the hole for Bryn Retzlaff, who fired a rocket into the Westville net. They were not done.
Soon, they converted a third goal, this time from range, with Jess Webber enjoying a favourable bounce off the water to beat Warren Murray high to his right.
With just less than a-minute-and-a-half remaining, Michaelhouse, who had trailed 0-6 after three chukkas, made it 4-7 with a well disguised laser of a shot from the right getting the better of Murray.
It had been a brave late fightback by Michaelhouse, but it was too little too late, and Westville had the final say when they scored in the last minute through Rhys Hall to make the final score 8-4.
Hilton, off the back of two-goal loss to St Stithians, were outstanding against Selborne, scoring a handful of spectacular goals in their 11-8 win.
It was level at 8-8 heading into the final chukka. Selborne had a chance to go ahead from the penalty spot, but they failed to beat Trent Chubb, in the Hilton goal, and coach Jason Sileno’s men then broke open a contest in which there had never been more than a goal separating the sides to win going away.
Clifton after a solid performance in their win over St Stithians, in which their defence was lightyears better than in their defeat to Selborne, headed back into the water for a third contest of the day, facing Bishops, who had an unbeaten record, and who had defeated the highly rated SACS twice in the week.
It was a tight game, and it was level at 5-5 with less than two minutes to play when Bishops scored from a penalty to edge ahead. They, then, added an insurance goal with a minute left to secure a hard-fought 7-5 win.
With their confidence boosted after their victory over Michaelhouse, Westville exploded out of the blocks against St Andrew’s College and built up a solid 5-1 lead. Much like their earlier win, however, they let their opposition make a late charge for parity. But it came up short as the Griffin ran out 8-5 victors.
Michaelhouse began well against St John’s College, but the Houghton boys, who had already established themselves as one of the teams in contention to go all the way, brought their quality to bear and opened up a 9-4 advantage. ‘House finished strongly again, though, with St John’s eventually taking a 10-8 victory.
The last match of the day pitted Hilton, who had looked really good in their win over Selborne, against the undefeated Bishops team, who had come closest to losing when they edged out Selborne 2-1 from the spot after the sides had finished 9-9 after regulation time.
Hilton College played well and appeared on course to end Bishops’ clean record. From the opening whistle, Meyer Malherbe and co put their opponents under pressure, scored some cracking goals, and went ahead and kept ahead of the Capetonians for much of the contest, leading 9-7 heading into the final chukka.
Unfortunately, they couldn’t hold onto that lead, and Bishops, with a dramatic surge, came from behind to claim a difficult 12-10 victory.
Results
Pool A
St Stithians 8-6 Hilton
Selborne 13-8 Clifton
SACS 17-7 Grey High
Bishops 9(2)-9(1) Selborne
Clifton 7-4 St Stithians
Hilton 11-8 Selborne
Bishops 7-5 Clifton
SACS 13-9 St Stithians
Bishops 12-10 Hilton
Pool B
St John’s 10-8 Paul Roos
Rondebosch 8-4 St Andrew’s
Westville 8-4 Michaelhouse
Rondebosch 11-8 Paul Roos
Westville 8-5 St Andrew’s
St John’s 10-8 Michaelhouse
Day 3 fixtures
Saturday, 27 January, @ St Andrew’s College
07:00– (34) Clifton vs SACS; 07:45 – (35) Grey High vs Bishops; 08:30 – (36) Selborne vs St Stithians; 09:15 – (37) 7th Pool A vs 6th Pool B (qualifier); 10:00 – (38) 1st Pool A vs 4th Pool B (quarterfinal 1); 10:50 – (39) 2nd Pool A vs 3rd Pool B (2nd quarterfinal); 11:40 – (40) 3rd Pool A vs 2nd Pool B (3rd quarterfinal); 12:30 – (41) 4th Pool A vs 1st Pool B (quarterfinal 4); 13:20 – (42) 5th Pool A vs Winner 37 (Plate semi-final); 14:10 – (43) 6th Pool A vs 5th Pool B (Plate semi-final); 15:00 – (44) Loser 38 vs Loser 40 (5th-8th); 15:50 – (45) Loser 30 vs Loser 41 (5th-8th); 16:40 – (46) Winner 38 vs Winner 40 (Semi-final 1); 17:30 – (47) Winner 39 vs Winner 41 (Semi-final 2).
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