5 March 2024
With the private schools still on holiday, only two derbies take place this weekend – Glenwood vs Maritzburg College and Durban High School (DHS) vs Westville – both in Durban. Both 1st XI hockey fixtures should deliver exciting clashes.
The action starts on Friday evening at the 3 Schools Astro, where Glenwood will welcome Maritzburg College for a showdown on their turf.
After a tough 2023, Glenwood made a middling start to 2024 at the Coastal Cup, but something appears to have clicked at the Saints Sports Festival over the Easter weekend, and their level of performance has improved. They’re pushing some of the top teams hard, but now need to turn some of those narrow losses into draws and wins.
They’re a young team, learning every game, and that is cause for optimism.
Maritzburg College has also shown improvements early in the season despite facing a very tough schedule at the Nomads Festival and the KES Easter Festival.
At Nomads, they came ever so close to upsetting Grey High, who won all five of their games, falling 2-3 after leading 2-0 at the break.
This past weekend, in Johannesburg, they won three, drew one, and lost one, which was a good return against some stiff opposition, especially since it was a young side that did duty. Their arrow is pointing up.
Expect College to dominate ball possession, but Glenwood to pose a threat on the counterattack. The hosts have some confident ball-carriers, who like to run at opposing defences, so College will need to maintain a disciplined structure.
With their confidence on the up, College will fancy their chances, but they go into the clash missing some injured players. Nonetheless, they’re blessed with depth – the Maritzburg College 2nd XI was unbeaten at the recent Michaelhouse Hockey Festival, where they took on some 1st teams and other leading 2nd XIs from around the country.
A big clash and a tough challenge awaits Westville at The Coliseum, the home of DHS hockey. That game starts at 18:30 on Friday evening.
Under coach Keegan Hezlett, DHS has maintained a 100 percent winning record to start the season, which began with a 1-0 win over a very good Kearsney College team on the Mason Astro.
They also won all of their Coastal Cup matches, beating St Alban’s College 5-1, Garsfontein 1-0, Menlopark 2-1, and Waterkloof 4-0.
They’re a team that is very confident on the ball, and they move it well. Their challenge remains turning the many goal scoring opportunities they create into goals.
Westville began their season with a 2-0 defeat of Michaelhouse, then beat Clifton College 2-1. At the Coastal Cup, they recorded a 1-0 win over Pearson, beat Paarl Boys’ High 2-0 and Waterkloof 4-0. Thus, it was a big surprise when Garsfontein beat the Griffin 3-1 in their last game.
Both schools are quality outfits, well coached and with some outstanding talents in their midst. DHS will look to Lumi Matwele and Lethabo Bogacwi to steer their challenge, while Westville, in captain and central defender Owen Slack, has a player capable of upsetting any team’s attacking intentions.
To look at only those players would be foolhardy, however. They’re stacked with plenty of talent and the decisive plays could come from anywhere.
TEAMS
DHS
1 Dilan Ebrahim, 2 Bhavesh Naicker, 3 Ruben Peters, 4 Lethabo Bogacwi, 5 Mahlatse Sebake, 6 Sithsaba Siyoyo, 7 Lumi Matwele, 8 Nathi Jona, 9 Tyrique Cloete, 10 Josh Mungherera, 11 Lethabo Matobela
Semal Pillay, Sihle Sogoni, Lubanzi Zulu, Josh van Biljon, Christopher Abrahams
Westville
1 Ameron Moses, 2 Max Robertson, 3 Kaeden McAllister, 4 Nicolas Ackerman, 5 Owen Slack, 6 Curt Rogers, 7 Josh Beck, 8 Sibusiso Cele, 11 Seth Simpson, 13 Thabo Dlamini, 14 Roxton Payne
20 Bryce Powell-Rees, 12 Misbah Nair, 18 Tyhil Naidoo, 9 Heath Stott, 19 Bo Mokoena
Maritzburg College
1 Nick Holmes, 2 Ethan Fabre, 3 Awanda Mthalane, 4 Siwa Sithembu, 5 Rory Schirge, 6 Ipeleng Mosupye, 7 Julian Konigkramer, 8 Kadin Jenkins, 9 Greg Askew, 10 Banele Dlamini, 11 Ethan Maynard, 12 Matthew Smith, 13 Tai Fulton, 14 Noah Jackson, 15 Brett Hosking, 16 Andile Lembethe
Glenwood
1 Caleb Hendrikse, 2 Braigen Yunnie, 3 Sibani Mtolo, 4 Qhama Dyakopou, 5 Siya Malatjie (c), 6 Mlondi Nyawose, 7 Ntando Soni, 8 Krian Jugoo, 9 Sibonelo Phewa, 10 Ryder Chislett, 11 Jared Gallagher, 12 Murray Wicks, 13 Ezile Makhatini, 14 Kaden Henderson, 15 Xaydon Kariko
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