3 June 2024
Two of the most exciting 1st XVs of 2024 went at it hammer and tongs on Bowden’s on Saturday, delivering thrilling entertainment.
Northwood‘s Knights made a spectacular start, scoring at a point a minute to lead Westville 17-0 in the first half, after crossing for three fantastic tries, with Carlos Lovell scoring the first two and Aphiwe Buthelezi the third.
Westville, with a superb long-range effort from Michael Satade, which was set in motion by Zekhethelo Siyaya, pulled to within 7-18 at the break.
In the second half, the Griffin came out firing, and they chased down and overhauled Northwood, with tries from Jade-Will Koopman, Wandile Simelane, and Jeshua Ferreira helping them into a 27-20 lead.
The Knights are a gutsy bunch, however, and they found a reply, driving over from close range with about four minutes to play. Savio Stevens, coolly, levelled matters with an accurate conversion kick.
Then, in the last minute, after Westville was blown up at a scrum on the centre spot, and then did not retreat 10 metres, Stevens had an opportunity to win the game for the visitors from the 10m line. His aim was unerring, and Northwood edged ahead 30-27.
Shortly after that, flyhalf Siya Nkosi (feature photo) nudged the ball into the Northwood supporters and the final whistle blew, giving Jacques Deen‘s charges another excellent win in a very impressive season for the boys from the north of Durban.
In a very keenly contested open age group, both schools picked up three wins. Westville won three and the other was drawn at u16 level, but the home teams outscored the visitors by only 13 points across those four games.
Northwood picked up the u15A win, with the B teams drawing, and Westville winning three times. The Griffin also took the u14A honours and made a clean sweep of the age group.
RESULTS
1st: Westville 27-30 Northwood
2nd: Westville 8-0 Northwood
3rd: Westville 24-19 Northwood
4th: Westville 10-12 Northwood
5th: Westville 36-12 Northwood
6th: Westville 10-34 Northwood
16A: Westville 22-14 Northwood
16B: Westville 15-5 Northwood
16C: Westville 10-10 Northwood
16D: Westville 18-15 Northwood
15A: Westville 16-27 Northwood
15B: Westville 7-7 Northwood
15C: Westville 5-29 Northwood
15D: Westville 26-10 Northwood
15E: Westville 3-50 Northwood
14A: Westville 24-0 Northwood
14B: Westville 26-7 Northwood
14C: Westville 36-0 Northwood
14D: Westville 49-0 Northwood
14E: Westville 38-0 Northwood
HOCKEY
In a Friday Night Lights’ showdown, the Northwood 1st XI came away with an entertaining 1-0 win at Westville.
The goal was worthy of being a winner, with Andrew Deeb, after picking up a long ball that split the Westville defence, expertly redirecting it into the path of Isaac Phiri, who stuck away the opportunity.
Competition was exceedingly tight. In the five open age group matches, Northwood won three and there were two draws, with the visitors scoring six goals and Westville four.
The u16A match ended in a goalless draw. There was a 2-2 draw between the u16D sides, while Westville picked up three hard-fought wins in the remaining u16 contests.
Northwood’s u14A team pulled off a noteworthy achievement when they kept Westville’s outstanding u14A side from scoring. Still, that contest ended 0-0. The hosts claimed two wins in the age group, and Northwood picked up one.
RESULTS
1st: Westville 0-1 Northwood
2nd: Westville 0-1 Northwood
3rd: Westville 1-1 Northwood
4th: Westville 2-2 Northwood
5th: Westville 1-1 Northwood
16A: Westville 0-0 Northwood
16B: Westville 2-1 Northwood
16C: Westville 3-1 Northwood
16D: Westville 2-2 Northwood
16E: Westville 2-0 Northwood
14A: Westville 0-0 Northwood
14B: Westville 2-1 Northwood
14C: Westville 7-0 Northwood
14D: Westville 1-2 Northwood
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