10 June 2024
(Article by Marlow Bloem)
Hilton College hosted St Charles College on Saturday on Gilfillan Field, with the visitors, fresh off a victory at Glenwood, posing a serious threat after putting together a series of impressive performances this season.
The hosts, though, were first on the board when flyhalf Xola Makongola slotted a penalty from 35 metres out.
They added to their score in the tenth minute. From a lineout in the St Charles’ 22, the ball was fed down the backline to outside centre Khazimla Makali and he smashed his way past two defenders to dive over beneath the posts. Makongola converted.
In the 18th minute, with Hilton feeding the ball down their backline, Saints’ no. 10 Ukhanyo Ntsangani stuck a leg out and poked the ball ahead. He chased after, scooped it up, and sprinted in from 50m to dot down under the uprights. He added the extras, too.
After 27 minutes, it was all square when Ntsangani knocked over a penalty from 45 metres out.
Towards the end of the first half, the visitors struck with a brilliant try. From a lineout only 10 metres from their own try line, a cleverly executed short lineout resulted in scrumhalf Matthew Fick racing up the left touchline.
Around the 10m line, he cut inside and once he reached halfway, he offloaded, with two support runners ranging up on his outside. Salmaan Mohammed turned on the jets but was scragged on the 22. As he went down, he found Rashied Isaacs on his inside, and the centre fended off a final despairing tackle to round the Hilton defence and finish a splendid break.
With Ntsangani again on target, Saints led by seven at the break, 17-10.
Early in the second half, Makongola reduced the deficit to four with a penalty from 30 metres out.
The hosts hit the front in the 41st minute. They made inroads as their forwards dented the Saints’ defence with a series of pick-and-goes. Then, from two metres out, 8th-man Emmanuel Dankwah bashed his way over the line and Makongola made it a seven-point haul with a successful kick.
Three minutes later, Dankwah led Hilton to more points. Picking up off the back of a scrum only metres from his side’s try line, he went to the blindside, brushing off an attempted tackle to close in on St Charles’ fullback Salmaan Mohammed. When confronted by the no. 15 on the halfway line, and having angled back inside, he had opened up space for a pass to Ivan Jjuuko on his outside.
Hilton’s fullback was brought down in the 22 but was not held. He regained his feet and made a few more metres before being taken to ground. Quick ball from the right touchline back to the left had Saints scrambling. After four phases, Makongola provided the finish to extend Hilton’s advantage to 25-17.
St Charles pulled to within a try on the 50th minute, with Ntsangani slotting a close-range penalty.
The home side soon hit back, however, and it was a sucker punch when they did. St Charles was in possession on the Hilton 10m line but an ambitious long pass down the backline was intercepted by right wing Rukudzo Madinga and there was no catching him. He was in under the posts and Makongola tacked on two to make it 32-20.
Momentum was with the hosts, and they scored again four minutes later. They made their way into the Saints’ 22, but the visitors turned over possession. An attempted clearance from the St Charles’ try line was charged down, however, and Daniel Sweeney pounced on the loose ball for another Hilton five-pointer.
Down but not out, St Charles won themselves a penalty inside the Hilton 22 and went for a tap. Raphael Ajibade crashed it up to near the try line and Saints then let the ball go, back towards the middle of the field. There, scrumhalf Fick, with a flat pass, picked out inside centre Okuhle Peti, who had made a strong run into a gap. He powered his way over for a try next to the posts and Ntsangani converted.
Unfortunately for Saints, they learnt that lightning could strike twice when Madinga pulled off his second interception try of the contest. Credit to the wing for his reading of the game, but it was a tough to stomach blow for the visitors, who conceded another seven points.
Saints, though, had the final say from a five-metre scrum. They moved the ball down the backline where Okuhle Peti crashed through a would-be tackler and went over to the right of the posts. Ntsangani was on target with the conversion again.
Final score: 44-34 in favour of Hilton College.
While Saints have next weekend off, all eyes will be on Meadows in Balgowan on Saturday, where Hilton will face Michaelhouse in their second showdown of 2024.
The results favoured Hilton on the day, but it was super-tight in the u15 games, with Hilton winning by six in the battle of the A teams and by three in the B team match.
RESULTS
1st: Hilton 44-34 St Charles
2nd: Hilton 45-7 St Charles
3rd: Hilton 37-10 Linpark 1st
4th: Hilton 35-7 St Charles 3rd
5th: Hilton 29-5 St Charles 4th
7th: Hilton 10-27 St Charles 5th
16A: Hilton 38-14 St Charles
16B: Hilton 22-12 St Charles
16C: Hilton 22-10 KZN Development
15A: Hilton 12-6 St Charles
15B: Hilton 22-19 St Charles
15C: Hilton 17-49 Linpark A
14A: Hilton 41-7 St Charles
14B: Hilton 22-19 KZN Development
14C: Hilton 14-19 St Charles B
HOCKEY
On the Astro, Hilton and St Charles delivered an entertaining contest. The home side dominated possession and exerted plenty of pressure, but Saints defended manfully, and it was 1-1 until the last moments of the third chukka.
A late strike there, and two more in the final quarter, brought Hilton a hard-fought win.
Saints picked up a couple of wins in the open age group, but Hilton’s u16A team continued its fine season with a comfortable victory. The home team also claimed the u14A win.
Overall, Hilton won five matches, St Charles took three wins, and there was a draw in the u16C game.
RESULTS
1st: Hilton 4-1 St Charles
2nd: Hilton 1-4 St Charles
3rd: Hilton 2-3 St Charles
4th: Hilton 2-0 St Charles
16A: Hilton 4-0 St Charles
16B: Hilton 3-0 St Charles
16C: Hilton 1-1 St Charles
14A: Hilton 2-1 St Charles
14B: Hilton 1-4 St Charles
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