1st XI Cricket vs Grey High School (Lower field, Captain’s declaration)
St Andrew’s College won the toss on Saturday and elected to bat first versus Grey High School on Lower field. Grey’s fast bowler, Likhona Gcora bowled a superb opening spell, picking up two early wickets, and College never recovered from 11 for 3 wickets, and were bowled out cheaply for 76. Grey’s leg spinner, Xander Elkington playing in his 100th 1st XI match celebrated with excellent figures of 5/19 in 8 overs.
Grey sportingly continued the game after passing College’s total declaring on 213/8, Marco Giaconi (52) and Josh Rennie (53 not out) were amongst the runs for Grey. College finished on 70/3 at the close play at 6pm with Grey in search of the five 2nd innings wickets for an outright victory. William Beamish struck it well for College in the 2nd innings with his fluent 49 runs. Well done to Grey on their win and compelling Saturday of cricket.
1st Team Water Polo Report: KES 29 Feb – 2 March
The 1st Team participated in the KES tournament last weekend, beginning with a preparatory match against the Saints Old Boys, organized by Julian Dovey.
On Friday, our first challenge was against Paul Roos. Due to limited preparation, we found the last half difficult and lost 13-7. Our next game against Northwood ended in a 14-6 victory, thanks to following our game plan closely.
Saturday required a win against the undefeated St. Johns. Despite a strong start, a few mistakes allowed St. Johns to take the lead, resulting in a 14-8 loss for us. This moved us to the Plate section, where we defeated Pretoria Boys 8-2 in the quarterfinals.
In the Plate semifinals against Selborne, we struggled to convert early opportunities into goals. Selborne’s pressure led to a 6-3 defeat for us.
Our final match was against Clifton. We led 5-2 and managed to secure a 5-4 win, despite Clifton’s late goals, ending our season on a positive note.
Special thanks to Mr. Mpho Hlongwane for managing the team and to Mr. Tom Hamilton (St Andrew’s College Headmaster) for his support throughout the tournament.
TENNIS: Selborne/Clarendon Tournament
Six St Andrew’s College tennis players and their DSG doubles partners travelled to East London weekend to participate in the Selborne – Clarendon Tennis Tournament. With an early start to the morning, the team soon had to face Stirling High School on the courts. Stirling proved to be better prepared during the singles matches, but Cameron Bennett and Liam Painter fought their way to victory. The increasing heat and wind could not dampen the team’s spirits, and they played excellent tennis during the mixed doubles matches, resulting in a narrow win against Stirling by one point, 19 – 18
The team won all their games against Grens High School and then faced a challenging fixture against Pearson High School that extended late into the evening. Despite this, our players exhibited tenacity and inspiring sportsmanship. Unfortunately, the final score was 10 – 28 in favour of a strong Pearson side. Placing third in their pool, the team relied on a debrief and reflection session, a dip in the pool, pizza, and ice cream to assist them in resetting into an optimistic mindset required for the next day. This strategy proved effective as they dominated on the courts against Merrifield College, securing a 30 – 6 victory. Here, Qhawe Mbetshu and Matthew Ladds displayed skilful tennis matches.
The final fixture of the tournament was against Nico Malan High School, where Lou Coetzee and Greg White played exciting matches that had spectators on the edge of their seats. The team won 23 – 8, placing them 5th overall in the tournament. Congratulations to the St Andrew’s College and DSG tennis players on a memorable tour and for representing our schools with humility, spirit, and etiquette at this prestigious event.
Sports report and images credit: SACS
