Overview Sporting Achievements

This weekend College’s teams headed down to Durban to take on Westville Boys High in a full round of rugby and hockey fixtures. The College rugby 1^st teams took part in the Sharks Schools Trials held at Kings Park and produced outstanding results, with the highlight being the 1^st XV 41-10 victory!

The soccer teams were in action again midweek taking on a number of local schools, with the 1^st XI securing a great win against Haythorne.

Rugby

College fielded 26 teams on Saturday with 21 of them being against Westville Boys High. College won 18 of their games, with the absolute highlight being the 1st XV 41-10 victory at Kings Park in front of a hugely supportive crowd! The U16A side also secured an excellent 42-7 win.

1^st XV match report (Mr Tim Orchard, 1^st XV coach)

Kings Park played host to the inaugural Sharks Schools day which had the dual function of also being the first round of trials for the Sharks Schools Craven Week team. In a celebratory atmosphere Maritzburg College took the game to Westville in a rampant display of hyper-aggressive rugby and put their opponents to the sword.

The first half was all College as they quickly racked up twenty-two points with L Kunene scoring the easiest of tries as he scampered through the Westville defence to set up a great start to the game. The next try was arguably College’s best passage of play this season so far. After their maul was stopped short of the line, a quick double punch by the forwards with some good ground being made, allowed Sinkfontein to finish off a great attacking set and completely take the wind out of Westville’s sails. College went through a slight dip in energy but still added to the score through the boot of J Slevin who added a penalty to bring the score to 15-0 with ten minutes to play in the first half.

College again found joy through their forwards allowing flyhalf Slevin to find some space and scamper over the Westville tryline to set up a try which he duly converted. Westville hit back with a try of their own to close off the half which well and truly belonged to the men in the Red, Black, and White.

The second half started off slowly but was sparked into life when Westville had a rare scrum outside the 22m area of College, where they attempted a strike play which was expertly read by S Mbatha who ran the length of the field to dot under the poles to take the score to 29-5. The next try came in double quick try when after a Westville lineout was stolen and then mauled, College again was on the front foot with some massive carries in midfield as they worked their methodically towards the Westville tryline. Westville simply couldn’t handle the ferocity of the College attack and eventually Isaacs dove over the tryline as just reward for the way the forwards took the game to their opponents. Westville did however score a consolation try but College had the last laugh through

their standout inside centre Nkululeko Sithole. A hole was created in the Westville defence through which Sithole scampered to score in the right hand corner of the field to bring to a close a marvellous display of aggressive front-foot rugby.

Maritzburg College 41

Tries: Kunene, Sinkfontein, Slevin, Mbatha, Issacs, Sithole. Penalty: Slevin

Conversions: Slevin x4 Westville 10

Summary of results

Hockey

College’s hockey teams faced tough opposition from worthy competitors, Westville, who have some of the strongest hockey sides in the country. College won three of their games and drew three, with the 1^st XI securing a hard fought 3-3 draw.

1st XI match report (Mr Kyle Emerson, 1st XI coach)

At the start of the game College were able to assert their dominance over Westville. Their effective press and resulting turnovers put the home side under early pressure, which led to a few penalty corners. The first one was flicked off target, the second was run down well by the Westville first- wave. The third one, after an error on the top of the circle, was rolled to captain Ipeleng Mosupye who pushed the ball hard past the Westville goalkeeper.

Westville tried to find an equaliser but were not afforded many opportunities. A rare mistake in their own half, saw College give the ball away cheaply and an unmarked forward was able to get a back- hand shot away that beat Nic Holmes at his near post. A good finish that saw the home side even the scores.

College earned a few more penalty corners but couldn’t beat the defence. They eventually found their second goal after an effective high press and turnover from Julian Konigkramer resulted in a penalty corner. Konigkramer made no mistake with a good drag-flick and hit the side netting, beating both the goalkeeper and post man. College went into the half time break 2 – 1 up and looking like the stronger team.

In the second half, Westville’s deep press was effective and stifled College’s fluid play, which meant that the visitors did not create as many circle entries. Minutes before the end of the 3^rd quarter, Westville had possession in the attacking quarter. They slapped the ball in and it deflected off a College stick into the goal, no Westville player near the ball. For some reason, confusion over-took the umpires and they awarded it as a goal. This shifted the momentum going into the last quarter.

College weathered the bad tackles form Westville, with no punishment going to the home side. The lead was regained with 7 minutes left when a good turnover, again from Konigkramer, resulted in him attacking the circle and finding Siwe Sithembu who slotted it into the goal.

Westville were finally given a green card for a bad tackle. This meant College stepped hard and tried to win the ball high in the field but Westville were able to play a penetrating ball through. The striker was fouled and a penalty corner awarded to Westville. The Westville captain slapped a hard ball to beat Holmes and the postman to even the scores.

The College players did not stop fighting and had a few circle entries and that death but could not break the defence to regain the lead. Another game with missed chances and errors which saw College not get the result which they probably deserved. Westville’s discipline in defence and ability to play the game without the ball for long periods was enough to earn them a draw at home.

Summary of results

Soccer

College played five soccer games midweek, winning three, drawing one and losing one. The 1^st XI secured a great 3-0 won over Haythorne.

Summary of results 14A vs Linpark, won 2-1 15A vs Linpark, won 2-1

16A vs Edendale Tech U19A, lost 1-0 U19B vs Newton, drew 1-1

U19A vs Haythorne, won 3-0

Debating

This week was the junior debating rounds, with College’s Grade 8s and juniors in action.

Grade 8

College 1 v Epworth – won, Best speaker: Q Madlala

Juniors

College 1 v – St Nicholas 1 – won, Best speaker: A Madlala College 2 v Alex – lost

Sports report sent from Maritzburg college