Sports News: Maritzburg College
Maritzburg College hockey, rugby and soccer teams had a busy week competing in various sporting festivals and tournaments around the country. The cycling, canoeing and table tennis teams were also in action producing some excellent results.
Hockey
College’s hockey teams took part in the Hibbert Tournament with the 1st XI competing in the Hibbert Shield at Grey College, and the 16A in the Hibbert Cup and the 14A in the Hibbert Plate, both hosted at Pearson.
College’s 1st XI had a tough competition, and after winning two matches, drawing two and losing two, finished in 15th place. The 16A team played very well with two wins and a draw in their pool, going through to the quarter finals, where they beat Clifton 4-2. They unfortunately lost to a strong Grey High team in the semifinal and finished 4th overall. College’s 14A also did well, winning two of their three pool matches, before losing to Paul Roos in the quarter final, and finishing 5th overall.
1st XI report (1st XI coach and Hockey Director, Mr Mark Sanders)
It was College’s first appearance at the annual Hibbert Shield Tournament held at Grey High School in Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape. After a two-day bus trip with an overnight stop in Bloemfontein, the tournament began as a cold front is settling in.
The first game was against local opponents Clifton College, an opposition who College have struggled to perform against over recent years. College started off slowly and conceded, having to fight hard against a skillful and hard running outfit. College scored later in the game, ending with a 1-1 draw, and a sense of loss after creating many opportunities throughout the game.
Paul Roos were next, one of the standout teams in schoolboy hockey. This would be a mammoth task. Paul Roos came out flying and were 2-0 up in the first quarter. College was eventually 0-6 down needing a massive fight back, before managing to score two goals and going down 2-6.
The next game was against Selborne which College won 2-0 and ended third in the pool.
The first play-off game was against another local team, Westville, and saw College create many chances again in the opposition circle but to no avail, losing due to not making the most of these. Up against Bishops in the next playoff, the result was much the same as previous games, with College failing to score after the countless opportunities created.
Eventually the College team found themselves up against Selborne College, again. Despite some injuries, College managed to win 2-1 and finished the tournament in fifteenth place.
Throughout the tournament, College continued to play a beautiful and strong brand of hockey but unfortunately scoring goals in tournaments is vital for finishing higher. Hopefully the experience and knowledge that the boys will have acquired will contribute to their growth and development as players and a team.
Summary of results:
| Team | Opposition | Result |
| 1st | Clifton | D 1-1 |
| 1st | Paul Roos | L 2-6 |
| 1st | Selborne | W 2-0 |
| 1st | Westville (QF) | L 1-2 |
| 1st | Bishops (PO) | D 2-2 (lost on shootout) |
| 1st | Selborne (PO) | W 2-1 |
| 16A | DHS | D 1-1 |
| 16A | St Alban’s | W 2-0 |
| 16A | Selborne | W 3-0 |
| 16A | Clifton (QF) | W 4-2 |
| 16A | Grey High (SF) | L 2-3 |
| 16A | DHS (PO) | L 0-3 |
| 14A | Paarl Vallei | W 3-0 |
| 14A | Clifton | W 5-0 |
| 14A | SACS | L 0-4 |
| 14A | Paul Roos (QF) | L 2-8 |
| 14A | Westville (PO) | W 2-0 |
| 14A | Grey High (PO) | W 2-1 |
Rugby
The 1st, 16A, 15A and 14A rugby team all travelled to Kimberley for the Absa Wildeklawer Festival
and played Jeppe High School on 1 May and the host’s Diamantveld Hoer Skool on 3 May.
1st XV report (1st XV coach, Mr Nico Breedt)
The opening encounter against Jeppe got off to a challenging start. College defended valiantly for the 1st quarter of the match and were trapped in their half; Jeppe managed to kick a penalty and led 3-0. Unfortunately, in the process College’s open side flanker dislocated his shoulder after only 8 minutes, ruling him out for the rest of the festival, and his replacement also had to leave the field with damaged ankle ligaments, putting the forwards under tremendous pressure for the rest of the game and festival. College scored the opening try in the 18th minute and converted. But Jeppe controlled
the remainder of the half starving College of possession and territory and converted that pressure into another successful penalty kick and two converted tries. Half time score 20 – 07 to Jeppe. The second half started promisingly with College on attack, but a spilled ball was kicked through and Jeppe scored under the posts further advancing their lead. Nothing seemed to be going right and although College never gave up, Jeppe closed out the game with a relentless will to win. College did manage to score two tries in the second half and kick a penalty, with the final score 37-24 and a well- deserved win for Jeppe.
The Diamantveld encounter was an exciting exchange with both teams looking to put their first day losses behind them and get back to winning ways. The hosts scored first, before College came back with a try. The hosts again crossed the line and after 18 minutes Diamantveld led 12-7. For the remainder of the game neither team was able to build up a significant lead-, and half-time score saw College leading by 24 – 17.
College unfortunately made too many unforced errors and allowed another three converted tries in the second half, only scoring one in reply. The final score was 38-31 to Diamantveld, and although an exciting encounter to watch, ultimately a disappointing performance by College with too many basic errors. Many lessons were learnt which will stand College in good stead for the remainder of the season.
Summary of results:
| Team | Opposition | Result |
| 1st XV | vs Jeppe | L 24-37 |
| 1st XV | vs Diamantveld | L 31-38 |
| 16A | vs Jeppe | W 40-22 |
| 16A | vs Diamantveld | L 19-22 |
| 15A | vs Jeppe | W 36-31 |
| 15A | vs Diamantveld | L 12-13 |
| 14A | vs Jeppe | L 14-29 |
| 14A | vs Diamantveld | L 22-24 |
Soccer
Absa Wildeklawer in Kimberly was also the destination for the Maritzburg College 1st XI soccer team, where they faced some strong competition. They had a fantastic start to the event, beating Jeppe 3- 1, but went on to lose to Navalsig 0-1, and then draw against Border 1-1. Their last game saw them face a strong Grey College side and they went down 0-3. Despite facing tough competition, they showed incredible character and commitment throughout the tournament. Congratulations to Mazithi Qasha and Captain Caden Sukraj for winning Man of the Match awards!
Summary of results:
| Team | Opposition | Result |
| 1st XI | Jeppe | W 3-1 |
| 1st XI | Navalsig | L 0-1 |
| 1st XI | Border High School | D 1-1 |
| 1st XI | Grey College | L 0 -3 |
Earlier on April the College 1st XI played in a second term league fixture at local rivals Alexandra High. Alex took the lead in the first half and went into half time with a 1-0 lead, however College proved too strong in the second half scoring four goals to secure a 4-2 victory and the three log
points. College’s next home league fixture is on Tuesday 6 May vs Ixopo High School at 4pm.
1sts vs Alex won 4-2 2nds vs MCS won 2-1 U16A vs Umvuso lost 0-1 U15A vs Linpark won 3-0 U14A vs Linpark won 4-1
Canoeing
Three College boys participated in the South African Surfski Championships held over the holiday in Cape Town, producing excellent results.
Congratulations to Keegan Vogt who took 1st place with his partner in the U18 double ski “Freedom Paddle around Robben Island” event, and Jayden Janse van Rensburg and Luke O’ Conner who came 2nd.
Report sent from: Sally J Upfold (Director: Marketing & Communications)