Sports Report: Kearsney College vs Glenwood
Rugby
Kearsney 1st XV beat Glenwood 1st XV 32-31
Saturday saw Glenwood travel up the hill to play at Botha’s Hill once again, after both teams’ participation the previous weekend at the successful 16th Kearsney Easter Rugby Festival.
The Kearsney faithful could not have asked for a better start from the One-Stripe, as vice-captain Doan Nel crossed the whitewash from the kick off with only 33 seconds on the board, following a sniping break from Jayden Jonsson.
Two minutes later it was the turn of Nhlanhla Ndlovu to outrun the defense and score an electric try from the kick off. This put the hosts 12-0 up with only three minutes on the clock.
Glenwood were next to score following some brutal ball carries by their large forwards put their backs on the front foot with a slick change of direction play.
The two teams then traded blows with a further try for Kearsney by Mark van der Merwe, and Glenwood crossed the whitewash twice more, to turn the half heading 24-22.
The second half started a little slower than the first. It was Glenwood who opened the scoring with a slick move from a scrum, which saw Kearsney’s Lwazi Mbebe fall for a dummy and allow Glenwood to take the score to 31-22.
The scoreline remained like this with six minutes to play in the game, with all signs leading towards a Glenwood victory.
Ndlovu, however, had different ideas and fed Mbebe from a midfield scrum before getting the ball back from him, to out-run the defense and score another pulsating try in the corner. This took the tally to 31-27 to Glenwood with two minutes to play.
It was then the chance of Nel to ignite the Kearsney supporters with an unbelievable try and score in the corner after Valentino Lenge’s show of speed on the edge saw him get behind the Glenwood defense and offload inside to the hard-working centre Nel.
Kearsney were then able to hang on defensively and see the game out in a nerve-wracking last minute, after Glenwood missed touch from a penalty, and Mbebe kicked the ball out to secure a hard-fought victory in front of the jubilant supporters on Stott.
Great commitment and a never give up attitude were displayed by the One-Stripe to take an exciting match against the Green Machine. Final score 32-31 to Kearsney.
HOCKEY
Kearsney 1st X1 beat Glenwood 1st X1 1-0
The rain held off just enough for a successful start to the hosts’ Friday Night Lights, with Kearsney taking on Glenwood for an evening of exciting hockey. The two teams had recently competed at the KES Easter Festival in Johannesburg, so there was a mix of fatigue and confidence, with both teams having had a decent amount of hockey as preparation for the match.
From the outset, Glenwood’s cut and man-to-man press sought to put the Kearsney defenders under pressure and minimise the number of overheads needed to get out of deep pressure. Although it was a low-scoring game, both teams pressed really well and moved the ball nicely in possession.
In the first half, Kearsney had more opportunities, and managed to win a penalty stroked after a short corner move that resulted in the Glenwood defender making contact with the ball as the last line of defence. Matthew Terblanche stepped up and scored to secure the only goal of the match, with the game ultimately ending in a 1-0 win for Kearsney.
The second half was a battle of two quarters, with Glenwood applying maximum pressure in the last quarter, to set up a tense final few minutes of play. Kearsney hung on to take the win in front of the support of the full school. The game was played in traditional schoolboy spirit, making for an entertaining match to watch.
KEARSNEY TENNIS TOURNAMENT
The weekend’s annual Kearsney Tennis Tournament saw an exciting standard of tennis from the cream of the country’s competitive players, with Paul Roos Gimnasium from Stellenbosch the eventual winners.
The recipient of the Ant Willows Trophy was Jack Badenhorst from SACS, in recognition of outstanding sportsmanship and the spirit in which he played throughout the tournament.
Now in its 29th year, the prestigious tournament was started in 1996 by Kearsney’s recently retired deputy headmaster Ant Willows, to showcase the strength of tennis amongst aspiring young South African players.
The weekend’s final results were winners Paul Roos Gimnasium, 2nd Westville Boys, 3rd Grey College (Bloemfontein), 4th Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool (Affies in Pretoria), 5th Kearsney College, 6th SACS (Cape Town), 7th St David’s Marist Inanda (Johannesburg) and 8th Rondebosch Boys (Cape Town).
The following individual awards were also made. The best player at number 1 was Willem de Waal (Paul Roos Gim), best number 2 Rhys Vorwerk (Westville), number 3 Xander Pienaar (Paul Roos Gim), number 4 Sean Wilson (Westville), number 5 Fourie Vermeulen (Grey College) and number 6 Sebastian Oosthuizen (Paul Roos Gim).
The players from Paul Roos Gymnasium who ensured their win were Willem de Waal, Pieter Kotze, Xander Pienaar, Hanno Bouwer, Simeon Roothman, Sebastian Oosthuizen and Luke Verwey.
Hosts Kearsney’s team comprised Angus Fyvie, Jason Denekamp, Max East, Luca Gia-Minietti, Connor van Heerden, Troy Jorgensen and Noah Haskell.
Kearsney is grateful to the tournament’s long-time sponsors Sportsmans Warehouse and Wilson, who make the event possible; as well as product sponsors Mr Price Sport, Headwear24, Dove, Orange Grove Dairy, Flatdog, Run Collective & Tailwind Nutrition, as well as Coca-Cola Beverages Africa.
