This weekend saw nine of Maritzburg College’s sporting and cultural codes in action in the annual exchange against Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool (Affies), from Pretoria, while the canoeists produced excellent results at the SA Surkski Championships in Durban.

Rugby

Playing rugby against one of the strongest schools in the country was always going to be tough – but College went into all of their fixtures committed and determined to give of their best. The heartbreakingly close score for the 1^st XV match as well as several other games, and one draw, confirmed that the boys gave of their all.

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

The 1^st XV match was definitely a main event of the exchange against Affies, with College very much the underdogs as their opponents have had an impressive season so far. The game started off in a tremendous fashion for the home team as they struck first through their SA Schools tight head prop Aiden Botha, who bashed over the line after a period of play that was all College. Affies hit back soon afterwards when a well worked backline move allowed them to bring the scores level. Flyhalf James Slevin put the home team in front through a penalty kick at goal after College surged towards the Affies tryline. In what was going to be the theme of the day, Affies scored next after a series of flowing passes allowed their fullback to exploit the available space out wide and score to take the lead once again at 14-10. Affies again looked good to extend their lead, but a spilt pass was gleefully scooped up by Luyanda Kunene who scampered away to put the home team back in front at 17-14 after the kick was converted. Affies grabbed the lead once again after another series of accurate passes allowed their winger to exploit the space out wide and crash over in the right-hand corner.

The kick was missed but Affies looked as if they would continue to build their lead with the score now 17-19 to the visitors. College took the lead again through the boot of Slevin who kicked over a penalty to give College a slender one-point lead. Just before the halftime break, Affies hit back with the simplest of tries when their eighth man went through the middle of a ruck on the College tryline to take the lead once again. The conversion was successful and Affies had a 20-26 lead at the break.

After halftime, College once again started off well and were rewarded with a kickable penalty which they duly took to reduce the deficit to a mere three points. Affies, after a period of sustained pressure, took the lead once again when they used their powerful maul to cause the damage. The score now stood at 23-31 and College had their backs to the wall. As has been shown earlier this seas, this is a College side that refuses to give up, and they were rewarded with a try of their own soon afterwards. A quick tap penalty was taken and after a sharp interchange between the forwards and backs, Swelihle Mbatha rounded off a good passage of play for the home team. The score was back to a one-point game at 30-31 with ten minutes to play.

Affies hit back again when their flyhalf managed to exploit a drifting College defence and extend their lead by five points through a fantastic show and go. College again refused to lie down and again put their visitors under severe pressure. College smartly worked the ball down the left flank of Goldstones and a blind side attack worked a treat with Wasi Vyambwera diving over in the corner.

James Slevin calmly slotted the conversion much to the delight of an expectant Basher Ridge behind him. College now had the lead at 37-36 with mere minutes left to play and a hopeful home crowd rightly sniffed an upset.

This was not meant to be, as Affies were awarded a kickable penalty with time up and their flyhalf slotted over the kick to win the game for his team. Affies won the match 37-39 but all in attendance were fulsome in their praise about the way the game was played.

Maritzburg College 37

Tries: Botha, Kunene, Mbatha, Vyambwera Conversions: Slevin x4

Penalties: Slevin x3 Affies: 39 Summary of scores

Hockey

The College and Affies hockey teams were very evenly matched in a series of encounters which saw the home side secure six wins and six draws from their 17 matches, losing five. For the 1^st XI, the final result of a 1-1 draw, was a tough end to match where they had dominated throughout.

1^st XI match report (Mr Kyle Emerson – 1^st XI coach)

The encounter got off to a fast start with College showing their early dominance. The intensity of their press did not allow Affies to string passes together or build any kind of momentum. This allowed College to dominate possession and territory for most of the first half. The College defenders moved the ball around the turf with purpose and made many circle penetrations which lead to a few early chances. The Affies goalkeeper gave an excellent performance and was able to keep the score at 0 – 0 until the third quarter. The best chance of the first half was a good drag-flick from Julian Konigkramer which was denied by the outstretched glove of the Affies goalkeeper, and the ball edged past the post. Another good opportunity also fell to Konigkramer who did well to pull the ball past the goalkeeper as he rushed out of his line, however Konigkramer was unable to keep his backhand shot under the cross bar and it was fired too high. Affies did not create many chances, their best one was a short corner which was stopped by Dane Jackson in the circle before it threatened the goal.

College continued their attacks in the second half, and chance after chance went begging until a counterattack saw Konigkramer get fouled in the circle as he was about to shoot, which resulted in a stroke. Uyanda Dlamini stepped up and calmly slotted the stroke to give the home side the lead.

Affies did not give up, and started to gain some momentum at the end of the third quarter as the College players made a few unforced errors. However, the College defence remained strong and Affies were not able to create any convincing chances, but College would regret not putting the game beyond reach because with 3 minutes to go. Affies scored the equaliser after the ball was rolled into the circle, and a mis-trap by a College defender saw the ball pop up to a well-placed Affies forward who managed to deflect the ball into the goal. It was a soft goal after a lapse in concentration, and resulted in some debate as to whether the attacker moved the ball five metres before playing it into the circle.

An excellent performance from College, who moved the ball and attacked with purpose and created many chances. However, credit must go to Affies for defending hard, and fighting until the end.

Summary of scores

Squash

College’s squash teams produced a resounding victory in their encounters against Affies with a 12-0  final result, after losing just one game.

Cycling

College’s cycling teams hosted Affies up at the Knoll near Hilton over some excellent terrain, and a great day’s competition ensued. Congratulations to College’s senior team who emerged the victors overall, taking 6 of the top 10 places including 1st, 2nd and 4th. Well done to Affies who proved the stronger junior team winning all 5 first places.

Tennis

The College tennis teams played very well against their Affies competitors eventually going down 3-6 overall, but with some excellent individual and doubles performances.

Table tennis

A fiercely contested series of matches against Affies saw both wins and losses for the table tennis team with a final result that saw the home side win 11 of their 25 matches, losing 14.

Canoeing

College’s canoeist participated in the SA Surkski championships in Durban over the weekend producing a number of excellent results.

Doubles U18: Keegan Vogt and partner (Heather Clark ) 2nd Jayden JvRensburg and partner (Senzo Ngcobo) 4th

Singles U16: Keegan Vogt 3rd Josh Worthmann 5th

Singles U18: Keegan Vogt 4th Jayden JvRensburg 7th Luke O’Connor 9th

Soccer

An uncharacteristic lack of focus of the College 1^st XI soccer team saw them go down 1-4 against Alex. However, the U14 team made up for this winning their match 10-1. In the KO Cup at Queensburgh, College’s U15A vs Hillcrest, drew 1 – 1, but lost 7 – 6 on penalties.

2^nd XI vs ML Sultan 1^st, Lost 1 – 0. College vs Alex

U14A, won 10 – 1

U15A, won 1 – 0

U16A, won 3 – 1

1sts, lost 4 – 1

Report send from:  Sally J Upfold (Director: Marketing & Communications)

[email protected]  0825700851