Overview Sporting Achievements:
The weekend was the start of the winter fixtures for College, with matches in the main against Michaelhouse, and saw 28 rugby teams and 15 hockey teams take to the field. Filler games, mostly played on the stagger, were against Kearsney and Westville Boys High.
Congratulations to the 10 College boys who have been selected to represent KwaZulu-Natal for the National Schools Athletics event in Germiston in two weeks. In addition, cross country star J Werth was the first junior runner home running an outstanding 38.02 at the Umgeni Marathon 10km, and finishing 12th overall.
Rugby:
Most of College’s rugby matches were away games played against Michaelhouse. These were College’s first winter fixtures for the year, with the boys being both excited and somewhat apprehensive. There a number of hard-fought games and close scores, with College losing in the last few minutes, in the U16A, 2nd and 1st team matches.
1st team report (Tim Orchard, 1st XV coach) On Saturday, Maritzburg College returned to Balgowan for their first fixture at Michaelhouse since 2018! The last time the two sides met was last year at the St Stithian’s Easter rugby festival which resulted in a narrow one-point loss to Michaelhouse. This year’s fixture promised to be as enthralling, with both sides looking to begin their domestic seasons in earnest. Saturday marked College’s first runout against opposition whilst Michaelhouse played host to Helpmekaar the previous Saturday which resulted in an exciting 24 all draw. College started extremely well, taking the game to their opposition with great verve which yielded early set-piece dominance which yielded early points in the form of two tries from well worked lineout drives and a penalty from the boot of L. du Toit. At 15-nil with their tails very much up, College looked full of rugby and the College supporters in attendance fully expected this lead to be lengthened even further. Momentum began to shift when College were reduced to 14 men, after another massive lineout drive which inexplicably collapsed under dubious circumstances, and K Mthimkulu was yellow carded for unsportsmanlike conduct. This reduction to 14 men and the loss of a key lineout forward allowed the home team to claw back their way back into the match with two tries to put the score at 15-14 at halftime. After halftime, Michaelhouse hit back with two penalties after a number of mistakes from College prevented them from establishing the dominance and allowing Michaelhouse to establish momentum. College eventually managed to get some field possession which allowed them to revert to their dominant maul and saw E. Mouton to barge over for his second try of the day to put the score at 20 all. The match ebbed and flowed but ultimately the home side managed to score a try right at the death to put the match to bed and win 27-20. For College, it was a match that they let slip from their grasp through numerous unforced errors which can be attributed to early season rustiness and inexperienced decision-making.
College: 20 Tries: A. Botha, E. Mouton x2 Penalties: L. du Toit x1 Conversions: L. du Toit x1 Michaelhouse: 27
Summary of results Overall; Played 28, won 16, lost 11, drew 1 Vs MHS; Played 19, won 12, lost 7, drew 0 Vs Kearsney; Played 9, won 4, lost 4, drew 1
U14A MHS won 29-10 U15A vs MHS won 26-24 U16A vs MHS lost 28-25 2nd vs MHS lost 20-28 1st vs MHS lost 20-27
Hockey:
Most of College’s hockey matches were against Michaelhouse with a few filler games against Westville Boys High. Of the 15 games played, College won 6, losing 5 and drawing 4. Both matches against Westville were played at home on Pape’s and saw College secure two good wins. The games against Michaelhouse were closely contested events, which saw College win 4, lose 5 and draw 4.
1st team report (Kyle Emerson, 1st XI coach) The first game of the season saw College travel to Michaelhouse to play their rivals who they had not played in a fixture since 2019. It was an exciting match which included five goals, and there could have been more. The energy was high and both schools had good support from their boys on the stands. College enjoyed most of the possession in the first quarter, and in fact throughout the match, but were unable to use this early possession to threaten the MHS goal. MHS opened the scoring in the 8th minute when a ball was slapped into the circle and a loose ball fell to a MHS forward who was unmarked, and he pushed it into the corner of the goal. This seemed to wake up the College team and they moved the ball forward with more purpose, creating a chance which the MHS ‘keeper saved and then earned a PC at the end of the first quarter which they were unable to convert as the shot was hit wide. At the start of the second quarter, College had a great chance to equalise when a 2 vs 1 with the goalkeeper was missed with an open goal. This would be the story of the morning for College, and they would rue their missed opportunities. With four minutes to go before half time, Armstrong threw an accurate overhead to find Khumalo on the run, and the ball was rolled into the goal on the far post by Banele Dlamini. College were not able to use this momentum and MHS then scored with a far post deflection on the stroke of half time. College continued to create chance after chance but were unable to add to the scoreline in the third quarter. Another bout of poor marking allowed an overhead to be thrown to a MHS forward who entered the circle and in doing so, earned a stroke with seven minutes to play. The MHS captain put it away to make it a 2-goal deficit. College continued to threaten the MHS goal with many chances and the MHS goalkeeper made a brilliant double-save to keep their lead intact. College finally found their second goal with a short corner scored by Bryn Brokensha with four minutes left on the clock. On the stroke of full time another chance fell to College as a deflection took the ball inches from the goal. The game ended with a 2-3 victory to MHS. It was an exciting game of hockey which could have seen the result go either way, but it was Michaelhouse who would make the most of the opportunities they created.
Summary results U14A drew 2-2 U16A won 2-1 2nd lost 0-25 1st lost 2-3
Sports report compiled by Maritzburg College.
