Rugby, Hockey & Soccer highlights
After a 21 month break it was with great anticipation and excitement that College hosted a full round of winter sport fixtures. Hockey and rugby matches were against Sarel Cilliers and Clifton with filler games against Glenwood, Voortrekker, Hilton and Greytown.
Recorded videos of some of our games are available from DigiTV:
College TV Channel. Please choose the sport you want to watch:
Rugby Games
Hockey Games
Rugby
College fielded 26 rugby teams this weekend, eight of which were against Clifton and five against Sarel Cilliers. This was the first time we welcomed Sarel Cilliers to Goldstones although the two schools have played each other in a number of friendlies in the past. Results showed 18 wins, seven losses and one draw. Highlights included our U16 win against Sarel Cilliers 56-0, our 2nd XV beating Clifton 1st XV 31-14 and our 1st XV win against Sarel Cilliers 1st XV 83-14.
1st XV match report: Cameron Fraser, 1st XV coach
On Saturday Maritzburg College took on Sarel Cilliers for their 5th fixture of the season and the first home games after 21 months.
Sarel Cilliers started like a house on fire and managed to get two early tries in the 1st half. Thereafter it was indeed one way traffic for Maritzburg College and it was a tough afternoon for the young men from Northern-Natal. College scored a battery of tries and won convincingly 83-14.
One could see how much it meant to the boys of College to once again jog out on their hallowed Goldstones and give it their all for the red, black and white.
Summary of Results
Played 26, Won 18, Lost 7, Drew 1
vs Sarel Cilliers; Played 5, Won 5
vs Clifton; Played 8, Won 5, Lost 3
| Team | Opposition | Venue | Time | ||
| 1st | Sarel Cilliers | Goldstones | 15:00 | Won 83-14 | |
| 2nd | Clifton 1st | Goldstones | 13:30 | Won 31-14 | |
| 3rd | Sarel Cilliers | Goldstones | 11:00 | Won 41-3 | |
| 4th | Clifton 2nd | Goldstones | 10:00 | Lost 5-22 | |
| 5th | Voortrekker 1st | Goldstones | 09:00 | Lost 12-19 | |
| 6th | Glenwood | Goldstones | 08:00 | Drew 7-7 | |
| 7th | Clifton 3rd | Nicholsons | 12:00 | Won 50-10 | |
| 8th | Greytown 2nd | Goldstones | 16:00 | Lost 10-17 | |
| 9th | Greytown 3rd | Goldstones | 15:00 | Won 17-7 | |
| 16A | Sarel Cilliers | Goldstones | 12:15 | Won 56-0 | |
| 16B | Clifton 16A | Snows | 11:00 | Won 37-12 | |
| 16C | Voortrekker 16A | Nicholsons | 08:00 | Won 39-0 | |
| 16E | Glenwood 16D | Lamonds | 11:00 | Lost 5-22 | |
| 16F | Glenwood 16E | Lamonds | 10:00 | Won 28-0 | |
| 15A | Sarel Cilliers | Snows | 10:00 | Won 75-0 | |
| 15B | Clifton 15A | Snows | 12:00 | Lost 10-12 | |
| 15C | Voortrekker 15A | Lamonds | 09:00 | Won 41-5 | |
| 15D | Clifton 15D | Nicholsons | 11:00 | Won 44-12 | |
| 15E | Glenwood 15D | Lamonds | 08:00 | Won 34-0 | |
| 15F | Glenwood 15E | Lamonds | 12:00 | Won 15-5 | |
| 14A | Sarel Cilliers | Snows | 09:00 | Won 66-0 | |
| 14B | Clifton 14A | Snows | 08:00 | Lost 14-17 | |
| 14C | Clifton 14B | Leaches | 10:00 | Won 29-15 | |
| 14D | Glenwood 14C | Leaches | 11:00 | Lost 7-55 | |
| 14E | Glenwood 14E | Leaches | 08:00 | Won 39-5 | |
| 14F | Glenwood 14F | Leaches | 09:00 | Won 17-7 | |
Hockey
College played 15 hockey matches this weekend winning 11, drawing 1 and losing 3. Eleven of the games were against Clifton, with nine ending in victory for the #redblackwhite teams.
1st XI match report: Kyle Emerson, 1st XI coach
College hosted Clifton College in the first match on Pape’s in just over 21 months. This fixture was always going to be a tactical battle between two teams who were organised on both offense and defence and the result would be decided by the team who was able to be disciplined in both facets of the game.
Clifton came out firing and asserted themselves with confidence and this was rewarded with an early penalty corner in the second minute. Ross Crookes did well to run down the attempted flick. Clifton would continue to put pressure on College and accumulated a few circle entries after turning the ball over in their own half but weren’t able to create any meaningful chances. After a slow start, College started to press better and turned Clifton over higher in the field and were able to test the Clifton goalkeeper who made some great saves. Thomas Conolly found himself one-one-one with the goalkeeper twice in the first half and was unable to convert either chance. Crookes narrowly missed his diving effort on the far post after Conolly drew the keeper and tried to find his teammate. College were reduced to ten men after a defender was given a yellow card for a miss-timed tackle in the third quarter, but Clifton were unable to use their numerical advantage and were only able to enter College’s circle once in the third quarter.
The third quarter was when College come into their own and this is when their dominance paid off and they began to make better use of their opportunities. Clifton were happy to sit deep in their own half and try to catch College on the counterattack. As College moved the ball around with purpose they made it difficult for the Clifton defence to keep them out. The one penalty corner which College earned saw the Clifton defence run down the attempted flick by Conolly. College continued to threaten the Clifton circle with many chances and in the sixth minute Crookes finished off a good passage of play as he rolled the ball into the goal to finally beat the Clifton goalkeeper. Less than two minutes later Cameron van der Vliet would excellently stop a clearance from Clifton inside the circle and hit the ball into the goal to make it 2-0. College had chances to take the game out of Clifton’s reach but were unable to again find the back of the net. Clifton pushed hard for a goal in the fourth quarter and earned a few penalty corners, but the College defence were equal to it. Roan Marais made some brilliant saves in goal late in the game to keep a clean sheet.
College would finish the game feeling that they should have done more with the possession and opportunities which they created, but would be happy with the clean sheet.
Summary of Results
Played: 15, Won: 11, Drew: 1, Lost: 3
| Team | Opponents | Result |
| 1st | Clifton | Won 2-0 |
| 2nd | Clifton | Drew 1-1 |
| 3rd | Clifton | Won 8-0 |
| 4th | Clifton | Lost 2-3 |
| 5th | Clifton | Won 3-0 |
| 16A | Clifton | Won 1-0 |
| 16B | Clifton | Won 3-0 |
| 16F | Hilton 16E | Lost 0-7 |
| 16G | Hilton 16F | Won 3-0 |
| 16H | Hilton 16G | Won 1-0 |
| 14A | Clifton | Won 3-2 |
| 14B | Clifton | Won 3-1 |
| 14C | Clifton | Won 1-0 |
| 14D | Clifton | Won 2-1 |
| 14E | Voortrekker 14A | Lost 0-9 |
Soccer
Mid-week fixtures for our soccer teams saw 5 teams in action, winning 3 of their games and losing 2. Our 1st XI played Alex winning 1-0 and the U14A side had a dominant win against MCS 10-0.
| Team | Opposition | Score |
| U14A | MCS | Won 10-0 |
| U15A | Glenwood | Lost 1-2 |
| U16A | Westville | Won 3-0 |
| 2nd | St Nicholas | Lost 2-3 |
| 1st | Alex | Won 1-0 |
| Summary | ||
| Played | 5 | |
| Won | 3 | |
| Lost | 2 | |
| Draw | 0 |
On the weekend, the U16 and 1st XI teams took part in the Wildey Tournament, a St Nicholas initiative, created in memory of the late Melvyn Wildey, former St Nicholas and Ixopo teacher and coach. Our 1st XI scored 2-0 vs St Nicholas and 3-0 vs MCS, while our U16A were rampant with results of 12-1 vs MCS and 5-0 vs St Nicholas, so that both U16A and 1st XI were crowned champions of the inaugural Wildey Cup Tournament.
| U16 Division | ||
| Team | Opposition | Result |
| U16A | MCS | Won 12-1 |
| U16A | St Nicholas | Won 3-0 |
| 1st Team Division | ||
| Team | Opposition | Result |
| 1st | St Nicholas | Won 1-0 |
| 1st | MCS | Won 3-0 |
Cross Country
Our boys took part in the next league event and once again took the top three places in the senior event.
Senior boys:
1st Scott Harvey, 2nd Owen Higgins, 3rd Josh Moller, 9th Scott Arnold
Junior boys:
3rd J Werth