Overview Sporting Achievements
Most of the Maritzburg College teams headed to Kearsney for the weekend’s fixtures, which were part of their Founder’s Day celebrations. With good wins for both hockey and rugby first teams as well as excellent results across both sporting codes, it was a great weekend for the Red Black White.
Rugby
Most of College’s rugby matches were away fixtures against Kearsney, and saw the school win 15 of their 18 matches, drawing one and losing just two games. Our 1st XV secured a 31-20 victory.
1st XV Match Report (Mr Tim Orchard, 1st XV coach)
On Saturday, Maritzburg College made the short trip down to Bothas Hill to take on Kearsney College on their Founders Day. The last time these teams faced off was in 2019 where College won the game with the last kick of the match in the thick mist. In terms of form, both teams were coming off a bad run, with College wanting to lay a marker after losing to Hilton and Kearsney looking to put their loss against Clifton behind them. The match itself was a frenetic affair as both sides wanted to grab the ascendency and dominate proceedings. College started the better of the two sides, but Kearsney clawed their way back into the match and almost stole a win; however Maritzburg College’s resolute defence put paid to that allowing them to score in the dying moments to drive a dagger into the hearts of the Kearsney faithful.
Kearsney struck first with a penalty kick to take an early lead, but College soon hit back with a try on debut by Tariq Mahomed after a period of dominance from Maritzburg College. College had the bit between their teeth and began to put the Kearsney defence under tremendous pressure. This pressure paid off when at a ruck right on the Kearsney try-line, AJ Knoetze spotted a gap and dove over under the crossbar for a converted try to further extend the College lead to 12-3. Kearsney refused to lie down with some tremendous carries by their forwards in midfield to put College on the back foot. This pressure began to pay off as they managed to score a converted try of their own to reduce the deficit to two points with the scoreboard sitting at 12-10. College hit back relatively quickly from a scrum, with Liam Prinsloo scoring a wonderful set-piece try to put the score at 17-10. The game swung back and forth for the rest of the half, but Kearsney had the last say with a penalty goal to reduce the deficit to a mere four points at 17-13.
The second half started off with College once again dominating the early proceedings and scoring another set-piece try with Prinsloo bagging a brace from a solid platform at scrum time. The try was duly converted, and College now looked to put the game to bed. Kearsney slowly began to inch their way towards the College try-line with some smart interplay between their backs and forwards. This began to have an effect as they now were virtually camped in the College half and looked good to score again, which they duly did. The gap was reduced to a mere four points with the score on 24-20, with not only time but momentum on Kearsney’s side. College was holding on for dear life as Kearsney kept hammering away at the College line but some stout defending by College kept Kearsney from scoring. Kearsney was slowly driven back by the College defence and a miss kick allowed Spha Ngcobo to race away to score under the crossbar to drive a dagger in the hearts of the Kearsney faithful with a couple of minutes remaining. The kick was duly converted, and College departed back to Maritzburg with a 31-20 win much to their delight.
Maritzburg College 31
Tries: Tariq Mahomed, AJ Knoetze, Liam Prinsloo x2 and Spha Ngcobo
Conversions: AJ Knoetze x3
Kearsney 20
Caption: With a huge smile Maritzburg College’s Number 15, Spha Ngcobo, flies across the line to score in the 1st XV match against Kearsney which saw College secure a 31-20 win.
Credit: Dan Beckett
Summary of Scores:
| Team | Opposition | Venue | Result | Score |
| 1st | Kearsney | Stott Field | won | 31-20 |
| 2nd | Kearsney | Stott Field | won | 6-5 |
| 3rd | Kearsney | Stott Field | won | 22-5 |
| 5th | Kearsney 4th | Stott Field | lost | 15-17 |
| 6th | Kearsney 5th | Stott Field | won | 55-3 |
| 7th | St Charles 4th | Old Orchards | drew | 19-19 |
| 16A | Kearsney | Stott Field | lost | 7-10 |
| 16B | Kearsney | Osler Field | won | 25-17 |
| 16C | Kearsney | Osler Field | won | 31-11 |
| 16D | Kearsney | Osler Field | won | 57-5 |
| 16E | Kearsney | AH Smith Oval | won | 39-22 |
| 15A | Kearsney | Matterson Field | won | 55-7 |
| 15B | Kearsney | Matterson Field | won | 40-7 |
| 15C | Howick | Main Field | won | 36-12 |
| 15D | Kearsney 15C | Matterson Field | won | 32-0 |
| 14A | Kearsney | AH Smith Oval | won | 24-15 |
| 14B | Kearsney | AH Smith Oval | won | 33-0 |
| 14D | Kearsney 14C | AH Smith Oval | won | 50-0 |
Hockey
In some closely contested encounters, Maritzburg College’s hockey teams won seven of their 12 matches against Kearsney, drawing four and losing one. The 1st XI secured an excellent 3-2 victory after being down 0-2, and the undefeated 14A team brought home another win 1-0.
1st XI Match Report (Mr Kyle Emerson, 1st XI coach)
The College 1st XI came up against a very spirited and determined Kearsney on their Founder’s Day. They certainly started the game with a passion and drive which the College team struggled to match.
Kearsney’s pressure allowed them to open the scoring in the 10th minute with a good left sided circle entry which was rolled across the face goal and the ball was deflected in. Two minutes later College earned a good circle entry down the left-hand side and Glenton Winlock secured a penalty corner for College. The attempted flick was run down.
In the 14th minute Kearsney entered down the left-hand side and rolled the ball onto a College foot inside the circle. The resulting penalty corner was flicked hard and high into the back of the net. The score was 2-0 to Kearsney inside the first quarter.
Both teams continued to have chances, the ball flashed across the Kearsney goal and Roan Marais made a top stick save from a drag-flick, but College’s dominance would pay for a few seconds before the end of the first half when Bryn Brokensha picked the ball up in the circle and flicked it past the goalkeeper at his near post. This gave the College players the boost they needed.
At the start of the 3rd quarter, Kearsney made a tactical change to sit a bit deeper in their half in defence aloowing College to have more ball, and they paid the price for this. College equalised in the 12th minute of the third quarter, when Alex Styan slapped a ball into the circle which fell to Lwandiswa Seshemane who flicked it past the goalkeeper.
College continued to threaten wave after wave of attack and a tactical switch at the start of the 4th quarter allowed them to take the lead. Ross Graham received the ball ahead of his defender and found Connor Fulton in the circle who calmly flicked the ball past the Kearsney goalkeeper’s shoulder giving College the lead. They were able to control the game going forward and the tempo. Besides a late penalty corner which was saved by Marais, the College goal was not threatened in the second half.
To come back and win from being 2-0 down in the first quarter is not an easy task. The College 1st XI showed grit and patience and it was their ability to stick to a game-plan that saw them get the result which they deserved winning the match 3-2.
Summary of Scores:
| Team | Opponents | Venue | Result | Score |
| 1st | Kearsney | Manson Astro | won | 3-2 |
| 2nd | Kearsney | Manson Astro | drew | 2-2 |
| 3rd | Kearsney | St Marys Astro | won | 5-0 |
| 5th | Kearsney 4th | St Marys Astro | won | 4-1 |
| 16A | Kearsney | Manson Astro | drew | 2-2 |
| 16B | Kearsney | Manson Astro | won | 3-0 |
| 16C | Kearsney | St Marys Astro | drew | 0-0 |
| 16D | Kearsney | St Marys Astro | won | 3-0 |
| 14A | Kearsney | Manson Astro | won | 1-0 |
| 14B | Kearsney | Manson Astro | won | 3-0 |
| 14C | Kearsney | St Marys Astro | drew | 0-0 |
| 14D | Kearsney | St Marys Astro | lost | 0-5 |
Cross country
Earlier in the week, College’s senior and junior cross country teams competed in the next round of the league held in the Worlds View plantations, hosted by the Wykeham Collegiate, with good results for the boys.
Seniors
3rd – J Werth
14th – S Arnold
15th – L Newlands
18th – N Deyzel
20th – C Zondi
22nd – R Finnie
Juniors
3rd – L Shangase
14th – B Fourie
17th – C Wilson
23rd – J Gray
26th – D Gademan
Soccer
With a number of mid week fixtures, Maritzburg College’s age group football teams continue to perform well in their respective league tables as the season heads towards the knock-out.