Overview Sporting Achievements
Maritzburg College welcomed one of the school’s strongest rivals, Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskools (Affies) to the campus for a full round of sporting and cultural fixtures on Friday and Saturday. In addition to rugby and hockey matches, there was a wonderful cultural exchange involving the College Choir, Jazz Band, Affies Choir and Swing Band. In addition, the two schools competed in interschool chess, golf, tennis and table tennis matches.
This weekend also saw College’s soccer U16A side crowned KZN champions after winning the KwaZulu-Natal High Schools’ Football Association knockout tournament, beating DHS 2-0. There were also good results in squash, canoeing and XCO events over the weekend.
Rugby
College had 24 rugby teams in action on Saturday against Affies on what turned out to be a tough and gruelling day for the men in Red, Black and White. College was only able to secure one draw (3rd XV) and one win; an outstanding effort from our U16A side after being 0-15 down at half time. Our 1st XV fought throughout their match, displaying grit, courage and determination, and could not be too unhappy with their 12-29 defeat.
Caption: A victorious U16A Maritzburg College rugby side celebrates their 20-15 win over Affies.
Credit: G Steyn
1st XV match report – Mr Tim Orchard (1st XV coach)
On Saturday, Goldstones played host to the Premier Interschools clash between Maritzburg College and Affies. Maritzburg College had finished the 2ndd Term with two wins against Kearsney and Westville and hoped that they could carry that form into the match.
The match started off in a very frenetic manner with Liam Prinsloo coming close to scoring for the hosts before Affies began to exert their dominance, which became a hallmark of the first half. Affies relied on their forwards to dominate the College forwards at line-out time with College unable to stop the Affies maul, allowing Affies to quickly race away to a 19 nil lead. The Maritzburg College players did not lie down and manfully stood up to the Affies onslaught with some resolute defending. As College began to claw their way back into the match, their set piece let them down with valuable possession being gifted to the opposition at line-out time much to the dismay of all in attendance. College hit back eventually with a try of their own, when SA Schools player Lihle Bester finished off a trademark backline move to walk across the try -line for a converted try, and put Maritzburg College back into the match.
The second half started with College beginning to find themselves with greater possession and territory, as their manful defending placed some doubt in the minds of the Affies players. College struck back next with a wonderful kick and chase by Spha Ngcobo to score a superb solo try and make the score 19-12. The doubt in the minds of the Affies players was now clearly palpable with College having the bit between their teeth now and searching for the knockout punch. They hammered away at the Affies defence in search of the next try which they felt would lead to a remarkable comeback. Several penalty kicks were missed but this did see the College boys back down. College had two clear cut chances to score but the bounce of the ball prevented Kuhann van den Berg from dotting down after beating the Affies defence for pace and spilt pass preventing Lihle Bester from scoring another trademark try. In the closing minutes of the game Affies kicked a penalty and scored a converted try to take the match away from College 12-29. The score board did not do justice to the match as for long periods in the second half, College players were in the ascendancy and looked like they would walk away with a famous victory.
Maritzburg College 12
Tries: Spha Ngcobo and Lihle Bester
Conversion: AJ Knoetze
Affies 29
College’s 1st XV Nr 13 Lihle Bester ahead of scoring a try against Affies over the weekend. College lost the match 12-29.
Credit: Justin Waldman Sports Photography
Summary of Results
| Team | Opposition | Venue | Result | Score |
| 1st | Affies | Goldstone’s | Lost | 12-29 |
| 2nd | Affies | Goldstone’s | Lost | 12-43 |
| 3rd | Affies | Goldstone’s | Drew | 10-10 |
| 4th | Affies | Goldstone’s | Lost | 5-39 |
| 5th | Affies | Goldstone’s | Lost | 10-26 |
| 6th | Affies | Goldstone’s | Lost | 0-19 |
| 7th | Affies | Snow’s | Lost | 0-22 |
| 8th | Affies | Snow’s | Lost | 0-52 |
| 16A | Affies | Goldstone’s | Won | 20-15 |
| 16B | Affies | Lamond’s | Lost | 12-17 |
| 16C | Affies | Lamond’s | Lost | 7-39 |
| 16D | Affies | Lamond’s | Lost | 26-29 |
| 16E | Affies | Lamond’s | Lost | 0-69 |
| 15A | Affies | Snow’s | Lost | 17-36 |
| 15B | Affies | Hill’s | Lost | 0-38 |
| 15C | Affies | Hill’s | Lost | 10-36 |
| 15D | Affies | Hill’s | Lost | 3-50 |
| 15E | Affies | Leach’s | Lost | 0-50 |
| 15F | Affies | Leach’s | Lost | 0-50 |
| 14A | Affies | Snow’s | Lost | 12-34 |
| 14B | Affies | Snow’s | Lost | 7-26 |
| 14C | Affies | Nicholson’s | Lost | 0-52 |
| 14D | Affies | Nicholson’s | Lost | 0-52 |
| 14E | Affies | Nicholson’s | Lost | 0-50 |
Hockey
Sixteen College hockey teams were in action against Affies over the weekend, with a number of very closely fought matches taking place. College won 9 of the matches, losing 3 and drawing 4, with 26 goals being scored for and 17 goals against. The RedArmby 1st XI secured a very good 2-1 win dominating territory and possession for most of the match.
1st XI match report – Kyle Emerson (1st XI coach)
Affies arrived at College determined and ready to challenge the Red Army on Saturday. Both teams started the game well, but it was College who threatened first. The first penalty corner of the game was awarded to College, and Matthew Ponter’s flick was brilliantly saved by the postman off the line. The Affies goalkeeper had the game of his life and every opportunity College created was well saved by the captain in goal. The opening goal came in the third minute of the second quarter and it was a well taken chance by an Affies striker who flicked the ball into the College goal. College continued to mount pressure on Affies and it was on the stroke of half time that College earned a penalty corner. Ponter’s flick was saved again but there was a reward. A slick variation saw Alex Styan deflecting the ball past the diving goalkeeper. This goal gave College the momentum shift they needed.
Chance after chance was stopped by the Affies goalkeeper until the fourth quarter when Ross Graham pushed the ball hard across the circle from the left and Connor Fulton was placed on the far post to deflect the ball into the goal. College dominated territory and possession and managed the game throughout, but Affies did well to play a structured and physical game which made it difficult for College to score. The holiday break certainly played a part in College’s below-par performance but they showed good character and determination to come back from a goal down to get the result and win the match 2-1.
College’s 1st XI Nr 6 Conner Fulton scored one of his team’s goals which saw a 2-1 win over Affies on the weekend.
Credit: Justin Waldman Sports Photography
Summary of Results
| Team | Opponents | Venue | Result | Score |
| 1st | Affies | Pape’s Astro | Won | 2-1 |
| 2nd | Affies | Pape’s Astro | Won | 1-0 |
| 3rd | Affies | ABJ Astro | Drew | 2-2 |
| 4th | Affies | ABJ Astro | Won | 4-0 |
| 5th | Affies | ABJ Astro | Won | 3-2 |
| 6th | Affies | Barns’ A | Lost | 0-1 |
| 16A | Affies | Pape’s Astro | Lost | 1-2 |
| 16B | Affies 16B | Pape’s Astro | Won | 2-0 |
| 16C | Affies 15A | ABJ Astro | Drew | 1-1 |
| 16D | Affies 16C | Barns’ B | Won | 1-0 |
| 16E | Affies 16D | Barns’ A | Lost | 0-4 |
| 16F | Affies 16E | Barns’ A | Won | 2-0 |
| 14A | Affies | Pape’s Astro | Won | 3-1 |
| 14B | Affies | Pape’s Astro | Drew | 1-1 |
| 14C | Affies | Pape’s Astro | Won | 2-1 |
| 14D | Affies | ABJ Astro | Drew | 2-2 |
Music
The College Music Department shared a celebration concert with the Affies Music department, in a special evening which featured the College Choir, Jazz Band, Affies Choir and Swing Band. Both the Affies Choir and Jazz band showed the talent and excellence that comes with the standard of their department however the College music department did not hold back and displayed sheer class in their performances. The evening ended with a combined Jazz band piece, hopefully the start of many more collaborations of this kind! .
Other Sports vs Affies
- College’s chess teams played three rounds against Affies, winning one and losing two.
- The College golf team went down 3-9 to the boys from Affies on Friday.
- Overall 35 table tennis matches were played against Affies with College winning 13. The 1st team secured a great win, 7 – 3, as did the 4th team, 2-3.
- College’s tennis team lost 1-8 against Affies
Other Sport
Soccer
College’s soccer U16A side were crowned KZN champs after winning the KwaZulu-Natal High Schools’ Football Association knockout tournament. A 2-0 win vs DHS in the final was a perfect finish to a great tournament. Well done to the boys and coaches.
College’s U16A soccer team were crowned KZN champions
Credit: M Dibbon
Mountain Biking
A number of College boys and old boys did very well and were placed in the KZN XCO championship were held at Cascades over the weekend.
Youth:
3rd Luke Newlands
9th Cole Sellick
Junior:
6th Nicholas Burczak
U23:
1st Michael Foster (OC 2020)
2nd Daniel van der Watt (OC 2021)
Canoeing
Over the past weekend, College boys took part in the Inter-schools canoeing league event at the Upper Umgeni river race.
Results were as follows:
U18
James Sharpe – 2nd in K1
Joshua Glynn-Cuthbert – 9th in K1
U16
Jayden van Rensburg & Luke O’Connor – 1st in K2
Squash
Maritzburg College squash players took place in the Growthpoint SA Nationals (Regionals) this past weekend, with two players finishing in the top 3 of their respective age divisions:
U/15 – Tilak Nana – 2nd place
U/17 – Matt Mason – 1st place
College’s 1st team will participate in the SA Top Schools’ Tournament this week, an event featuring the 8 top school teams in the country.