3 & 4 September 2021
This weekend saw College’s 1st and 2nd XV rugby teams and our 1st XI hockey team travel to Durban to take on Glenwood.
College’s boys were fired and ready, securing victories for both 1st teams. Our Red Army 1st XI played Glenwood’s 1st XI on Friday evening, winning their match 3-2. With a four month wait before this match, there was immense excitement leading up to this game, and despite the boys not being at peak physical condition or used to a match tempo, they played very well. Our 1st XV have not beaten Glenwood for a number of years, but this didn’t impact their determination, and there was much celebration after our 20-12 long-awaited victory. College’s 2nd XV lost their game against Glenwood 10-30.
Rugby
1st team match report – Mr Cameron Fraser 1st XV coach
On Saturday 4 September 2021, history was written by the brave men from the Maritzburg College 1st XV. The Red Black and White took on the Green Machine hoping to turn the tide of victory in their favour for the first time in 11 years.
College managed to win the physical battle upfront and avoided ill-discipline as fast as they could. The men from the borough had the ascendancy early on in the game when Kuhann vd Berg chased after a brilliant kick from AJ Knoetze and managed to offload the ball to Liam Prinsloo who charged over in the corner for the 1st points of the game.
The game was of an exceptional physical nature and lots of penalties were a byproduct of this brutality. College got a penalty at the end of the 1st half and AJ Knoetze slotted the penalty to leave the half time score at 8-0.
Glenwood struck back early in the 2nd half after some powerful surges from their forwards and caught College unawares at the breakdown to eventually crash over the line on the blindside.
Glenwood once again conceded a penalty and College put together a very destructive maul within striking distance. After a few pick and go’s, the College captain Corbin Thunder succeeded in dragging a few Glenwood players with him across the tryline. AJ Knoetze converted the try and College were once again ahead by 15 points to 5.
In the last quarter of the game hooker, Quentin Pitout managed to pinch an overthrow off a Glenwood lineout and swerved inside and outside of cover defenders after which he found his teammate Sipho Radu who dived over for another College five pointer in the corner.
With 10 minutes left, College had possession and Glenwood managed to intercept the ball to score underneath the poles. This brought the score to 20 points to 12. With moments to spare Glenwood looked threatening once again and it seemed as if they were going to score another try, but Willian Pretorius was able to turn over the ball at the breakdown which put the result beyond any doubt.
A special performance by the College 1st XV who will be highly motivated to exact this result in the return fixture on Goldstones this weekend.
Hockey
1st team Match Report – Mr Kyle Emerson, 1st XI coach
The 1st XI had a four month wait between fixtures. There was an immense amount of excitement leading up to this game but with only one week of training to prepare for it there was an expectation that it wouldn’t be the best game they would play of the season. The physical conditioning of the boys was not at its peak, and they were not used to a match tempo. This meant that the technical and tactical ability of the team was not going to be at a standard of what they are used to. Nevertheless, there was a feeling of relief and gratitude that the team was able to don their match shirts and represent their school again.
College started the game at high tempo and caught Glenwood in possession a few times in the opening quarter which allowed them to create some good early chances. The Glenwood goalkeeper made some good saves whilst coming off his line at speed and he would be kept busy for the duration of the game. The first goal for College came as early as the seventh minute. A turnover by Ayakha Mthalane on the top of College’s circle was quickly rolled onto Thomas Conolly who, after a quick one-two with Jaderiane Jansen, put the ball into the circle. The Glenwood goalkeeper was unable to clear the ball out of the circle and College’s captain, Callum Osborne, had enough time to hit a powerful shot past the goalkeeper to beat him on his near post. Early in the second quarter, Osborne came close to finding his second goal from a penalty corner. His drag-flick smashed into the cross bar and the rebound was cleared off the line by the Glenwood defender.
Glenwood found an equaliser in the 22nd minute from a penalty corner which was flicked at goal and took a deflection off a College defender’s stick. College continued to dominate possession and territory as their high press did not allow Glenwood out of their own half as they relied on overheads to try and get out. Towards the end of the 3rd quarter, they were able to earn a penalty corner after Osborne was fouled running into the circle. The resulting penalty corner was brilliantly saved by the Glenwood goalkeeper as he continued to keep them in the game. A minute later and another save was made after Connor Fulton hit a back-hand at goal.
When the 4th quarter began, there was a shift in tempo and intensity from the College players as they pushed for the deciding goal. Despite being a man-down after receiving a green card, College would find their second goal in the 3rd minute of the quarter. Thomas Conolly was badly fouled whilst running towards goal and a stroke was awarded which was then downgraded to a penalty corner. Ross Crookes pounced on the second phase and got a shot off which Jaderiane Jansen deflected into the goal. A flurry of cards ensued from the umpires as they started penalising players for bad tackles, which should have come a lot sooner in the game. With Glenwood down to 9 players, College asserted themselves with their numerical advantage and Mthalane hit a bouncing ball on the back-hand to the far post where Ross Graham was waiting to tap it in.
3 minutes from time, Glenwood earned a penalty corner and the drag-flicker put the ball into the back of the net which made the score 3-2. College were able to hold onto the ball for the remainder of the game and did not allow Glenwood to find the equalising goal.
Not the most clinical performance from both teams, but it certainly creates some excitement ahead of next week’s fixture. Those watching were grateful to have been able to watch some school boy hockey again.