Bishops 175 | Bishops end St Andrew’s College’s unbeaten run
Bishops Diocesan College maintained their unbeaten record at the Bishops 175 Hockey Festival when they defeated St Andrew’s College 2-1 in the final match of day three at the Woodlands Astroturf in Cape Town on Saturday.
The Bishops’ win brought to an end an eight-game winning streak for the side from Makhanda.
Before the match, those two teams and St Benedict’s College were the only unbeaten sides and were gunning to keep those records intact ahead of the final day on Sunday.
The hosts beat Michaelhouse 3-1 on the opening day and followed up that result with a 4-0 win against St Charles College, before showing grit to beat St David’s Marist Inanda 2-0 on Friday.
They went on to annihilate St Andrew’s School 8-0 on Saturday, with James Grieve scoring a brace before Christopher Gray, Bryn Parry, Luc Dicey, Andrew Betty, Andrew Raubenheimer, and David Handley got themselves onto the scoresheet.
Coach Dean Ferreira‘s St Andrew’s College team, on the other hand, had caught the eye early in the season.
A week ago, at the Tony Godding Festival, they defeated Grey College 2-1, and claimed other victories over, among others, Hudson Park, Bethlehem Voortrekker, and Merrifield College.
At the Bishops Fest, they had claimed the scalps of the Langa Hockey Club, Uplands College, and St David’s Marist Inanda, before they faced the home team.
The contest started out very evenly, with both sides struggling to make an impression on the other’s defences in the first chukka.
Bishops, were, however, the first to open the scoring in the second chukka through a penalty stroke, with Robert Veldtman converting from the spot to put his side into the lead.
Minutes later, Bishops suffered a blow, when Thomas Malan had to leave the pitch after he suffered a hard blow on the wrist from the ball.
Bishops held onto that narrow 1-0 lead at the break, but St Andrew’s quickly equalised in the third chukka, with Connor McNamara striking from a penalty corner.
Heading into the final chukka, the teams were level at 1-1 and, it seemed, something special would be required to break the deadlock. Joshua Mettler duly delivered it.
He produced a brilliant individual goal, finding the back of the net after a superb 20-metre dribble. That was just enough, and coach Ryan Julius‘s side held on for a 2-1 win, much to the delight of the home supporters.
In other matches, Somerset College picked up another victory, edging Uplands College 4-3 in their first game, before playing to a 1-1 draw with St David’s Marist Inanda.
St Benedict’s College continued their fine form. After drawing 1-1 with Michaelhouse in the morning, they dominated Uplands College in the afternoon.
Coach Owen Mvimbi‘s side controlled possession and territory and were clinical in front of goal, which brought them a 5-0 victory, courtesy of an Alex Johnston double, with Connor Odgers, Timothy Burnham, and Marco Mendes also scoring.
The Johannesburg side will face its toughest challenge yet when they take on the hosts, Bishops, on Sunday in the final match of the festival at 12:40.
After claiming wins on Friday against Uplands and St Andrew’s School, Langa Hockey Club pushed St Andrew’s College all the way but went down 2-4 in their first match on Saturday.
In their second encounter of the day, they took on Michaelhouse and made life hard for the boys from the KZN Midlands. It was 0-0 at halftime, with neither side able to capitalise on the opportunities they had created.
‘House, however, came out firing in the third chukka, and scored twice to seize victory.
Another team that also got a “W” next to their name was St David’s Marist Inanda, who edged out St Charles College 2-1. They will take on the winless Uplands College in Sunday’s first match, at 08:00.
Langa will aim to end their campaign with a win against St Charles College, while Somerset College completes their schedule against Bloemfontein’s St Andrew’s School.
Results: Day 3
St David’s Marist Inanda 2-1 St Charles
Somerset College 4-3 Uplands
St Benedict’s College 1-1 Michaelhouse
Bishops 8-0 St Andrew’s School
Langa Hockey Club 2-4 St Andrew’s College
Somerset College 1-1 St David’s Marist Inanda
St Benedict’s College 5-0 Uplands College
St Charles College 1-0 St Andrew’s School
Langa Hockey Club 0-2 Michaelhouse
Bishops 2-1 St Andrew’s College
Fixtures
Sunday, 24 March 2024
08:00 – St David’s Marist Inanda vs Uplands; 09:10 – Michaelhouse vs St Andrews College; 10:20 – Langa vs St Charles; 11:30 – Somerset College vs St Andrew’s School; 12:40 – Bishops vs St Benedict’s College.
