SACS out for revenge against PRG while Paarl Gim visits Rondebosch
The fiercely competitive and thrilling rivalry between two of the country’s top hockey sides, South African College High School (SACS) and Paul Roos Gimnasium, will resume when the giants lock horns at the Brewery Astroturf on Friday night.
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The meeting will be the second between the teams in a week after they clashed in the final of the Hibbert Shield, hosted by Grey High School in Gqeberha over the past weekend.
There, both teams enjoyed stellar runs in the pool stages, topping their respective pools, while looking deadly in front of goal.
To progress to the final, coach Michael Baker’s Paul Roos thumped Hoërskool Garsfontein 10-0 in the semis, while SACS sneaked past Grey High 4-2 on penalties to set up the showdown.
In the final, SACS dominated the early exchanges to race into a 3-0 lead, but Paul Roos showed character and composure to claw their way back and level the contest at 3-3, which sent the title-decider into a penalty shootout.
There was nothing to separate the sides there, and it went to sudden death, with the Stellenbosch side eventually claiming a 6-5 win.
That defeat was SACS’s first against PRG in almost a year after they went down 2-3 in last year’s Hibbert Shield final against the same opponents, which was their only loss of 2023.
However, it’s in the “in-season” matches where SACS has held the upper hand over their rivals.
Last season, they comfortably won both encounters, home (3-1) and away (8-1).
In hindsight, as this season has shown, past results mean almost nothing, and a spirited Paul Roos side will be aiming to make it two wins in quick succession over their old foe.
To do so, they will need their top players to come to fore when it matters the most in a hostile environment.
Skipper Reuben Sendzul has found his form and rhythm of late and has been in prolific goal scoring form. He will need to be on his game if PRG is to win again.
Barend Geldenhuys is another player that’s been on song for PRG, and his striking and challenging runs will come in handy.
Players like Christo Swanepoel, Ruben Gouws, and Keith Siebrits, who scored in the final, could be impactful performers, too.
From SACS’s side, no doubt, they will be banking on their playmaker Litha Kraai to come up with the goods when it matters the most.
Kraai scored the opener in the Hibbert Shield final, and on Wednesday netted his side’s only goal in their 1-1 draw against Bishops Diocesan College.
But SACS is far more than a one-man team. They are blessed with quality throughout their ranks and players like Reece Theunis, Nicholas Paxton, Stephen Meyer, and Cohen Williams all have the ability to turn a match on its head.
Both goalkeepers, Noah Venter, and Beor van Reenen, performed impressively in Gqeberha, and they will be fully aware that a safe pair of gloves and wide pads on the night could propel their side to victory.
The clash starts at 19:30.
TEAMS
SACS: Andrew Betty, Luc Dicey, Stephan Meyer (Captain), Noah Venter (GK), Joshua le Roux, David Versfeld, Kevin Oosthuizen, Litha Kraai, Reece Theunis, Nicholas Paxton, Matthew Lassen, Matthew Jones, Zachary Redfern, Aidan Hughes, Cole Allam, Regan Wille, Cohen Williams.
Paul Roos: Louán van Zyl, Joshua Smit, Keith Siebrits, Barend Geldenhuys, Christo Swanepoel, Ruben Gouws, Daniel Lurie, Reuben Sendzul (Captain), Beor van Reenen (GK), Hano Basson, Callum van Oudsthoorn. Reserves: Seth Paterson, Logan Lackay, Krisjan Groenewald, Luke Oliver.
Another big match to look forward to in the province is the one between Rondebosch Boys’ High and Paarl Gimnasium.
Gim will make the trip from Paarl set on getting their season back on track after a rather disappointing Hibbert Shield campaign.
Coach Jacques Grobler’s troops did well in the pool stages but lost to Grey High, which set up a quarterfinal fixture against the eventual winners, Paul Roos.
They went down 2-5 in that clash and then lost out Bishops on penalties (0-2) on penalties, which was followed by a 1-3 loss to Durban High School (3-1). In the end, they finished joint seventh with Westville Boys’ High.
In ‘Bosch, they come up against an unpredictable side that caused a big upset earlier this season when they beat PRG 1-0 at home.
However, since that victory, coach Waseem Domingo‘s boys have lost 0-3 to SACS and 0-1 to Wynberg. They’ll be seeking the kind of spirited performance that they produced in week one to stun Paul Roos against Gim.
Western Cape Fixtures
Friday, 10 May
17:15 – Curro Durbanville vs Reddam Constantia
18:30 – Grey College vs Paarl Boys High
18:30 – Wynberg Boys High vs Stellenberg
19:00 – Rondebosch Boys High vs Paarl Gimnasium
19:30 – SACS vs Paul Roos
19:30 – Fairmont vs Bishops
20:00 – DF Malan vs Punt
Saturday, 11 May
08:10 – Stellenbosch vs Fairmont
09:00 – Brackenfell vs El Shadaai
09:25 – Worcester Gim vs Robertson
10:00 – HTS Drostdy vs Durbanville
