Grey College and Grey High indomitable at Synsport Tony Godding Festival
The Grey College hockey team enjoyed a successful Synsport Tony Godding Festival campaign in East London, completing the four-day event with an unbeaten record under the leadership of coach Dallan Phillips after a sound 5-0 win over Hudson Park on Sunday.
Grey High joined their Bloemfontein brother school as the only other side to emerge from the early season event with a clean record.
“The boys started the festival a bit slowly but grew stronger as the event progressed. As a group, we’re pleased with the progress we’ve made, especially in terms of our team build-up play,” Phillips told SuperSport Schools Plus after his team’s last game.
Besides beating Hudson Park, the Bloemfontein boys also recorded wins over Pearson, St Andrew’s College, and Queen’s College. They tallied 16 goals, with Waldo Konig‘s four leading the Grey College goal scorers. Phillips’ charges also conceded four goals, which came in their first two matches.
“Now, we shift our focus back to Bloemfontein, where we will work on sharpening our defensive discipline and improving our one-v-one defence ahead of the Nomads tournament in Johannesburg next weekend,” Phillips said.
Grey High wrapped up their campaign on Saturday. They beat Cambridge High, Jim Fouché, Hudson Park, and St Andrew’s School. Their biggest test came in a 1-0 win over Saints on Saturday morning.
“The game was played in some tough conditions. It was also our fourth game of the festival and only their second, so physically quite tough on us, but we coped,” Andrew Beynon, the Grey High coach, shared with Supersport Schools Plus after the game. “It was good to get a positive result, but we need to be more consistent in phases.”
While there was work to do, the gaffer stressed the need for patience. “We understand that with nine boys making their Tony Godding debuts, we are in a transitional period, and so we need to be patient and supportive as a coaching staff,” he explained.
Despite their inexperience, Beynon’s charges acquitted themselves well, scoring 13 goals and conceding only one.
Dale College stumbled in their first outing at the event, going down 3-6 against Middelburg Hoërskool. They responded well to that setback, though, and bounced back with three consecutive victories over Westering, Alexander Road, and Curro Waterstone. They got better as the festival progressed and registered the highest margin of victory with a 10-0 hammering of Curro Waterstone.
St Andrew’s College also finished on a high note, with a 4-1 win over St Andrew’s School. Selborne College completed their schedule with a 3-2 win over, while Jim Fouché, who endured a mixed run of results, ended with a convincing 4-1 defeat of Westering in their last appearance.
RESULTS
Hudson Park 0-5 Grey College
Framesby 1-2 Sasolburg
Cambridge 2-0 Duineveld
St Andrew’s College 4-1 St Andrew’s School
Selborne College 3-2 Middelburg Hoërskool
Westering 1-4 Jim Fouché
Merrifield 0-2 Kingswood
Dale College 10-0 Curro Waterstone
Cambridge 2-2 Witteberg
Queen’s College 1-1 Woodridge
Stirling 5-2 Alexander Road
