A high-scoring opening day at the Hibbert Shield
There were comprehensive victories for South African College High School (SACS), Paul Roos Gimnasium, and Grey College on a wet and cold opening day of the Standard Bank Hibbert Shield, in Gqeberha, on Wednesday.
The prestigious event is hosted by Grey High School and runs through until Saturday, 3 May.
Catch the Hibbert Shield LIVE on SuperSport Schools.
It was a blistering start to the tournament for some of the top teams who came out guns blazing and made strong statements while grabbing maximum points.
In the early session, SACS took on St Alban’s College and cruised to a comfortable 7-0 victory.
The boys from Cape Town, led by coach Sam Holmes, powered to victory in style, controlling the game from start to finish.
Litha Kraai, who was named the SA Indoor Hockey Men’s Breakthrough Player of the Year while at the Hibbert Shield, scored a brace along with Reece Theunis. The drubbing was completed with further goals from Zach Redfern, Cameron Groves, and the skipper, Jo Le Roux.
In their second match of the day, SACS was forced to grind out a 3-0 win over a gutsy Pearson High side. Theunis, Mohlodi Maseko, and Adam Thompson were on the scoresheet.
While the Cape Town boys dominated, their Western Cape rivals, Paul Roos Gimnasium, also enjoyed a winning start to their campaign. The defending champions defeated Selborne College 4-0 in the morning and returned later in the day to score a hard-fought 2-0 win over Clifton College.
Against Selborne, it was Callum van Oudtshoorn, Ruan Strauss, Seth Paterson, and Jeandre van Zyl who netted for the Stellenbosch school, while Caleb Cilliers scored the opener against Clifton before Paterson struck for the second time in the tournament to seal the win.
Grey College played only one match on Wednesday, but they stole the spotlight by outplaying Pearson High 7-0.
Pools C and D were highly contested. Paarl Gimnasium was arguably the big winner in Pool C after recording an astonishing 5-0 victory over the hosts. It was a clinical performance by Gim, who converted three of their short corners, through skipper Juan Swanepoel, Phillip Barnard, and Reinhardt Honiball. Stefan Wiehahn and Josh Smit netted from open play in an impressive win.
St Stithians College was made to work hard for their victory over Westville Boys’ High. The Johannesburg boys created numerous opportunities to score, but their conversion rate let them down dismally.
It took a moment of magic by dangerman Aidan Blatch to break the deadlock and snatch a 1-0 victory for his side at the death. Saints failed to build on that win, however, and were held to a 2-2 draw by Grey High in the final match of the day.
There was very little to separate the four sides in Pool D, but Durban High School (DHS) ended the day on top of the log with four points.
After edging Bishops 3-2 in the morning, the boys from KwaZulu-Natal shared a goalless draw with Hoërskool Garsfontein in their second outing of the day.
Parel Vallei, meanwhile, drew 1-1 with Garsfontein. They’ll be chasing their first Hibbert Shield win on day two.
RESULTS
DAY 1
Pool A
SACS 7-0 St Alban’s College
SACS 3-0 Pearson
Grey College 7-0 Pearson
Pool B
Paul Roos 4-0 Selborne College
Paul Roos 2-0 Clifton College
Maritzburg College 1-1 Clifton College
Pool C
Paarl Gimnasium 5-0 Grey High
St Stithians College 1-0 Westville
Grey High 2-2 St Stithians College
Pool D
DHS 3-2 Bishops
Parel Vallei 1-1 Garsfontein
DHS 0-0 Garsfontein
DAY 2 FIXTURES
Grey High School
07:30 – Selborne College vs Clifton College
08:45 – SACS vs Grey College
10:15 – Paul Roos vs Maritzburg College
11:30 – Bishops vs Garsfontein
13:00 – DHS vs Parel Vallei
14:15 – Grey High vs Westville
15:45 – St Alban’s College vs Grey College
17:00 – Selborne College vs Maritzburg College
18:30 – Bishops vs Parel Vallei
Collegiate AstroTurf
08:00 – Paarl Gimnasium vs Westville
09:45 – Pearson High vs St Alban’s College
14:00 – Paarl Gimnasium vs St Stithians College
