Bishops 175| Hosts tick all the boxes at their home festival
Bishops Diocesan College ended the Bishops 175 Hockey Festival as the only unbeaten team following a 4-0 trouncing of St Benedict’s College on the festival’s final day at the Woodlands Astroturf in Cape Town.
The hosts, who entered the tournament with momentum and confidence after winning all three of their matches at the Parel Vallei Boys’ Hockey Festival a week ago, continued their fine form, this time in front of their buzzing home supporters.
The festival’s opening day saw coach Ryan Julius‘s team brush off Michaelhouse with a commanding 3-1 win.
That was followed by a 4-0 win against St Charles College before they edged out St David’s Marist Inanda 2-0 on Friday.
The Cape side turned up the tempo on the third day, scoring 10 goals in their two matches while conceding only one. They netted eight times against Bloemfontein’s St Andrew’s School, before digging deep to claim a 2-1 win over Makhanda’s St Andrew’s College in the main game on day three.
In their final match of the festival, on Sunday, they took on another unbeaten side, St Benedict’s College. Prior to the clash, Bennies had recorded three wins and two draws.
With their legs tired after a long festival, Bishops were still sound on attack and defence, executing their game plan well. That delivered them a 4-0 victory, with regular goal scorers’ Luc Dicey, Christopher Gray, David Handley, and Joshua Mettler all getting onto the score sheet.
After a clean run through their opposition at the festival, which followed an unbeaten pre-season, the Bishops’ 1st XI’s record remains unblemished. Coach Julius says he’s happy with the progress his team has made.
“The boys were tired [in the final match], after a very busy week, but adapted well to the change of tactics,” he told SuperSport Schools.
“It was a very good team display. We asserted [our] dominance from the beginning.
“I was very happy to see that, especially to perform like that at the end of the tournament makes me proud as a coach, regarding the mindset and culture we’re trying to create within the group.”
Another result that caught the eye on the final day was Michaelhouse’s 3-0 victory over St Andrew’s College.
‘House entered the clash on the back of a 1-1 draw against Bennies, and a 2-0 win over the Langa Hockey Club on Saturday. They appear to be finding their way under new coach Nick Bérichon after a difficult 2023 season.
Meanwhile, St Andrew’s College had their unbeaten start to the season ended on Saturday, when they suffered a 2-1 defeat at the hands of the hosts. On Sunday, Nicholas Fearnhead grabbed a double and Luke Camerer added a third to give Michaelhouse a confidence-boosting signature victory over College at the end of the festival.
St Charles and Somerset College also ended off with wins, defeating the Langa Hockey Club and St Andrew’s School respectively.
Somerset College’s Michael du Toit was named the Player of the Festival, while Byron Comley, of St Benedict’s, and James Grieve, of Bishops, were named Players of Note.
The Top Goal Scorer was St Andrew’s College’s Connor McNamara, with Bishops’ Robbie Veldtman the 2nd Top Goal Scorer.
The Defender of the Festival honours went to Marley Waspe of Uplands College, while Khotso Mabona, of St David’s Marist Inanda, and Pikolomzi Nkompela, of Michaelhouse, were recognised as Defenders of Note.
Results: Day 4
St David’s Marist Inanda 4-1 Uplands College
Michaelhouse 3-0 St Andrew’s College
St Charles College 3-0 Langa Hockey Club
Somerset College 2-1 St Andrew’s School
Bishops 4-0 St Benedict’s College
Click HERE to access all the other results from the festival.
