Bishops tackles Paul Roos and SACS finally shows up to the party
Bishops will aim to claim the big scalp of Paul Roos Gimnasium (PRG) when the sides meet in a Western Cape derby at the Woodlands AstroTurf, in Cape Town, on Friday night.
Recently, coach Ryan Julius‘s Bishops’ boys participated in the Independent Schools Hockey Festival that was hosted by St Alban’s College in March.
There, they played five matches and walked away with two victories, two draws, and a 1-2 loss against the hosts.
They next shifted their attention to their opening league fixture against Durbanville. Playing at home, Bishops won 3-2, courtesy of goals by Troy Stockdale, James Robb-Quinlan, and Adam Diggle.
Despite that success, coach Julius, his assistants, and players are fully aware that PRG is a different kind of beast.
Led by coach Michael Baker and captained by Christo Swanepoel, PRG looks deadly on attack, composed in the middle, but is still working to find greater consistency at the back.
They’re an exciting side and their thrilling 4-4 draw with Grey High School, which was stacked with superb skills from both teams, is already a strong candidate for the match of the season.
Scoring goals early on in the season hasn’t been an issue, but they’ve also conceded some silly goals, and Bishops will want to capitalise on that.
In their last outing, just before the Easter long weekend, though, PRG kept a clean sheet and beat Somerset College 5-0.
Both coaches have fairly young squads, and there are no guaranteed results, but Bishops will feel they have a shot at getting one over the Stellenbosch outfit.
While those sides battle it out in the southern suburbs, South African College High School (SACS) will visit Parel Vallei High School for a Hyundai Friday Nite Lights clash.
It will be SACS’s first official outing on South African shores in 2025 after their tour to The Netherlands last month.
While away, SACS took on some Dutch powerhouses and proved why they are, once again, regarded as one of the top teams in the country.
They racked up wins against Athena Hockey Club (4-1), Pinoke (5-4), THC Hurley (9-2), and MHC Alliance (4-2), and drew 4-4 with Amsterdamsche Hockey & Bandy Club.
Coach Sam Holmes will have a fully fit squad to choose from except for Litha Kraai and Matthew Lassen, who are both on national duty with the South African and Namibian u21 men’s sides at the Junior African Cup of Nations, in Namibia.
They come up against a fiery Parel Vallei side that’s on a mission to upset the status quo this season.
Their last outing resulted in a 5-1 victory over DF Malan in Luka Meets’ 50th appearance for the side.
The clash, at Parel Vallei, starts at 19:45.
In other matches on the weekend, Rondebosch Boys High welcomes Paarl Boys High for a Friday night clash, and Hoërskool Punt visits Worcester Gimnasium.
Paarl Gimnasium journeys to Bloemfontein for a titanic clash against Grey College.
FIXTURES
18:15 – Grey College vs Paarl Gimnasium
18:30 – Worcester Gimnasium vs Hoërskool Punt
19:00 – Bishops v Paul Roos Gimnasium
19:45 – Parel Vallei vs SACS
19:45 – Rondebosch vs Paarl Boys’ High
