Bishops vs Boishaai headlines a bumper weekend in the Cape
Bishops Diocesan College, after bouncing back impressively from a few missteps at the Hibbert Shield, will be aiming for two wins in succession when they host a struggling Paarl Boys’ High side on Friday night at the Woodlands Astroturf.
The boys from the southern suburbs were back in action last weekend after finishing in joint fifth position, alongside Durban High School (DHS), at the Hibbert Shield the week before.
Before heading into their game this past weekend, they faced South African College High School (SACS) in a mid-week match.
In that clash, both sides gave it a good go, but the defences were solid.
Bishops created several goal-scoring opportunities but were left to rue wasteful finishing when SACS opened the scoring in the third chukka through Litha Kraai.
However, just as they’ve done in many of their matches where they’ve trailed, coach Ryan Julius‘s side fought back to level the scores, with a David Handley goal earning them a 1-1 draw.
On Friday night, away at Fairmont, Bishops upped their game, delivering a mature performance to boss their opponents and claim a solid 5-0 win.
The goals were spread around, with Thomas Ludlam, Harry Morgan, vice-captain Andrew Raubenheimer, Joshua Mettler, and captain Robert Veldtman all scoring.
“We are in a good position. We are riding a good wave at the moment, and we need to enjoy it for as long as we can,” Julius told SuperSport Schools Plus.
“As a group, our culture and ability to grind out pressure moments is one thing I am incredibly impressed with. I look forward to another opportunity to build on this against Paarl Boys’.”
Before the match against Fairmont, Julius stressed the need for his side to capitalise on the opportunities they create. They need to “bury their chances” or they could find themselves in trouble against top teams, he said.
Julius has echoed the same sentiment this week, emphasising how important finishing from his forwards will be against Boishaai.
“If I can be overly critical, our finishing needs to be more clinical, and our forwards know this,” he said. “So, building on that theme from last week is going to be important for me.
“It’s my job as a coach to come up with a plan that I think would work, but they need to execute it, and I trust them to be able to implement that, come Friday.”
In Paarl Boys’ High, Bishops comes up against a side that has been struggling for form in recent weeks.
Last weekend, they were in Bloemfontein to take on Grey College. The hosts won that match 3-0.
Before that, Boishaai went down to Somerset College, Paul Roos Gimnasium, and Wynberg Boys’ High, scoring four times while conceding 15, admittedly against three quality opponents.
Winning at Woodlands would be an unexpected upset for the Paarl side, against another high-quality outfit, but stranger things have happened.
Western Cape Fixtures
Friday, 17 May
16:00 – Worcester Gimnasium vs Strand
18:25 – Fairmont High vs Reddam House
18:30 – Paarl Boys’ High vs Bishops Diocesan College
19:00 – Wynberg Boys’ High vs Durbanville
19:15 – Rondebosch Boys’ High vs Curro Durbanville
19:30 – Parel Vallei vs Somerset College
19:45 – Paarl Gim vs Paul Roos
20:00 – Stellenberg vs SACS
Saturday, 18 May
10:00 – Belville High vs Langa hockey club
10:00 – Rondebosch 2nd vs Brackenfell High
