Clifton sparkles in win over Northwood, College and Westville share six goals
Clifton College played well to overcome Northwood 1-0 in a tightly contested match at the Riverside Sports Club on Saturday, while Maritzburg College and Westville battled their way to an entertaining 3-3 draw on Pape’s Astro.
Clifton headed into their game buoyed by a 3-1 win over St Charles last weekend. In that tie, Calvin Price’s charges moved the ball sharply to stretch a well-structured defence, with Ryde Brisset, Zach Williamson, and Daniel Hompes finding the back of the net.
However, Price was cautious, as his team prepared for their showdown with the Knights. “Northwood is under one of the top coaches around, Justin Collins,” he said, in the run-up to the match. “My understanding is that last year it was a tight fixture, so I do think all games are going to be tight and a great spectacle.”
As expected, Northwood took the fight to Clifton, but the home team proved to be equal to the task. Clifton’s all-round play reflected the vision Price had when he took over the coaching reins this year.
Now the school’s Director of Hockey, Price previously served an internship at Clifton before he spread his wings. This year, he returned to the institution. While he found the hockey programme in a healthy space, the 2024 team was young and especially inexperienced in front of goal, so that was one of the areas he focussed on during the preseason.
Now, Price can confidently say that his team has turned a corner and is growing in confidence, especially on the offence. Not only is his side showing sharper intent up front, but they have also taken the coach’s game plan on board, and they stick to it.
“Our boys fought really hard in defence as the Northwood waves came through, but we defended extremely well. I am very proud of the boys,” Price said after the match.
Their intent in the opposition half resulted in a goal from Jared Pearson. The Clifton captain enjoyed an outstanding game – “leading from the front”, to employ a phrase used by Price to describe Pearson’s performance.
Maritzburg College and Westville delivered an entertaining 3-3 draw. Westville made the trip to Pietermaritzburg hoping to improve on the draw they shared on College’s Reunion Weekend in 2023. They anticipated a stern examination.
“College is always a tough opponent and has always been one of our biggest games of the season,” Cameron Mackay, the Westville Director of Hockey, said ahead of the tie.
Heading into the clash, Mackay felt his team had made progress after a tough preseason and early part of their campaign. He considered a 5-0 win at home against Glenwood last Friday to be a turning point and was keen for his players to use that momentum to their advantage.
College, on the other hand, was keen to bounce back after falling 2-4 to DHS in a tie where they controlled large portions of the first half, during which they created a number of chances, but failed to convert.
As they did against DHS, Kyle Emerson‘s charges controlled the opening stanza. “We were good in possession and created opportunities,” he said. “We had seven penalty corners but only converted two. This is something we are going to work on as the season progresses.”
Emerson was, nonetheless, proud of the character his players exhibited in the game, which, as Mackay agreed, became scrappy in the fourth chukka, when both sides were chasing a winner.
It wasn’t a victory, but College’s Emerson said he took heart from his team’s performance, adding that he was optimistic about the challenges that lie ahead.
Results
Clifton 1-0 Northwood, Maritzburg College 3-3 Westville
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