Collegiate prepares for tough 150th reunion clash vs Pearson
Collegiate Girls High School, fresh off a strong showing at the National All Girls Festival in Potchefstroom, will return to action this week when they host their arch-rivals, Pearson High School, at their 150th reunion celebration in Gqeberha on Friday.
The hosts impressed in Potch, finishing seventh, just behind Bloemfontein’s Eunice High School.
At the tournament, coach Michael Abraham’s side was drawn in Pool C, which also included Pietermaritzburg Girls’ High, Eunice, St Michael’s, and Potchefstroom Girls.
The Eastern Cape team sparkled, winning all of their group matches, which included a shock 1-0 win over Eunice in a tightly contested affair.
Adding to their impressive pool results was the fact that they didn’t concede a single goal in those four outings while scoring nine of their own.
In the quarterfinals, Collegiate were finally stopped, but not before they had given Affies, the eventual winners, all they could handle. It came down to a penalty shootout and Affies advanced 2-1 from the spot.
After that, Collegiate suffered a 0-2 loss to HMS Bloemhof, but they finished their tournament on a high, beating Cape Town’s Wynberg Girls’ High by a solitary goal to secure seventh place.
Collegiate will be eager to celebrate their 150th reunion in appropriate style by putting together a winning performance on their home turf. It’s going to require good execution to beat a dangerous Pearson side.
In their last meeting, in March, in the final of the Spar Hockey Challenge, Pearson, under the guidance of coach Ignatius Malgraff, pulled off a 1-0 win to lay their hands on the silverware.
However, past results have favoured Collegiate.
In last year’s derby, Collegiate won 3-2, and the sides played out a 2-2 draw the year before, while it was the Collegiate who picked up a 2-0 win in 2021.
Past results will mean very little, though, when the whistle for the first chukka blows on Friday night.
Both sides have players who have been selected to represent Eastern Province at this year’s SASHOC u18 Inter-provincial tournament in Bloemfontein in their ranks.
Collegiate will look to their provincial reps, Alulutho Adams, Tiara Finnis, and Gemma Bouwer, to lead their challenge.
Meanwhile, coach Malgraff will look to Annemi De Villiers, Jody Van Aardt, and Zoey Mostert to fire on all cylinders if his side is to cause an upset away from home.
The clash starts at 19:45 at the Collegiate Astroturf and will be streamed LIVE on SuperSport Schools.
In other matches around the province, Stirling High School, after suffering a hefty 0-7 defeat at the hands of DSG Makhanda, will try to reverse their fortunes when they take on Merrifield College in East London.
Cambridge High School, after a bye last week, is back in action and will travel to Makhanda to face DSG.
Woodridge College takes on York High School, Kingswood College plays Alexander Road, and Die Brandwag will be in action against Victoria Girls’ High.
FIXTURES
Friday, 10 May
16:00 – Alexander Road vs Kingswood College
19:45 – Collegiate Girls High vs Pearson High
Saturday, 11 May 2024
10:00 – Stirling High vs Merrifield College
10:20- Woodridge College vs York High
12:30 – DSG Makhanda vs Cambridge High
13:00 – Die Brandwag vs Victoria Girls’ High
