DHS claw their way to a dramatic win over Hilton College
Hilton College pushed Durban High School (DHS) to the limit on Saturday in Durban, where the home side was cheered on by a lively crowd surrounding Van Heerden’s Field in celebration of Founders Day.
With time up on the clock, School was clinging on to a 19-18 lead with Hilton hammering away inside the home team’s 22.
With a show and go, flyhalf Liyema Nela had dented the DHS defence. Then, Hilton’s powerful scrumhalf Zander Vorster picked up a drove at the line.
DHS centre Nathan Aneke, defending close to the ruck, reached in and ripped the ball out of Vorster’s grasp. Spinning away, he twice stepped off his right foot to wrong foot defenders as he exited the 22.
Then, it became a sprint as Aneke pinned his ears back and raced down the left-hand touchline while the crowd went wild. He had the legs and dived over for a spectacular try to seal a stubborn 26-18 victory after Jordan van Wyk had slotted the conversion.
Last weekend, DHS fell 28-33 to Westville Boys’ High. Hilton had gone down 15-23 to the same opponents at the start of the season, but, apart from a sub-standard outing against Grey High, they had played good rugby since, including in a very impressive 53-15 win over Glenwood last time out.
DHS knew, they were in for a tough test. Hilton knew, too, that victories on Van Heerden’s are few and far between. The eye test suggested that these were two very well matched, very well coached sides. That proved to be accurate.
From the first whistle, the contest was defined by intensity. A searing counter from wing Zenkosi Mthiyane had the local supporters on their feet, but a massive tackle by Hilton captain Liyema Nela, who then won a penalty after Mthiyane held onto the ball, was an indicator of the battle that lay ahead in the loose exchanges.
Hilton was the first to strike in the ninth minute after DHS failed to deal with a well-directed high kick down the right touchline from scrumhalf Vorster. Right wing Joshua Kok got his hands on the ball after the bounce evaded two DHS defenders.
The visitors, then, took three charges at the try line. On the third, Emmanuel Dankwah had the ball stripped, but it came out sideways, not forwards, and Hilton regathered possession. It came back to Nela, who tried to send a long pass wide right over the DHS defence. The hosts, though, got a hand on the ball. Fortunately for Hilton, it fell kindly to fullback James Peattie, and he spun his way over the line for a try in the corner.
DHS forced their way down into Hilton’s 22 after the visitors had conceded a penalty and it looked as if they were over in the 21st minute, but Zingce Simka, after breaking through a couple of attempted tackles, knocked on as he dived over the whitewash.
Five minutes later, Hilton scored again, and it came from a familiar source, hooker Josh Grant, who navigated a maul from five metres out with aplomb before making the dive for five.
Half-an-hour in, Nela came close to breeching School’s defences once more with a searing break after selling a dummy, but, after he had grubbered through into the 22, the bounce of the ball didn’t go his way, and he knocked on.
One word that always applies to DHS, though, is relentless and that quality was to the fore as they scored just before halftime. Their assault from close range was started by captain Daniel Ikotela and, after a number of surges at the line, Ikotela was on hand to force his way over for a try.
Jordan van Wyk made the kick from wide on the left, leaving Hilton College 10-7 ahead at the break.
Brad Macleod-Henderson‘s charges were the first to strike in the second half, with eighthman Zander Muller bursting off a scrum deep inside the DHS 22 and crashing over despite the attention of two tacklers for a try. The conversion was missed, leaving Hilton 0 for 3 in that department.
In the 11th minute of the second half, Hilton was reduced to 14 men when Khazimla Makali was shown red. He’d dragged Nathan Aneke to ground, but in doing so had caused his opposite number to hit the turf headfirst. It wasn’t deliberate, but it met the red card threshold.
From the resulting penalty, DHS kicked out in the Hilton 22, setting up a lineout. The boys in blue got the shove on Hilton and when the maul went to ground the referee signalled a penalty try. With the seven-point play, DHS was within one at 14-15.
Just before the hour-mark, the home team took the lead for the first time. They hit it up with their forwards on the right of the Hilton 22. Then, with players looping around, they moved the ball swiftly left and Zenkosi Mthiyane was able to outflank the visitors’ defence and dive over in the left-hand corner.
Within three minutes, after a strong break from Zander Vorster, Hilton won a penalty almost directly in front of the uprights for DHS going offsides. John Grubb knocked over the kick from 27 metres out.
Seven minutes later came that moment of magic from Nathan Aneke and DHS escaped a furious Hilton challenge.
SCORES
Durban High School 26 (7) – Tries: Daniel Ikotela, Nathan Aneke, Zenkosi Mthiyane, penalty try,
Conversion: Jordan van Wyk (2); Hilton College 18 (10) – Tries: James Peattie, Josh Grant, Zander Muller. Penalty: John Grubb.
u19 – DHS I 26-18 Hilton I; DHS II 18 Hilton II 19; DHS III 24 Hilton III 10; DHS IV 16 Hilton IV 15; DHS V 15 Hilton V 6; DHS VI 19 Hilton VI 14.
u16 – DHS A 36 Hilton A 26; DHS B 26 Hilton B 10; DHS C 38 Hilton C 12; DHS D 50 Hilton D 0.
u15 – DHS A 52 Hilton A 0; DHS B 50 Hilton B 0; DHS C 44 Hilton C 10; DHS D 34 Hilton D 10.
u14 – DHS A 10 Hilton A 13; DHS B 50 Hilton B 0; DHS C 50 Hilton C 0.
