Du Toit’s boot lifts Maritzburg College to victory at Hilton
Hilton College, coming off a 35-22 win at Northwood, would have fancied their chances against Maritzburg College, on Saturday, playing at home, on Gilfillan Field.
College, though, had been in good form recently, and had won at Michaelhouse in their last outing, incidentally by the same five-point margin by which Hilton had won when they visited their great rivals on 3 May.
The Red, Black, and White, no doubt, remembered, however, their school’s last visit to Hilton in 2023 when a highly regarded team that had given Grey College a big fright was well beaten on Gilfillan, going down 14-29.
Taking the season’s results into account, Hilton College was favoured, but when the final whistle sounded it was College who celebrated a hard-won 23-20 victory.
Coach Nico Breedt‘s boys took the game to Hilton in the manner that Hilton likes to impose their game on others, hitting the ball up hard and effectively around the fringes of the rucks.
In the 10th minute, they claimed the lead, thanks to an outstanding few phases of play. Firstly, flyhalf Liyema Tsoko put College on the attack with an astutely judged 50/22. Then, from a clean lineout take, flank Cyril Cherayi burst off the back of a maul, running infield and drawing the defence.
With Hilton’s defenders heading one way, centre Olwethu Kosani sliced back against a grain, pulling off a picture-perfect scissor move with Cherayi, which put him into a wide gap, and he raced through to dive over beneath the uprights.
The conversion was no problem for Dom du Toit and the visitors led 7-0.
With rugged defence, College kept Hilton at bay, but the home side inched upfield, battering away at the visitors’ try line with their forwards until lock Andrew Schnell slipped a tackle and was over for five points. It had taken them 23 minutes to get onto the scoreboard.
Right on halftime, Hilton snatched the lead. After mauling patiently in the College 22, the ball was released to flyhalf Liyema Nela. The Hilton captain caused hesitation in the visitors’ defensive line with a show-and-go, splitting two defenders, before scoring with a soaring dive beneath the posts.
He had left himself with an easy conversion, and it was 12-7 to the boys in black and white at the break.
Early in the second half, Nela extended the Hilton lead to eight points with a long-range penalty.
College replied with a penalty of their own when Du Toit landed a kick from a similar distance, and it was 15-10 to the hosts.
The lead changed hands in the 54th minute from a sharply executed training ground move, which would have delighted the College coaching staff.
Hooker Theo Boshoff threw low and to the front of the lineout to loosehead prop Linamandla Mabanga, who received the ball before twisting around and passing inside to Cyril Cherayi, who was steaming onto it. Hilton’s lineout had splintered into two pods, and the flank was over for a try.
Du Toit added the extras from out wide, and College held a two-point advantage.
The scrumhalf was at it again soon after that. With Hilton pinged for going offsides, Du Toit slotted another penalty to extend Maritzburg College’s lead to five with an easy kick.
With six minutes remaining, when Hilton won a penalty inside the College 22, they opted for a kick to touch and a lineout.
After a clean take from Andrew Schnell, the home side drove hard at the try line, with a number of backline players joining in the push. They were stopped, but the ball came out to the blindside and John Grubb squeezed over in the left-hand corner for a score-levelling try.
With time ticking down, Hilton had a put-in, just inside their half. The Red, Black, and White, though, conjured up a massive scrum, shoving the home team off the ball and winning a penalty, much to the delight of the College pack.
It came down to Du Toit’s deadly boot. From 37 metres out, he was immaculate once more, edging the Pietermaritzburg school into a 23-20 lead. That brought his crucial contribution to 13 points.
A little over a minute was left to play. Off of a rolling maul, Hilton won themselves a penalty. By now, only one play remained in the game. They had a decision to make: a kick to touch and try to win it with a rolling maul from a lineout, or a kick at poles and settle for a draw. They opted for the latter. The kick was entrusted to left-wing John Grubb.
Unfortunately for Hilton, his effort from 38 metres, out on the left, was wide of the uprights. The final whistle sounded and Maritzburg College had claimed a morale-boosting 23-20 victory.
Next weekend, it’s the Hilton/Michaelhouse, at Hilton. With Westville Boys’ High having convincingly dealt with ‘House, winning 50-20, nothing would be a better salve for the sides than a win over their great rivals.
Scorers
Hilton College 20 (12) – Tries: Andrew Schnell, Liyema Nela, John Grubb. Conversion: Liyema Nela.
Penalty: Liyema Nela; Maritzburg College 23 (7) – Tries: Olwethu Kosani, Cyril Cherayi. Conversions: Dom du Toit (2). Penalties: Dom du Toit (3).
Results
u19 – Hilton I 20 Maritzburg College I 23; Hilton II 24 Maritzburg College II 7; Hilton III 3 Maritzburg College III 17; Hilton IV 0 Maritzburg College IV 27; Hilton V 0 Maritzburg College V 19; Curro Hillcrest I 11 Maritzburg College VI 11; Hilton VI 0 Maritzburg College VI 31; Hilton VII 12 Maritzburg College VIII 35.
u16 – Hilton A 20 Maritzburg College A 47; Hilton B 13 Maritzburg College B 36; Hilton C 5 Maritzburg College C 50; St David’s Marist Inanda C 15 Maritzburg College E 14; St Charles C 29 Maritzburg College F 34.
u15 – Hilton A 12 Maritzburg College A 18; Hilton B 12 Maritzburg College B 24; Hilton C 7 Maritzburg College C 39; Curro Hillcrest A 17 Maritzburg College D 38; Hilton D 0 Maritzburg College E 50; St David’s Marist Inanda D 7 Maritzburg College F 26.
u14 – Hilton A 10 Maritzburg College A 32; Hilton B 19 Maritzburg College B 33, Linpark A 24 Maritzburg College C 24; Hilton C 0 Maritzburg College D 44; St David’s D 8 Maritzburg College E 50.
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