Founders’ Festival dishes up drama and finishes in style
While many eyes were on the Nomads Hockey Festival in Pretoria and the Belgotex Sport Coastal Cup in Durban, the Founders’ Festival, played in Komani, was equally entertaining and kept spectators on the edge of their seats.
Queen’s College hosted the annual event at their Chris Harker AstroTurf, with some of the country’s top sides in action for the first time this season.
The opening day delivered goals galore, with South African College High School (SACS), Northwood School, and Paarl Gimnasium dominating.
SACS was clinical, slotting a combined 19 goals in their two matches against Parktown Boys’ High and St Stithians College.
Paarl Gim also defeated the same Gauteng duo, beating Saints 4-2 and Parktown 6-2. Coach Justin Collins and his Northwood side went about their business quietly, beating Somerset College 4-1 and the hosts 7-2.
The script completely changed on day two. There were massive upset results, and unbeaten records were ended.
The match of the day saw Northwood beat SACS 4-2 in a thrilling contest. Luc Boyall was on fire for his side and netted a hat-trick, with two of his goals coming from short corners.
Ben Henwood-Fox also got his name onto the scoresheet, while Litha Kraai scored both goals for SACS.
Earlier, SACS had defeated Kingswood College 8-1, while Northwood proved too strong for Paarl Gim, winning 3-1.
Somerset College also made massive strides on the second day, and they looked dangerous on the offensive. Coach Kyran Fortuin‘s boys picked up two convincing victories, beating Queen’s 3-1 before upsetting Saints 1-0 in a humdinger.
Paarl Gim, SACS, Somerset College, and St Stithians were the big winners on the final day.
Gim put nine past Dale College, and SACS bounced back, beating Helpmekaar College 7-0 to finish their festival on a high.
Somerset College continued their fairytale run with another gritty win, this time beating Parktown 3-1 before Saints stunned Northwood 2-1 in the last game of the festival.
That meant Northwood, Paarl Gim, SACS, and Somerset College all finished the weekend with four wins from five outings.
RESULTS
Click HERE to see Day 1 results.
Sunday, 29 March
Kingswood College 2-1 Helpmekaar
Northwood 3-1 Paarl Gimnasium
Somerset College 3-1 Queen’s College
St Stithians College 5-1 Dale College
SACS 8-1 Kingswood
Paarl Gimnasium 8-0 Helpmekaar
Dale College 0-4 Parktown Boys’ High
Somerset College 1-0 St Stithians College
SACS 2-4 Northwood
Queen’s College 1-1 Parktown Boys’ High
Monday, 30 March
Dale College 1-9 Paarl Gimnasium
SACS 7-0 Helpmekaar
Somerset College 3-1 Parktown Boys’ High
St Stithians College 2-1 Northwood
