Hilton and Kearsney win thrilling Friday Nite Lights clashes
Reagan Mudau scored a brace as Hilton College edged out St Charles College 2-1 in a thrilling Hyundai Friday Nite Lights contest in Pietermaritzburg, while Kearsney College clinched a 1-0 win over Glenwood High School in their match on the AH Mason Astro.
Hilton would have been favoured to win but they and St Charles were inseparable in the first 15 minutes of play. Saints had done their homework and executed their game plan perfectly.
They circumvented Hilton’s high press by launching overheads in their buildup. That ploy threw Hilton off balance, and it took the visitors time to adjust. At the end of the first chukka, the contest was deadlocked at 0-0.
The move that resulted in Hilton’s opening goal began on the right flank, just inside the St Charles’ 23-metre line. Coach Damian Kimfley’s charges, realising they couldn’t breach the wall on that side, strung together three quick passes to switch flanks. The move was well-timed and it created an opening. Charging forward, Hilton made a circle entry and registered their opener three minutes before the halftime break.
Both sides emerged from the break with renewed energy, resulting in a frenetic few minutes after the restart, with play flipping from one end of the turf to the other like a yo-yo. Hilton, though, was the first to strike.
Unlike the first goal that came through their left side, Hilton breached the right flank this time around, before Reagan Mudau received the ball in space and he gratefully slotted an easy tap-in two minutes into the chukka.
It didn’t take long for Saints to respond. Just three minutes later, they reduced the deficit to one goal from a swift counterattack after Hilton had committed bodies into the St Charles half. It was game-on.
The contest continued in its high-energy nature as the teams engaged in rallies of attacks like tennis players, but neither could muster another goal and it finished 2-1 in favour of the visitors.
“I was happy with the overall chances we created, but we need to be more clinical,” Damian Kimfley, the Hilton coach, told Supersport Schools Plus after the fixture.
“We controlled the possession and won numerous penalty corners, which we didn’t convert.
“We can take lots of positives from the win, especially in the way we moved the ball and dominated the game,” Kimfley reflected.
RESULTS
Kearsney 1-0 Glenwood
Hilton 2-1 St Charles
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