Hilton and Menlopark enjoy a productive day at the St Stithians Hockey Festival
DSG Makhanda and Die Hoërskool Menlopark dominated the girls’ section, while Pretoria Boys High (PBHS) and KwaZulu-Natal’s Hilton College and Clifton College delivered outstanding performances in the boys’ section of the St Stithians Hockey Festival on Thursday.
Hilton bookended the boys’ section schedule with victories over St David’s Marist Inanda and Reddam House Constantia.
Sechaba Gude, Tadi Hove, and Ethan Maltby found the back of the net in their 3-0 win over St David’s Marist Inanda in the first match of the day.
Coach Damian Kimfley’s charges then took that form into the day’s final game. Hove and Maltby were on the scoresheet again, while Oyena Zulu added another in a 3-1 victory over Reddam House.
Their provincial counterparts, Clifton, registered a win and a draw. Daniel Rea fired them to a 1-0 win over the hosts, St Stithians, in the morning, and Tye Milne scored in a 1-1 draw with PBHS later in the day, with Bongai Vuyeqaba replying for Boys High.
Earlier, Victor Louw struck four times for PBHS in an emphatic 9-1 victory over Ashton International College, Ballito. Paidin Gray, Caylum du Preez, Chad Donkin, Liam van Eyssen, and Hans Arndt added a goal each.
That was the joint-largest victory margin on Thursday, equalled by Falcon College in an 11-2 thrashing of the St Stithians Festival XI.
Menlopark, who routed Beaulieu College 8-0 to record the widest margin of victory on day one of the girls’ festival, continued their dominance.
Coach Brad Brook’s charges kept clean sheets in victories over Ashton and Epworth School, winning those games 3-0 and 4-0, respectively.
DSG Makhanda, who cruised to a 7-0 win over Springfield on day one, was put to the test by Waterkloof and passed it with flying colours.
Coach Geowynne Gamiet‘s charges fought their way to a 3-2 win against the ladies from Pretoria, with Emma Watson, Ava van der Walt, and Lucy Holderness providing the goals.
Holderness was on target again, this time with a hat-trick, to help her side secure a comfortable 4-0 win over St Stithians. Julia MacKenzie added the other goal as DSG Makhanda remained unbeaten at the festival.
Bethlehem Voortrekker and Beaulieu College had mixed results, with both recording a win and a loss.
Voortrekker began their day with a 2-0 win over Falcon before succumbing to a 0-4 defeat against Hoërskool Waterkloof. Beaulieu, beaten 1-0 by Springfield in the morning, bounced back with a 3-0 win over the St Stithians Festival XI.
In a break from the schools’ matches, the St Stithians’ old boys and girls demonstrated their smooth hockey skills, even though most of them no longer train as often as they did during their time at the institution. The St Stithians Alumni Men‘s team scored five unanswered goals against the St Stithians 1st XI, and the St Stithians Alumni Women’s team defeated the St Stithians Girls’ College Festival XI 3-0.
The teams will rest on Good Friday. On Saturday morning, the action resumes at 07:00, with Clifton College tackling Reddam House Constantia. The first girls’ match starts at 07:15, with a showdown between Waterkloof and Epworth.
RESULTS
Boys
Hilton 3-0 St David’s Marist Inanda
Clifton 1-0 St Stithians
Menlopark 2-1 Falcon
Pretoria Boys High 9-1 Ashton Ballito
Affies 3-0 St Stithians Festival XI
St David’s Marist Inanda 5-1 Reddam Constantia
St Benedict’s 4-2 Menlopark
Falcon 11-2 St Stithians Festival XI
Clifton 1-1 Pretoria Boys High
Stithians Alumni XI 5-0 St Stithians
Hilton 3-1 Reddam House Constantia.
Girls
Springfield 1-0 Beaulieu
St Stithians 1-0 Epworth
Menlopark 3-0 Ashton Ballito
Bethlehem Voortrekker 2-0 Falcon
Beaulieu 3-0 St Stithians Festival XI
DSG Makhanda 3-2 Waterkloof
Menlopark 4-0 Epworth
St Stithians Alumni XI 3-0 St Stithians Festival XI
Springfield 1-0 Falcon
DSG Makhanda 4-0 St Stithians
Waterkloof 4-0 Bethlehem Voortrekker
