Hilton takes the honours in Pretoria, St Alban’s snatches win at Northcliff

Hilton College clinched a hard-fought 29-12 victory over Pretoria Boys High School (PBHS) on Brooks Field on Saturday, with wing Ricky Adonis dotting down twice for the KZN side.

Rewatch all the action on SuperSport Schools (www.supersportschools.com)

In the opening quarter-of-an-hour, Hilton took the game to the home side and pressed hard, but they were met by resolute defence from Boys High.

When PBHS attacked, the visitors were successful at slowing down the ball. Sometimes, it seemed, by sealing it off illegally.

Hanu Pieterse and his side drew first blood, with Ricky Adonis and tight-head prop Ben le Roux going over for tries to put the visitors in the pound seats heading towards the break.

Boys High found a reply before half-time, however. They executed a well taken line-out, then drove Hilton backwards with a massive maul. When it was eventually stopped, the Candies sent the ball to flyhalf Seth Venter, who opened the hosts’ account. A former flank, Venter used his strength to add to his healthy try-scoring stats.

At halftime, there was little to separate the sides, with Hilton’s 12-5 advantage a fair reflection of how tight the match was.

Early in the second half, Jeffrey Singo scored a try for Boys High to narrow the lead, but that was as close as the home team got to Hilton. The visitors responded with two quick tries of their own, both of which were excellently converted by flyhalf Liyema Nela.

Then, when a Boys High player went in too high on a tackle in Hilton’s in-goal area, Brad Mcleod-Henderson‘s charges were able to exit from the resulting penalty. Nela was subsequently able to land a sweetly struck kick at posts from 50 metres out, benefitting from the high altitude of Pretoria.

Pretoria Boys High had an opportunity to work their way back into the contest when Hilton picked up two yellow cards, but they were 17 points down at that stage.

In the last two minutes of the match, though, Boys High scored a consolation try from an excellent run by winger Ompfuna Tsanwani, who made good use of the space his side’s numerical advantage created to hurtle over the line for five, after being put in the clear by inside centre Rickus Wessels.

After his fine run, Tsanwani clutched at a hamstring, which might be cause for concern for the Candies.

While both schools will be able to take positives out of the game, Boys High will surely rue several missed kicks at goal, which could have altered the course of the match.

St Alban’s College, meanwhile, clawed their way back from trailing 7-17 at halftime to win a humdinger of match against Northcliff High School in Johannesburg.

With the final whistle drawing near, and with three minutes left on the clock, Northcliff conceded a penalty, which the visitors’ Joshua Verster turned into three points.

Not done, Northcliff claimed a penalty of their own, but there was to be no fairytale ending and the kick at goal missed, leaving the home team agonisingly short of the Pretoria school.

The final score read 27-25 to St Alban’s. It was a third narrow loss for Northcliff this season. However, they showed they’re happy to tussle with the traditional boys’ schools under the guidance of coach Tinus Diedericks.

Results

Pretoria Boys High 17 (5) – Tries: Seth Venter, Jeffrey Singo, Ompfuna Tsanwani. Conversion: Seth Venter. Hilton 29 (12) – Tries: Ricky Adonis (2), Ben Le Roux, Dylan Neill. Conversions: Liyema Nela.

St Albans 27 (7) – Tries: Craig Milne, Daniel Bouwer, JJ Steenkamp Conversions: Joshua Verster (2). Penalties: Joshua Verster. Northcliff 25 (17) – Tries: Sivenathi Ngqungwana, Rhema Nwogwugwu , Matthew Verrydt. Conversions: Matthew Hunt (2). Penalities: Matthew Hunt (2).

RESULTS

Pretoria Boys High vs Hilton College

u14A: Pretoria Boys High 8-10 Hilton College
u15A: Pretoria Boys High 14-12 Hilton College
u16A: Pretoria Boys 10-11 High Hilton College
u19A: Pretoria Boys High 17-29 Hilton College

Northcliff High vs St Alban’s College

u14A: Northcliff 3-34 St Albans College
u15A:  Northcliff 54-3 St Albans College
u16A: Northcliff 7-27 St Albans College
u19A: Northcliff 25-27 St Albans College