KES Easter Festival thrills as KZN sides impress on day one
While the hosts, King Edward VII (KES), kicked off their KES Easter Festival campaign with a 4-1 victory against Grey College, it was the KwaZulu-Natal sides that grabbed the spotlight on day one.
Northwood School, Westville Boys’ High, Maritzburg College, and Glenwood High were in top form and impressed on Thursday.
Northwood arrived in Johannesburg still buzzing after beating South African College High School (SACS) 4-2 at the Founders Festival a few days ago. Luc Boyall scored a hat-trick, and Ben Henwood-Fox also netted as coach Justin Collins‘ side scored a victory that stole the show in Komani.
Northwood took on Selborne College in their first encounter at KES and, after a slow start, ran away with the clash.
The Knights were ruthless inside the D, scoring five goals – by Jordan Hatcher, Boyall, Hamza Amla, Keegan Reeves, and Mnqobi Mhlongo – and punished Selborne, who were coming off the Nomads Hockey Festival in Pretoria on Monday.
Westville was another side that impressed, blanking Parktown Boys’ High 4-0.
They also started fairly slowly, but when the contest opened up in the second chukka, they ran away with it. It was a convincing win for Westville, who’ve upped their game since the Coastal Cup a week ago.
Maritzburg College and Glenwood High scored the most goals on the day, with College thumping Dale College 6-0 and Glenwood running rampant in a 7-0 hammering of Eldoraigne.
They return to action on Saturday against Queen’s College and Grey College, respectively.
Speaking of Queens, the boys from Komani, led by coach Michael Baiden, will be pleased with their start to the festival.
They defeated Pretoria’s Hoërskool Waterkloof 2-1, thanks to strikes by Leighton Prince and Cayden Adonis.
KES, as mentioned above, put four past Grey College. The hosts made a dream start and opened the scoring through Blaine Candy in the first chukka, but Grey soon levelled from a short corner.
Coach Siya Sityana‘s Red Sticks soon gained the ascendancy and sealed an impressive win with another Candy goal and a brace from Andrew Arouca.
St John’s College played to a goalless draw with St Charles, while Pearson High ended the day with a handy 4-1 win over Helpmekaar College.
St Andrew’s College got the ball rolling with a tight 1-0 win over Kearsey College.
Day two’s action kicks off bright and early at 07:30 when Glenwood High meets Grey College.
RESULTS
Thursday, 2 April
St Andrew’s College 1-0 Kearsney College
Northwood 5-0 Selborne College
Westville Boys’ High 4-0 Parktown Boys’ High
Maritzburg College 6-0 Dale College
Glenwood High School 7-0 Eldoraigne
Queen’s College 2-1 Waterkloof
KES 4-1 Grey College
St John’s 0-0 St Charles College
Pearson High 4-1 Helpmekaar College
Fixtures
Saturday, 4 April
07:30 – Glenwood High vs Grey College
08:50 – Dale College vs St Charles
10:10 – Eldoraigne vs Pearson High
11:30 – King Edward VII vs St Andrew’s College
12:50 – Queen’s College vs Maritzburg College
14:10 – St John’s College vs Westville Boys’ High
15:30 – Northwood vs Helpmekaar College
16:50 – Selborne College vs Parktown Boys’ High
18:10 – Waterkloof vs Kearsney College
