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Maritzburg College and Clifton victorious on their Reunion and Old Boys days

By CS Chiwanza , in Hockey | Featured Hockey | News , at 2024-05-11 Tags: , , ,

Ryde Brisset enjoyed a fine outing for Clifton, scoring twice from penalty corners, while serving as an effective conduit between defence and attack.
Ryde Brisset enjoyed a fine outing for Clifton, scoring twice from penalty corners, while serving as an effective conduit between defence and attack.

Maritzburg College and Clifton treated their old boys to a wonderful morning with victories over Michaelhouse and St Charles respectively on Saturday. College won 2-0, while Clifton defeated St Charles 5-2 in a very entertaining clash.

It was a fitting manner to mark College’s Reunion Day and Clifton’s Old Boys’ Day.

St Charles arrived at the Riverside Sports Club bearing the underdog tag, having lost 1-3 to the same opposition when they hosted them for their Old Boys’ celebration day on 20 April.

Calvin Price‘s boys put Saints under the pump from the start. Within two minutes, the home team was 1-0 to the good, thanks to a length-of-the-field counterattack. However, Matthew Coombes’ charges were not about to allow the hosts to roll them, and they responded with a goal from a short corner, scored by Marcell Wellman, not too long afterwards.

The hosts reestablished their lead when they scored a ripper through Zach Williamson from a penalty corner but, again, their lead was short-lived as they were made to pay for an error in defence, with Cian Fortmann turning over possession and then slotting the opportunity.

“I am not happy with the goals against us. We definitely let ourselves down in the first two chukkas,” Price said after the match.

The third chukka saw the arrival of a different Clifton team. They played with good speed, and they let the ball do the work. This allowed them to create space around a well-structured unit.

From level-pegging at 2-2, Clifton broke open the contest with three goals in quick succession, with two of them, from short corners, going to the impressive Ryde Brisset.

Jason Adams and Daniel Rea were also on the score sheet for the home side, who delivered a performance to warm the hearts of their old boys.

With a comfortable lead heading into the final chukka, Clifton kept the ball moving and pushed and probed, but Saints closed them down.

“You always want to show your old boys a good game and we managed that with a 5-2 win,” Price said.

In the KZN capital, Maritzburg College did as they have done so often this season. They controlled possession and the tempo of their game against Michaelhouse, and they also managed to manipulate their visitors’ shifting press.

They created a number of opportunities and two of those were buried. “We scored two brilliant team goals from counterattacks,” College’s happy coach Kyle Emerson reckoned.

The first one came off Siwa Sithembu’s stick. It was a cool finish, over the goalkeeper, on the back post.

College’s second was netted by Banele Dlamini, who was unmarked and picked out on the back post by Tai Fulton after a searing counter, which began with Michaelhouse injecting the ball for a penalty corner.

CS Chiwanza
error: Sorry ol' chap, those shenanigans are not permissible.