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Michaelhouse and Garsfontein ready for inaugural derby

By CS Chiwanza , in Hockey | Featured Hockey | News , at 2024-04-12 Tags: ,

Michaelhouse will host Garsfontein in the inaugural derby between the two schools this weekend.

In previous years, the teams met only if they attended the same festivals and were placed in the same group. Both will be desperate to land the first punch in the nascent years of what promises to be a fascinating rivalry.

The visitors, Garsfontein, will not want their 615km journey to be all for nothing. They’ll be motivated to return to the capital city as proud victors, with the bragging rights for taking down Michaelhouse at Balgowan at the first time of asking.

Garsfontein kicked off their season with a 2-3 loss to Grey College. Instead of dispiriting them, Steve Paulo’s boys were encouraged by that result. It was their first match under Paulo as head coach, and they had gone up against an in-form, strong outfit.

Wayne Coetzee‘s charges scored early goals in the first half and enjoyed a 3-0 lead until the early minutes of the fourth chukka. Instead of being deflated, Garsfontein launched wave after wave of attack and scored two goals in the last quarter and came close to scoring an equaliser. “I was impressed by their fighting spirit,” said Paulo.

That is the kind of outfit he was hoping to build, one that is unrelenting in its pursuit of goals. Paulo, a former Tuks’ hockey player and a member of the SA men’s indoor team, is a naturally attacking player. His style is rubbing off onto his team.

At the Coastal Cup, they produced mixed results, winning two, drawing one and losing one game, but the signs of better days to come were there. A 3-1 win over previously unbeaten Westville on the final day showed they were heading in the right direction.

“The boys played good hockey, positive hockey, and there were small moments that we did not capitalise on in the draw and loss,” Paulo commented.

After that, Garsfontein went up against Affies, with whom they drew 1-1, in a match full of missed opportunities. They did not make the same mistake when they met Eldoraigne on Wednesday night. They triumphed 4-1 and Paulo is keen to use that momentum in their two matches against Michaelhouse.

The test posed by Michaelhouse will give Paulo a good reading on how far his team has come as they work their way towards their ultimate goal of winning the Hibbert Shield.

“To achieve that, we need to create a winning culture. It will be a tough match; [Michaelhouse coach] Nick [Bérichon]was our coach last year. He knows me and he knows the boys. The tactics will also be somewhat similar,” reckoned Paulo.

Before switching to Michaelhouse, Nick Bérichon spent six years with Garsfontein. He also played with Paulo at Tuks. His tenure at Michaelhouse is in its early days and the results have been mixed, but they’re trending in the right direction.

They went 0-2 down to Westville in their season opener and then lost to Bishops in their first outing at their 175 Festival opener. “Some of the boys play summer sports, so the first seven weeks were a little disjointed,” Bérichon explained.

Michaelhouse followed that loss with two draws and another defeat before they picked up and won two in a row to finish the Bishops Hockey Festival with a 2-2-2 split after six matches. But the important thing is they finished strongly. They held St Benedict’s, who are enjoying a good season, to a draw, then beat the Langa Hockey Club and St Andrew’s College, who had suffered their first loss of the season only a day earlier.

The most evident thing Bérichon noticed as his team gained momentum at the showcase was that his playing philosophy was taking root in his players.

“I prefer a structured approach, one that is easy to read as you watch, one that even a parent can decipher and see what we are trying to accomplish. It makes it easy for us to review after the game as we give the boys feedback,” he said.

That approach makes it easy for Bérichon’s charges to execute set pieces and reduce the chances of leaving goals on the field. However, the Michaelhouse coach does not want the structure to restrict his players’ creativity. Rather, he wants it to be the foundation from which they can express themselves.

He is keen to use the double-header derby as preparation for a tough campaign of KZN derbies, which he knows are going to be tough to navigate. “We are expecting a tough challenge from Garsfontein. They will give us a good run for our money. They won’t be backing down, and neither will we,” he said.

In his quest, Bérichon will have the benefit of the talents of his captain Pat Lambert, a hardworking young man, who enjoys attacking. Lambert will have the support of Murray Hall-Jones, a constant threat from the back, Basti Hofmeyr’s abilities in the midfield, and Michaelhouse’s X-factor player, Gordon Deutscher.

“This match will have the feel of an internal match. It will be a contest of identical philosophies. In a way, it will be Nick vs Nick, and I am just the middleman,” Paulo said.

While Bérichon agrees that the styles will be identical, with two attacking teams going head-to-head, having known Paulo for a long time, the Michaelhouse coach is expecting a few surprises from him. “He will have a couple tricks up his sleeve,” he said.

Surprises or not, the one thing the Michaelhouse-Garsfontein derbies promise is an intense, high-octane encounter.

Fixtures

Saturday, 17:00 – Michaelhouse vs Garsfontein, Sunday, 10:00 – Michaelhouse vs Garsfontein.

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