Michaelhouse intends to turn around a tough season against Hilton
Michaelhouse will be aiming to turn around a tough season when they travel to Hilton College in one of KZN’s heated matchups this coming weekend.
The side which hails from the Midlands area of KwaZulu-Natal, has had a pretty challenging season, faced with adversity but in the midst of it all managed to produce five provincial players this year.
This coming weekend, they take on arguably one of the most dangerous teams in Durban, Hilton College who have moved to fifth spot in the U18 boys rankings.
Ahead of the match, SuperSport Schools had an exclusive interview with the coach, Grant Von Mayer to preview the match, and get more detail about his team.
“The season has been a tough one,” opened Von Mayer.
“It started with promise as we had a fit healthy and talented squad. Unfortunately, we suffered from many disruptions over the season and have seldom been able to fix the side we planned.”
“So in terms of results, we are disappointed and we feel that we have not been able to capitalize on early success against the likes of College,” he added.
In many cases, the performance of certain teams depreciates when they lose regular first-team players and more experienced players. This is also the case at the KZN school, however, Von Mayer believes the squad they have now will drive the hockey program into 2024.
“The squad is bolstered by a strong Grade 11 group.”
“These boys will have the responsibility of driving the squad into 2024.”
There might be some disappointing results recorded by Von Mayer’s side but he believes positive performances against Durban rivals will go a long way for the confidence of his side. He picked the best games he’s seen his side in action in:
“The Maritzburg College game was a fantastic fixture. We managed to win it (3-2), however, both sides produced some good constructive hockey and it was a good advert for the schools.”
“Our first-half defensive effort against Hilton was extraordinary and despite the score line, our game against the dangerous DHS team was a highlight for me.”
“The team (against DHS) had to adapt to a nuanced structure and they managed this exceptionally well for much of the game.”
The season might’ve not lived up to expectations for the coach, however, the fact that the side managed to produce five Inland U18 B players cannot be overlooked.
The likes of John Yeadon, West Mitchell-Innes, Patrick Lambert, Piko Nkompela, and Mokilibi Makara will represent the school at the IPT tournament starting next week in Bloemfontein.
But first, they need to go through a Hilton side, who come off a (1-0) loss against Kearsney College while they went down (3-0) against Westville Boys. The last time the sides met was earlier on in the season and Hilton won (4-2).
Kick-off between the two sides is at 11:30 on Saturday.
The teams:
Hilton College: Nkosi Shozi, Michael Sara, Grant Bridgeford, Dale Herbert, Nicholas Chantler, Akha Mda, Wian Liebenberg, Joel Kitshoff, Kearabetswe Khoele, Jarred Kitto, Masud Dakile, Jarred Matlby, Tino Hove, Murray Loughor-Clarke, Benjamin Mcguigan.
Michaelhouse: Pikolomzi Nkompela, Jordan Baxter, Jason Lawrence, Nicholas Pitt, Christopher Angel, Keaton Porrill, West Mitchell-Innes, Sebastian Hofmeyr, John Yeadon, Murray Hall-Jones, Thomas Griffin, Dominic Furby, Patrick Lambert, Erich van Zyl, Oliver Brown.
