Michaelhouse-Northwood derby kicks off KZN weekend hockey action
Michaelhouse kicks off the weekend’s KZN hockey action with a mouthwatering encounter against Northwood at 18:30 on Friday.
Justin Collins’ charges have enjoyed their matches against Michaelhouse in recent seasons, coming out on the right side of those contests.
Despite that history, Collins is not taking the fixture lightly. He is expecting a fight from Nick Bérichon’s team. For one thing, with Bérichon now in charge, ‘House has adopted a different style of play.
Bérichon, who took over the reins at Michaelhouse this year, has been hard at work transforming the team, building a new culture, and his language when addressing his team revolves around constant improvement.
After their two matches against Garsfontein this past weekend, the Michaelhouse coach asked his side not to focus on the result, but what they could do better.
“I want them to strive to do better with each game we play. The plan is to take our hockey to a higher level,” he said.
The Mansergh Astro at Hilton College brings together two teams that have performed well this season when the Kearsney College 1st XI takes on Hilton at 10:45 on Saturday.
One of Kearsney’s mottos this season is, “find a way”. And that’s what they’ll be aiming to do against a Hilton side that has, once again, shown that it is one of South Africa’s elite teams. Kearsney appears to be in that conversation, too.
Good defensive play was one of the main objectives for Ashley Kemp and his Kearsney team as they prepared for the 2024 season. “I take massive pride in defence. If you don’t concede, you give your boys the ability to play freely,” he explained.
Glenwood heads to Westville intent on victory after suffering a narrow 0-1 loss to Clifton College last week at the Riverside Sports Club.
Braydon Naidoo has been working to develop his charges’ skills, and drilling the fundamentals into them was a key part of their preparations for the season.
His team boasts the inimitable talents of Kaden Henderson. The 15-year-old Grade 9 pupil was awarded three Player of the Match awards at the Saints Sports Festival. He’ll be ably supported by his captain, Siya Malatjie and Qhama Dyakopou, a dynamic outside half. Up front, Henderson will hunt for goals in the company of Krian Jugoo.
And while that quartet is capable of individual brilliance, Naidoo doesn’t want the rest of his team to sit back and wait for them to do something special. “We focused on playing as a well-rounded team in our preseason preparations and we hope they carry this into matches,” he said.
In the Free State, Jim Fouche’s hockey programme is on the rise. Their performances have been improving year-on-year and earlier this season they played to a 2-2 draw against defending WesGrow and City champions, Fichardtpark.
They also put together a solid showing at the Keith Fairweather Festival in KZN, where they registered three wins, two draws and a single loss.
Part of the reason for Jim Fouché’s uptick in performance was the quality of opposition they faced during the preseason. “We played against a few club teams, and it was good to see how a few of the boys rose to the challenge,” said coach Graham Seeger, who admitted to being impressed by how his team has gelled in the short period he has been with them.
Jim Fouché takes on Diamantveld on Saturday. It should be a hotly contested encounter.
Fixtures
Friday: Michaelhouse vs Northwood
Saturday: Glenwood vs Westville, Hilton vs Kearsney, St Charles College vs Clifton College, Maritzburg College vs DHS Voortrekker (Bethlehem) vs Goudveld, Witteberg vs Trio, Jim Fouché vs Diamantveld
