Northwood crosses swords with Westville, while Clifton hosts Kearsney

Kearsney College travels down to Durban for a face-off with Clifton, while St Charles hosts Glenwood, and Maritzburg College crosses swords with Hilton on Saturday. However, the weekend action kicks off with a tie between Westville and Northwood on Friday.

Northwood heads into the contest on a high after putting on a great show for their alumni on Old Boys’ Day last Saturday. They recorded a 2-1 win over Maritzburg College in an entertaining match. Justin Collins’ charges’ come-from-behind victory against a talented and well-structured College outfit will give them confidence that they can overcome their hosts.

Westville, however, also impressed last weekend, handing Hilton College a 2-1 defeat, and that was without their coach and KZN Coastal u18A coach Cam Mackay on the sidelines. He was in Namibia with the South African men’s indoor hockey team, and his return will be a nice boost for the Griffin.

One of the matches scheduled for Saturday is a mouthwatering encounter between Kearsney and Clifton.

The teams have enjoyed a long-standing rivalry that was, at first, dominated by Kearsney. However, it intensified when Clifton began pulling off upsets before making a habit of defeating Kearsney. There’s now an added twist to the contest after Keegan Pearce’s switch. The former Clifton first-team coach and Director of Hockey moved to Kearsney as their Director of Hockey at the start of the year.

“I think there’s going to be added motivation from the Clifton boys to beat us this year,” Ashley Kemp, the Kearsney coach, shared.

Kemp’s charges beat Glenwood 4-0 in their last match. In that tie, their captain, Matthew Mendes de Oliveira, played a starring role with a brace, scoring the first and fourth goals of the encounter. The Kearsney captain, who made the SA Schools side last year, is having the season of his life and will be a constant threat to the Clifton defence, which Kemp is hoping his side can prise open.

“They have been defensively sound, not conceding a lot of goals. But we will be looking to exploit their defence,” Kemp said.

Calvin Price‘s charges will not be easily pushed aside. Although young, they have shown that they are a force to be reckoned, scoring a win over Northwood and, earlier this week, DHS. Jason Adams struck a late winner, which will have served as a big confidence-booster for the home side.

“We are looking forward to our final fixture of the season versus Kearsney and believe we are in a good space for the game ahead on Saturday. So, we’re hoping to carry that momentum forward into this weekend’s fixture,” Price said.

Kearsney and Clifton have each won a match in their last two meetings. Kearsney edged Clifton 1-0 when they crossed swords early last season in Botha’s Hill. The year before that, Clifton, then under Pearce’s direction, ran out 3-1 winners at the Riverside Sports Club.

On a quieter weekend than most, with teams winding down their fixtures and learners writing exams, the KZN slate presents an intriguing mix of matches.

FIXTURES

Friday
Westville vs Northwood.

Saturday
St Charles vs Glenwood, Maritzburg College vs Hilton, Clifton vs Kearsney.

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CS Chiwanza

CS Chiwanza is a former poet and now a full-time storyteller of Southern African sports. He jokes that those who can't do a thing well enough either teach or write. He knows the right way to hold a cricket bat and the right grip for the wobbleball, but can't do either well enough to be picked for a good team. So he writes. However, he mastered the best dart grip and spends hours stat-padding against his wife and kids.

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