Northwood downs Grey College to win u18 Guschkie Top Schools title
Trent Jessop struck for Northwood as they successfully defended the u18 Guschkie Top Schools title they had won in 2023, beating Grey College in a repeat of the previous year’s the final.
In 2023, they won 2-0. This time around, it was tighter, but the Knights won 1-0 to repeat as champions in Bloemfontein on Saturday.
Both schools were the class of their groups, winning all of their matches.
Northwood ran out comfortable 4-0 winners over both DF Malan and St Andrew’s School, but were pushed harder by Worcester Gimnasium and Menlopark, winning those games 2-1. The also beat Somerset College 4-1.
It was an impressive run, but the Knights’ coach Justin Collins felt his charges were not at their best in pool play.
“We did not play our best hockey in the pool stages but had some good results,” he told SuperSport Schools Plus, before adding, “The Northwood boys definitely stood up in the final and everyone did their jobs really well.”,
Grey also cruised through the group stage. They won their first match comfortably, beating Hoërskool Eldoraigne 4-0. They followed up with a 3-0 win over Menlopark, and then beat St Andrew’s School 2-0. They also kept a clean sheet against DF Malan, winning that game 5-0.
Saturday evening’s title-decider was a tight clash. At half-time, the teams were deadlocked at 0-0. Then, in the third chukka, Northwood was presented with a golden goal-scoring opportunity.
“We put an overhead into the circle and the ‘keeper closed down the striker’s space, resulting in a penalty stroke. Trent Jessop stepped up and scored the goal,” said Collins
“It was a well-contested game with both teams creating opportunities. It was a game of tactics where both teams were strong. We identified some areas that we could take advantage of, and we threatened in the correct areas,” he explained.
Northwood’s South African Schools’ goalkeeper Harlee Jagga was in superb form, keeping Grey at bay. “Grey had a couple of short corners but Harlee Jagga in goal was up to the task, making some key saves in the first half and in the dying moments of the game,” Collins said.
“Northwood winning 1-0, this is a great send-off for our matrics in their last tournament,” he added.
Grey’s coach Wayne Coetzee said his team worked hard, but they just couldn’t find a way through the Knights’ stubborn defence.
“The boys played okay. We just couldn’t put the ball in the back of the goals. We tried everything, even took off the keeper with five-and-a-half minutes to go, and we still couldn’t get a goal.”
