Selborne crash the Queen’s party on Reunion Day
Two goals in the fourth quarter by Masibulele Siswana and Waden Plaatjes secured a 3-1 victory for Selborne College over their arch-rivals Queens College in the 165th Queens College reunion at the Chris Harker Astro in Komani on Saturday.
The two sides, who have had an impressive start to the season, were looking to continue in their respective forms and claim bragging rights for the next four months.
One may argue that Selborne entered the game as the underdog for the first time in a while, especially considering Queens’ recent success and wins over Dale, Affies, and Michaelhouse.
A week before the reunion match, Queens thumped Stirling High 5-1, and Selborne drew 1-1 with Pearson High.
Selborne was the more proactive side early on, probing the Queens defensive line and trying to force errors from the hosts.
The East London side had one attempt at goal to show for their efforts, saved by Queens keeper Rowan Miles. That was the only threat at goal, with nothing to separate the two sides at the end of the first chukka.
Both teams continued to rely on the counterattack and turnovers in the second quarter. The breakthrough came from a short corner that was whipped in by Daniel Sirgel and fell onto the stick of captain Ben van der Merwe, who put the ball into the goal with ease.
That goal sparked life into the Queens team. With one minute played in the third quarter, the home side equalized with a tap-in goal from Connor Oelofse.
That would be the last time Queens saw the sight of the Selborne goal, as the home side dominated the fourth quarter. Another short corner resulted in Masibulele Siswana extending the visitor’s lead before a solid counterattack led to Waden Plaatjes being one-on-one with the keeper, and he rounded him to slot in his first of the game.
Try as they might, Queens couldn’t get back into the match, which ended 3-1.
Besides the goal scorers, Daniel Sirgel, Lunga Malusi, and Riley Boardman played well for Selborne. Rowan Miles, and Keaneo Maytham put their hands up for the home side.
In other fixtures in the Eastern Cape, Grey High School humiliated Dale College 9-0 on Friday night.
Pearson High continued its dominance by beating Stirling High 6-1 before Cambridge High made it two wins in a row by thumping Graeme 7-0.
Hudson Park also recorded a 9-0 victory over their noisy neighbors, Port Rex, while earlier in the week, Pearson also asserted their dominance with an 8-0 Win over Westering.
Scorers:
Selborne College 3 (1) – Ben van der Merwe, Masibulele Siswana, Waeden Plaatjes. Queens College 1 (1) – Connor Oelofse.
Other results:
Graaff-Reinet Volkskool 8, Westering 0.
Grey High School 9, Dale College 0
Pearson 6, Stirling 1
Hudson Park 9, Port Rex THS 0
Cambridge 7, Graeme College 0
