St John’s on song at the Nomads Hockey Festival
St John’s College enjoyed day two of the Nomads Hockey Festival at Jeppe High School for Boys, delivering two quality performances on Sunday.
The side, led by coach Gilbert de Villiers and Anthony Woodhouse, defeated Wynberg Boys’ High 3-1 in the morning before playing to a thrilling 3-3 draw with Selborne College in the afternoon.
It was a drama-filled day at the Boden AstroTurf, with lightning halting play for most of the morning.
Before the delay, though, St John’s took to the park in the second match of the day against a Wynberg side still trying to find its feet.
Coach De Villiers’ boys were in search of their first win after going down to Hilton College (0-1), and Grey College (1-4) on Saturday.
Wynberg, meanwhile, defeated Pretoria Boys High 3-1 but lost to the hosts, Jeppe, 0-4 on the opening day.
Tapiwa Mutetwa opened the scoring for his side in the first chukka and was later joined on the score sheet by Ben Nagel and Dylan Viljoen.
Nagel scored from a tap-in on the far post, while Viljoen converted from a penalty corner, which was won by young Motheo Mparutsa.
Selborne refused to go down without a fight, and Reid Drake came to their rescue with three drag flicks, the last of which came late in the fourth chukka.
Reacting to his team’s Sunday performances, St John’s captain, Owethu Sishuba, said he was impressed by his side’s ability to bounce back after a disappointing opening day. “The team is very happy about today,” he told SuperSport Schools Plus.
“We spoke in the dugout about the importance of bouncing after a tough day one and losing two games. It’s a good turnaround, but we want to be consistent and go again tomorrow.”
Sishuba has been one of St John’s top performances at Nomads, presenting a rock-solid presence at the back to help keep his team out of danger alongside goalkeeper Kamogelo Thobejane, who also serves in the last line of defence for the St John’s water polo team.
They Houghton boys face Maritzburg College on Monday at 11:15, and Sishuba said he’ll urge his teammates to be up for the clash.
“They are a good team, but I think fatigue might play a major role for both sides,” he shared. “It will be a mental game and will come down to which team is up for the fixture and which team is ready to fight for it.”
In other big matches, Grey College, who won both their games on Saturday, shared draws with Jeppe and King Edward VII.
Both contests ended 2-2 after the Bloemfontein boys made a scintillating start on day one.
Their meeting with KES was an entertaining clash that ebbed and flowed and kept spectators intrigued. Captain Andrew Koupis led from the front for Grey, netting both of their goals.
KES was always chasing the game, but their never-die-say attitude was rewarded when their captain, Fynn Campbell, and Matthew Bromley found the back of the net.
Pretoria Boys High also made a massive statement by holding Hilton College to a 2-2 draw.
They lost both of their matches on Saturday, while Hilton won both of theirs, so it was an important reversal of fortune for Boys High.
