Thrilling clashes headline Saints Easter Hockey Festival boys’ section
This year’s Standard Bank St Stithians College Easter Hockey Festival in Johannesburg will feature thrilling matchups, close calls and high-level hockey.
The highly anticipated three-day extravaganza runs from 16 to 19 April and promises to deliver outstanding action on the AstroTurf.
It’s one of the country’s most prestigious Easter Hockey Festivals, bringing together various schools from different provinces.
The boys’ section will be interesting with some big names attending and looking to stamp their authority, while other teams are still in search of their mojo.
Gauteng schools in attendance include the hosts alongside St David’s Marist Inanda, Die Hoërskool Menlopark, St Benedict’s College, Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool (Affies), and Pretoria Boys High (PBHS). It is a strong Gauteng lineup, with many of the teams having already played a couple of matches this season.
Affies and Pretoria Boys High will enter the festival coming off contrasting results over the past weekend. PBHS drew 2-2 with King Edward VII (KES), while Affies suffered a heavy 1-4 loss at the hands of Paarl Gimnasium in the Western Cape.
St Benedict’s and St David’s are still trying to find their feet, having both recorded a mixed bag of results in recent weeks.
Both sides were in action at the Independent Schools Hockey Festival and found the going tough, but they’ll no doubt look to bounce back at Saints.
Reddam House Constantia is the only Western Cape representative. Coached by Alex Gitlin, the boys from Cape Town will come out with guns blazing.
They are in good form and picked up five wins at the ISHF in Pretoria earlier this month. They did suffer a 0-4 loss against Rondebosch last weekend, but that won’t dampen their spirits.
KwaZulu-Natal will be represented at the festival by Hilton College and Clifton School. Hilton are favourites to end the festival as one of the unbeaten sides, considering their form of late. They impressed at the Nomads Hockey Festival, recording two wins and two draws. Coach Damian Kimfley will demand nothing but the best from his boys when they open their campaign against the hosts on Day 1 at 19:30.
Other matches to look out for on the opening day include Pretoria Boys High versus Clifton at 18:00. Affies will look to bounce back against Reddam at 14:30, while St Andrew’s College, from Makhanda, faces St Benedict’s.
All the action throughout the three days will be LIVE on SuperSport Schools.
BOYS FIXTURES
Wednesday, 16 April:
12:30 – St David’s Marist Inanda vs Die Hoërskool Menlopark; 13:30 – St Benedict’s College vs St Andrew’s College; 14:30 – Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool vs Reddam House Constantia; 18:00 – Pretoria Boys High vs Clifton School; 19:30 – St Stithians Boys’ College vs Hilton College.
Thursday, 17 April:
08:30 – Pretoria Boys High vs Reddam House Constantia; 08:45 – St Stithians Boys’ College Festival Team vs St Benedict’s College; 10:00 – Hilton College vs St David’s Marist Inanda; 11:00 – St Andrew’s College vs Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool; 12:00 – St Stithians Boys’ College vs Clifton School; 13:15 – Reddam House Constantia vs Die Hoërskool Menlopark 15:15 – Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool vs St Benedict’s College; 16:45 – St David’s Marist Inanda vs Clifton School; 17:45 – Pretoria Boys High vs St Andrew’s College; 19:00 – Hilton College vs Die Hoërskool Menlopark.
Saturday, 19 April:
07:45 – Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool vs Clifton School; 09:00 – Hilton College vs Pretoria Boys High; 10:00 – Reddam House Constantia vs St Benedict’s College; 11:15 – St Andrew’s College vs St David’s Marist Inanda; 12:30 – Die Hoërskool Menlopark vs Clifton School; 13:15 – Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool vs Hilton College; 14:30 – Reddam House Constantia vs St Stithians Boys’ College Festival Team; 16:45 – Pretoria Boys High vs St David’s Marist Inanda; 17:00 – Die Hoërskool Menlopark vs St Benedict’s College; 19:30 – St Stithians Boys’ College vs St Andrew’s College.
