Top guns struggle to find consistency on day two at Nomads
While some teams took a step up on Sunday, the second day of the Nomads Hockey Festival left others struggling to find consistency.
The host school, Pretoria Boys High School (PBHS), enjoyed a good day. King Edward VII (KES) also made their presence felt, and Selborne College claimed a prized scalp, but Hilton College ended the day frustrated after winning one and losing one.
The annual event concludes on Monday, and the action is live on SuperSport Schools.
The opening day of the festival was filled with goals and surprise results, and day two continued in the same vein.
The first upset came bright and early when Selborne College stunned Jeppe High School for Boys 1-0. Mivuyo Lwana’s strike sealed the win for the East London side, which had absorbed serious pressure for most of the game.
Jeppe dominated possession and created numerous circle entries and penalty corners, but they were left to rue many missed opportunities.
In their second match of the day, the boys from Kensington looked like a different outfit and produced an impressive performance to beat Grey High School 4-2.
They led 3-1 at the break after a fast start, which resulted in goals for Adrian Laubsher, Kade Lottering, and Breydan Karle, while Keegan le Roux replied for Grey.
The second half was a dog fight. Le Roux reduced the deficit to one goal by converting a penalty stroke in the third quarter.
Jeppe remained resilient and defended strongly. They eventually sealed victory after a deadly overhead link-up between Kgotso Lehloenya and Karle late in the fourth chukka produced a superb match-winner.
After going down to Grey High on the opening day, KES bounced back in style, recording victories over Wynberg Boys’ High and Maritzburg College.
The Red Sticks, led by coach Siya Sityana, beat Wynberg 3-1, thanks to a Yusuf Smith brace and a strike by Kamohelo Tsoka.
Later in the day, they beat College by the same score. This time around, it was their deadly drag flicker, Andrew Arouca, who bagged a brace, while Blaine Candy also scored, and Luthando Shelembe netted for College.
The hosts, PBHS, played some impressive hockey in front of their home crowd. They did just enough to beat Kearsney College 1-0 in their first game of the day before also edging out Selborne College 1-0, thanks to a goal by Paidin Gray.
Hilton College ended the day with mixed feelings.
They did extremely well in their first match against St John’s College to come from three goals down to win 6-3. Ben Wilson led the charge with a hat-trick, while Tadi Hove, Anthony Crossley, and Santi Matroos also netted.
Later in the day, they were unable to replicate their come-from-behind act and were beaten 3-0 by Wynberg.
Mustafa Kajee was in fine form for the Cape Town school, netting a brace, and Ntsika Maho added his name to the scoresheet.
Wynberg coach Devin Stanton would’ve been pleased with the victory, but he is still seeking more consistency from his side.
In other matches, Affies suffered a 1-5 loss at the hands of Grey High before playing to a thrilling 3-3 draw with Grey College. The Bloemfontein boys also suffered a narrow 2-3 defeat at the hands of Maritzburg College.
Kearsney recorded their first win, beating St John’s 1-0 in the final match of the day.
Day three’s action starts bright and early at 07:30 with a clash between KES and Kearsney.
RESULTS
Sunday, 29 March
Grey High 5-1 Affies
Hilton 6-3 St John’s College
KES 3-1 Wynberg Boys’ High
Maritzburg College 3-2 Grey College
Selborne College 1-0 Jeppe
Pretoria Boys High 1-0 Kearsney College
Grey College 3-3 Affies
Jeppe 4-2 Grey High
KES 3-1 Maritzburg College
Pretoria Boys High 1-0 Selborne College
Kearsney 1-0 St John’s College
Wynberg Boys’ High 3-0 Hilton College
FIXTURES
Monday, 30 March
07:30 – Kearsney College vs KES
08:40 – St John’s College vs Grey High
09:50 – Pretoria Boys High vs Wynberg Boys’ High
11:00 – Selborne vs Affies
12:30 – Grey College vs Hilton College
13:40 – Jeppe vs Maritzburg College
