Wins for Northwood and Glenwood, Maritzburg College and Hilton draw
Northwood pulled off a 1-0 win over Westville in a lively encounter under the night sky on Friday. Then, on Saturday morning, Glenwood grabbed a 5-4 win over St Charles, while Maritzburg College shared the spoils with Hilton College.
Justin Collins’ charges took advantage of an energetic start to their clash with Westville to take the lead through an Isaac Phiri goal in the first chukka, after a superb assist from Andrew Deeb. That goal, however, brought Westville to life.
Cameron Mackay’s boys were keen to put on a show for their old boys, which would require that they bounce back from adversity. The Griffin launched wave upon wave of attacks on the Northwood goal but found no joy.
The Knights had not assigned themselves the role of sitting ducks. They didn’t sit and wait for the home side to come at them. They launched their own forays into the Westville half, where they were met by an equally robust defence.
“Both teams played a really good game. It was good to play in front of the Westville old boys. Well done to Cam Mackay and his boys for a great game,” Collins said afterwards.
“They were good tactically and we did well to keep them out when they attacked. I am happy with our defensive effort, really pleased that we kept a clean sheet.”
On Saturday morning, at the 3 Schools Astro, Glenwood squeezed out a victory over St Charles in a high-scoring encounter that saw nine goals being recorded. It was a morale-boosting win for the Durban side after a challenging season in which their progress has been visible without producing wins.
They stuck five goals past Saints, whose strikers responded with four of their own. The home team was boosted by the inclusion of a number of juniors who were drafted into the first team, including 16-year-old Kayden Henderson, who scored a brace.
“We fought hard. Our programme is heading in the right direction,” Glenwood coach Braydon Naidoo said. “We needed that win. Our juniors stepped up well.”
In Pietermaritzburg, on Pape’s Astro, Maritzburg College settled for a draw with Hilton College.
Both sides were slow and shaky in the early going. College, who have developed a habit of starting strongly and controlling the tempo of the game, were slow out of the blocks against their opponents from the top of Town Hill. Kyle Emerson’s charges committed too many unforced errors. As a result, they failed to string together phases of play.
Neither team was at their best. “The mistakes we made meant that we couldn’t build momentum,” Emerson explained.
The College team that everyone had been expecting emerged in the second half. They took control of the contest and played with better connections, creating chances. However, it was Hilton who scored the first goal, midway into the fourth chukka and against the run of play, through a flowing counterattack.
College replied almost immediately, setting up an opportunity through a good build-up and then piling pressure on Hilton’s defenders inside the visitors’ circle, where they turned over possession and turned that into a goal.
Emerson’s boys kept pressing and they came close to taking the lead when they hit the crossbar from a penalty corner. Three minutes later, they won another PC and got off a shot on target, but the ‘keeper dealt with it and the game ended 1-1.
RESULTS
Friday
Northwood 1 – 0 Westville.
Saturday
Maritzburg College 1 – 1 Hilton
Glenwood 5 – 4 St Charles
