1st team report (Mr Kyle Emerson, 1st XI coach)

The stage was set for an exciting evening, as the College 1st XI played their first match under their newly installed lights on Pape’s Astro. The boarders, staff and many supporters came out in their numbers to support and enjoy a match on a Friday evening. The Clifton 1st XI came out the blocks fast and tried to play a fast-paced game, which saw them move the ball well with some exciting build up play. College were equal to it and the first quarter didn’t see many chances created, as the two teams summed each other up. Clifton earned the first penalty corner of the evening but their variation did not allow them to get a clean shot off and trouble Nic Holmes in goals. College asserted themselves more in the third quarter where they started to turn more ball over from the Clifton defenders and their quick counter attacks proved difficult for the Clifton team to manage. A rare goalkeeping error, resulted in an unfortunate stoke being given to Clifton and yellow card to Holmes, after he had his helmet off when clearing a ball in open play. The Clifton player put it away and they took the lead in the 3rd quarter. College had a penalty corner that was well saved by the Clifton keeper as he moved quickly to his right and made a stick save. Clifton couldn’t clear the ball and a scramble in the 9-yard area saw debutant Rory Schirge react quickest to push the ball into the goal. The pressure piled up from College as they created a few more chances in the quarter, a ball being cleared off the line, and the Clifton keeper made a few saves off his line to keep the scores even.
Early in the 4th quarter, College capitalised on a good passage of buildup play and a left-sided circle entry saw Uyanda Dlamini hit a back-hand shot low and hard to the far post where Julian Konigkramer was well positioned to deflect the ball into the goal. Fatigue started to set into both teams due to the high pace at which the match was played and the unforced errors started to creep in from both teams. A turnover on the halfway line allowed Clifton to launch a quick counter-attack and the striker received the ball at the top of the circle to calmly fire a precise back-hand into the bottom corner of the goal to level the scores. A good battle that would see both teams ruing missed chances on the night to claim a victory, with a final score of 2-2.

MCHockeyU16A – The Maritzburg College’s U16A hockey team delivered an excellent performance for their 1st home game of the season, winning 8-0 against Clifton. Credit: College

Summary of results