This weekend St Charles College hosted the Maritzburg Derby, with College’s rugby teams playing matches against St Charles, Howick and Voortrekker. The College hockey teams had a full set of fixtures at St Charles played on Friday and Saturday. The College 1st XI soccer team had an exciting midweek match against Carter. Initially 0-1 down, they eventually won 2-1 (with both with goals coming in the 2nd half), to secure top spot in their group and a semi-final against rivals Alex on June 1st.

Rugby College’s rugby teams produced a great set of results winning 20 of their 26 matches. With excellent wins for all the A sides, the only games lost were on the stagger, with one drawn. The 1st XV produced another great performance to win convincingly, 46-8, in a match which saw them working well together under the captaincy of Head Prefect Kadira.

1st XV match report (Mr Tim Orchard, 1st XV coach) Maritzburg College proved to be too strong for a plucky St Charles team on the weekend. In a match that College dominated from the first whistle to the last, College gave a fine display of high-tempo rugby with the score somewhat flattering the hosts at 46-8. The first half was a relatively low scoring affair with Maritzburg College only in front by twelve points and the scoreboard reading 15-3. College scored three unconverted tries during the half, where their speedsters out wide finishing off very well worked tries such was the dominance by the College team. C Reardon and L Makhathini were the try scorers in the half with Makhathini bagging himself a brace. College was very careless with ball in hand as they became a tad complacent and spilt the ball several times where it looked like a certain try was going to be scored.

The second half began well when College caught the St Charles defence napping and ran 95m to score a wonder coast to coast try with Reardon rounding off a wonderful display of counterattack rugby from deep with the College half. This try visibly shook the hosts as they began to wilt due to the relentless running by a much more conditioned Maritzburg College team. Shortly afterwards, P Kubheka poached the ball within his own half and scampered away much to the delight of the Maritzburg College boys next to the touchline. He offloaded the ball to L Makhathini to score his hattrick of tries rounding off a well-deserved performance by the College speedster. Maritzburg College gifted a try to their hosts when, after breaking out from deep within their half, St Charles gladly accepted a kick from L Kunene who should have passed the ball but instead kicked it, allowing St Charles to go the other way and score much to the delight of the home crowd. From then it was all Maritzburg College, who started to show their dominance and ran their hosts
ragged with C Reardon scoring his third try of the day after L du Toit cut through the St Charles defence to set the try up. This now puts Reardon’s tally at eighteen tries for the season, something that he can be proud of. The College forwards also came to the party when K Mthimkhulu casually plucked a St Charles lineout from their hands to setup a wonderful attacking maul, allowing C Robinson to score a moral sapping try for the visitors. This put the score at 39-8 with minutes to play but College still found the energy to score one last try as the light was fading, with K Ayliffe getting on the scoreboard to put an end to a wonderful day for Maritzburg College. Thanks go to St Charles for hosting Maritzburg day this year.

College 1st XVcharge A determined L Kunene on the charge, supported by C Reardon, in a match against St Charles College which saw Maritzburg College win 46-8. Photo: D Becket

Maritzburg College 46
Tries: L.Makhathini x3, C. Reardon x3, C. Robinson and K.Ayliffe
Conversions: L. Du Toit x2 and J. Slevin
St Charles: 8

Hockey College’s hockey teams played 15 matches, winning 10, drawing 3 and losing 2. The 1st Xi Red Army had another frustrating match ending in a goalless draw. 1st XI match report (Kyle Emerson, Coach) College’s 1st XI travelled to St Charles to play on Friday night. The atmosphere was exciting and both teams rose to the occasion to entertain the crowd. St Charles did a good job in pressing College high in the first quarter but College were able to move the ball out of their own half and created many circle entries.

The first penalty corner of the match saw Asanda Khumalo flick miss the goal by a few centimetres. The half time score was 0-0 and College would feel that they should have taken the lead. The second half started in St Charles’s favour as Dicken used his skill to dribble past a few players and earn the home team a short corner. Nick Holmes saved the resulting drag flick with ease. As the
game went on, it saw St Charles tire and College were able to dominate both territory and possession. Chance after chance went over the goal, or the St Charles goalkeeper was up to the task of keeping College out. Another penalty corner was well saved by the St Charles goalkeeper. St Charles’s best chance would come in the 4th quarter when the ball fell to a St Charles forward who had a free shot on the top of the circle, but he missed the target. With three minutes to go, College earned consecutive penalty corners but were unable to beat the keeper. The game would end 0-0 with neither team able to take an opportunity. It was a good match and one which College would once again, regret not being able to take at least one of their opportunities.

Cross Country College’s cross-country runners took part in the 6th Midlands XC League held at Pmb GHS. Senior Boys top 10 finishers:
4th – J Werth
5th – L Newlands
7th – C Higgins

9th – L Shangase
Junior Boys top 10 finishers:
5th – O Zuma
6th – S Ismail
8th – K Searle
9th – L Makhoba.

Soccer College’s soccer 1st XI hosted Carter on Barns’ for a game which attracted a lot of local support. Initially 0-1 down, College’s players dug deep, scoring two goals in the 2nd half, the last with only 3 minutes remaining. The 2-1 win, and the 3rd win from three matches, secured them top spot in their group, and a semi-final place against rivals Alex High on June 1st.

Squash On Friday, College took on Westville in what proved to be a highly entertaining afternoon of squash fixtures. The 1st team faced a young, promising Westville team who were determined to cause an upset. College got off to a great start cruising to a 3-1 lead, with great wins in their respective rubbers from T Mason, K Pillay and T Kufal. Showing great tenacity and grit however, Westville
clawed their way back, gaining a substantial foothold and ultimately flipping the fixture on its head, taking a 4-3 lead. It was up to the College number 1 on the day, W Galliers, to earn his team a hard fought draw. Playing with great intensity and composure, Galliers won his rubber 3-0, ensuring that both schools would share the spoils in a 4-4 draw. College’s Junior side also squared off against Westville and put in a stellar performance. Continuing their impressive winning streak, College claimed a well-deserved 7-0 overall fixture victory, with five players recording 3-0 wins in their individual rubbers.

College 14 Cmixed Caption: In an exceptional act of good sportsmanship, College’s U14C rugby team showed it’s not just about the winning – it’s about the love of the game! Twenty minutes into the match between College’s U14C and a KZN Development side, the score was 50-0 to College. It was decided to stop the game, and then continue after mixing up the sides, to let all boys get a full game and help those who are still learning this wonderful sport we love so much! Our College boys embraced the plan and enjoyed being in teams with the development players, and playing against their own teammates. At the end it wasn’t about the final score – Rugby won. Photo credit: Maritzburg College