Posts by Jono Cook
Kearsney basketball courts the focus against Northwood
With the Northwood and Kearsney cricket fixtures a weather no-go, the Kearsney indoor courts were the scene for much of the Saturday sporting action with Northwood.
The Kearsney first team cricketers, though, are due to due to play on Wednesday when they host Clifton first XI from 2.45pm in the 100-Ball competition.
Kearsney College feature photo: There is always something new to learn: Former Proteas captain and leading all-rounder Shaun Pollock conducted a coaching clinic at Kearsney last week. Pictured in-photo are (from left) Kearsney cricket consultant Khaya Zondo, Kearsney director of sport Waylon Murray, 1st XI vice-captain Nhlakanipho Ngubane, Shaun Pollock, captain Bryce Wiggett, 1st XI coach Matt Savage and consultant Jordan Gregory.
Meanwhile, the first quarter in Saturday’s first team basketball match between hosts Kearsney and visitors Northwood was tightly contested with both teams feeling each other out and neither team gaining the ascendancy. However, Northwood edged slightly ahead at 17-15 on the scoreboard.
During the second quarter Northwood began to find offensive rhythm, aided by some deadly outside shooting. Kearsney found the going more difficult and were only able to score eight points during the quarter. At half-time Northwood were comfortably ahead 34-23.
Kearsney played much better defence in the second half, but were unable to make up the earlier deficit, despite shooting with greater precision. Northwood ran out deserving winners 70-58.
Top first team points scorers:
Kearsney – Njabulo Ngcobo 22 points, Lehumo Mhalabana 10, Matthew Campbell 8
Northwood – Lunga Dlungwane 18 points, Jordan Sutherland 12, Chadley Hargreaves 11, Keegan Best 10
The seconds basketball team of Kearsney beat Northwood seconds 38-15 for their third win on the trot, while the thirds also won. The Kearsney U16A team went down by 3 points (35-32) while the B side won 22-10.
At U15 level the Kearsney A side lost to Northwood by 4 points (31-27) while the B side won by 2 points (22-20).
Kearsney U14A basketballers beat Northwood U14A 23-14 while in the B team match Kearsney won 23-6.
Water Polo
The Kearsney first water polo team participated in the annual Pretoria Boys High School festival against other Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal schools. The young Kearsney team did well. There were some outstanding performances, in particular a thrilling 7-6 win against hosts PBHS and a nailbiting 6-6 draw against St Albans.
First team Kearsney water polo results:
Kearsney beat Pretoria Boys High 7-6
Kearsney lost to Affies 7-10
Kearsney lost to David’s Marist Inanda 6-8
Kearsney drew with St Albans 6-6
Kearsney lost to St Stithians 3-11
Cricket
Kearsney cricketers were honored to have Proteas legend Shaun Pollock conduct a coaching session with them last week. Proteas-capped Dolphins cricketer Khaya Zondo is also working with Kearsney’s High-Performance cricketers across the age groups this season.
Weather-diluted sports weekend sees only Maritzburg College water polo travel to Glenwood
The heavy rains on Saturday and, possibly even more damaging, those on Friday, put paid to a scheduled busy Saturday of cricket fixtures between Maritzburg College and Glenwood, leaving water polo as the sports code not disrupted by the elements.
Earlier in the week the Maritzburg College tennis and squash sports codes were busy while on Saturday the Maritzburg College canoeists enjoyed success on the Umgeni River during the 17km Dash & Crash.
Maritzburg College’s Joshua Glyn-Cuthbert won the Dash & Crash’s Under-18 K1 race, which bodes well for the Dusi Canoe Marathon.
Maritzburg College canoeing coach Bridgitte Hartley’s canoeing boys are having a productive year as a group.
Maritzburg College’s Dash & Crash Canoeing Results
K1
U18 category
Joshua Glyn-Cuthbert 1st
Ian Hemmingway 5th
James Goble 7th
James Sharpe 8th
Kent Rhodes 9th
Chris Adam 10th
Ross Finnie 27th
U16 category
Scott Adie 15th
U14 category
Scott Venniker 2nd
Nick Adam 6th
K2
Robert Ross/Clint Ross 12th
James Gotte/Gary Behn 21st
Brody Ollerhead/Bryan Goble 56th
Squash
The Maritzburg College Top 8 squash side played against Glenwood midweek and put in a sterling performance with each of the players winning their respective matches. College recorded an 8-0 victory.
Tennis
Maritzburg College’s tennis teams had midweek fixtures against St Charles College, Kearsney College and Hilton College with convincing wins overall for the A teams. For the Maritzburg College B tennis teams it was tough going against the Kearsney and Hilton A teams. That said, and taken in the right context, the boys have learnt and will grow from the defeats.
Tennis results
U19
Maritzburg College A vs St Charles A won 11-1
College B vs Kearsney A lost 12-0
U15
College A vs HC B won 9-3
College B vs HC A lost 12-0
Water polo
Maritzburg College fielded 8 teams against Glenwood over the weekend, recording 6 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss.
The key differentiator in Maritzburg College’s first team loss by 13 goals to 7 appears to have been the result of a strong second chukka by the hosts in the Glenwood pool
Maritzburg College’s director of aquatics Darren Sherriff reports: “The 1st team game had an intense start with both teams exchanging goals, the score 2-2 at the end of the 1st chukka.
“At the end of the 2nd chukka, Glenwood had managed a 4-goal lead and were able to extend this by the end of the game. College fought hard to come back but it wasn’t enough.”
Outside the first team, in the other two top-tier age-group matches, Maritzburg College won both, the U14A match 6-3 and the U15A match 12-7.
Water polo scores
1st team: Glenwood 13 Maritzburg College 7
2nd team: Glenwood 5 Maritzburg College 14
3rd team: Glenwood 8 Maritzburg College 8
4th team: Glenwood 2 Maritzburg College 11|
U15A: Glenwood 7 Maritzburg College 12
U14A: Glenwood 3 Maritzburg College 6
U14B: Glenwood 1 Maritzburg College 2
U14C: Glenwood 1 Maritzburg College 2
The weekend of 5 February 2022 weather besmirched
The Clifton cricket fixtures at Michaelhouse Saturday, February 5 have already been cancelled but at least the first team basketball under coach S’bu Cele are set for a 2pm start on the main indoor court at House.
The first team water polo match at House is scheduled for 12.10pm.
The Kearsney first team cricket match at Northwood looks in serious doubt of completion Saturday but the first team basketball clash set for 1 pm at Kearsney we hope is all set to take place.
All the basketball matches scheduled at Northwood have already been cancelled.
The Kearsney first water polo side are at the St David’s festival in Johannesburg.
The Kearsney first side are scheduled to play Northwood firsts on 15 February, a Tuesday, at 4pm in Durban North.
Meanwhile, DHS first XI beat Glenwood by 5 wickets in the 100-Ball Coastal competition on Tuesday, Glenwood totalling 147/4 to which School replied with 151/5.
Westville hosting DHS on the cricket field look in serious weather-doubt while the basketball firsts were scheduled for a 5pm start Friday at Westville . The basketball was scheduled for Thursday at 5pm (first team). No result, as yet.
Glenwood host Maritzburg College firsts water polo and cricket
Weather permitting (and it’s not looking good) there will be a bumper 18 cricket matches between Glenwood and Maritzburg College on Saturday, February 5th.
The first team cricket 50-over match is on Dixons at Glenwood while the rest of the matches are predominantly in the KZN capital and surrounds (with a smattering in Durban).
Digi TV will be streaming the 2nd XI cricket match on Goldstones: https://tv.digicentral.co.za/…/maritzburg-college-2nd…
Saturday’s water polo matches are at Glenwood with the first team match at 1.35pm.
All water polo matches will be live-streamed on https://tv.digicentral.co.za/glenwoodtv
St Charles and Hilton compete
The Hilton College first XI had a good workout in beating a Tuskers Academy XI by 72 runs in a T20 match on the Hart-Davis Oval at Hilton on Thursday afternoon, the Hiltonians compiling 143 for 6 in their 20 overs, to which Tuskers replied with 71 all out.
Saturday on the St Charles College Oval is what is a keenly anticipated fixture against the hosts school’s first XI but indications suggest the weather may be the main player in this one. More’s the pity as it looks to be a contest between two sides who have shown much promise to date.
Certain basketball fixtures could also be decimated by the prevailing wet weather although those taking place in the indoor arena are not affected.
The first team basketball clash is set for 1.30pm in that SK Arena at Saints.
The Hilton firsts basketball team for the match is:
Michael Fox, Kwame Huyberechts, Kediretswe Mbaakanyi, Chisha Mulenga, Saphiwa Nzimande, Qhawe Soji (vice-capt), Nic Thorburn, Roelf van der Merwe (capt), David Tshebi, Tiisano Tisane, Declan Sawyer and Oyisa Pupuma
The Saints first water polo team take on the Hilton second side in Hilton’s Ducasse Aquatic Centre at 10.30am.
The first team golf match was due to be played from 3.30pm at Victoria Country Club on Friday, 4 February.
Northwood looking good
The Knights (first XI) played Clifton Wednesday afternoon (yesterday) in the KZN Coastal 100-ball competition at Clifton’s Riverside Sports Club ground and won by 5 wickets.
The Northwood School first XI under the captaincy of Adam Chislett had recorded an emphatic 111-run win in the 50-over match with Clifton School first XI on the Smith Oval in Durban North last Saturday.
The stage was set on the Saturday by a punishing James Nielsen at the top-of-the-innings’ Power Play as he raced to his half-century off just 30 deliveries.
Nielsen went on to make 83 off 94 balls and together with number 3 Evan Fouche (75 off 104) the Northwood pair added a match-defining 140 for the second wicket.
The Knights’ middle-order batsmen weighed in with handy contributions and the home side were able to set Clifton a challenging target when the innings closed at 232 for 6 in the allotted 50 overs.
The Knights of Northwood skipper Chislett then led by example in getting two early wickets and it was an uphill struggle from thereon for the Clifton batting line-up.
Liam Peverett’s four for 33 in 10 overs was the cherry on the top for Northwood, to go with Chislett’s final match analysis of three for 26 as Clifton were bowled out for 121.
Northwood first XI will be looking to maintain their winning momentum when they host Kearsney on the Robin Smith Oval from 9am on Saturday.
As is the case with the St Charles College first XI, who went to the Rondebosch festival, the Northwood first XI appear to have benefited immensely in fitting in a festival ahead of the start of the school year and the first-term domestic season.
The Knights were at the Grey High School festival, which took place from January 6 to 10 in Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth, colloquially known as “PE”) and first up was a wake-up perhaps as the host school won the T20 match by 10 wickets.
Northwood Knights’ scored 159 for 5 in their 120 balls but it turned out to be too little in terms of extending the Grey PE batting line-up, the 2021 North/South competition T20 champions cruising home without the loss of a single wicket and 18 balls to spare.
The Knights then won their remaining 5 matches at the festival across different formats. A 131-run loss at Michaelhouse on the first Saturday of the school term halted the Knight’s winning ways but the blip was rectified 4 days later by a 52-run win at Glenwood in the 100-Ball competition followed by the 2 comfortable wins over near-neighbours Clifton.
Coach Khalipha Cele and director of cricket Mornantau Hayward, who also have the experience of Vaughn van Jaarsveld with his coaching the Northwood Bears (second XI) appear to have a good set-up on the go in the 22 cricket sides at this fine school situated in Adelaide Tambo Drive, Durban North.
One of the Northwood coaches I have got to know over the years is Mike Wolstenholme, who is looking after the third XI. If I know Mike, he is a caring coach who puts the team and the players first. Much experience has been gained over his years in cricket. Mike has also played a major role in KZN schools’ umpiring circles.
Northwood director of sport Sean Baker’s comments on the trip to Michaelhouse on January 22: “Northwood travelled to Michaelhouse for their first fixture for 2022. Michaelhouse is traditionally a tough away fixture and true to form, the House boys did not make it easy.
“In the basketball, it was Michaelhouse who dominated but not without a fight. Most of the matches were a few points in it, the game of the day for Northwood belonged to the U15E who had a closely- fought battle, dug deep and edged the MHS team 9-8.
“In the cricket there were equally exciting and closely contested matches across the age groups. The Northwood U15 age group won all their matches, the U15C team winning by 1 run. In the U14A match, Michaelhouse were in complete control until a superb piece of boundary fielding from Jamie Wimble to force a run out at a crucial moment swung momentum to the Squires who then went on to successfully defend their 159-run total by a 7-run margin.
“Michaelhouse won the junior water polo section but the day belonged to Mr Richter’s 1st team who against arguably one of the better KZN teams around, pulled off a 5-4 victory. Congratulations to the Knights water polo side. The second team also played well with Morne Earle bagging 5 goals in their 10-3 victory.
“Thank you to Michaelhouse for their hospitality and great sportsmanship throughout the day across all three sporting codes.”
Best wishes from KZN10.com to the Northwood boys in the upcoming matches – and that sentiment applies to all.
After Kearsney this weekend, Northwood’s block school fixtures for the rest of the term are as follows: away to Westville (Feb 12), away to DHS (Feb 19), home to Glenwood (Feb 26) and away to Maritzburg College (Mar 5).
Hilton water polo first team more ups than downs
The Hilton College 2022 first team water polo boys have had a good season to date, playing 8 matches winning 5, drawing 1 and losing 2 in scoring 90 goals with 56 against.
The team of Tanner Bailey, captain Cameron Gray, Oliver Lello, Ross Taylor, Jack Waterhouse (vice-capt), Ben Watt, Jono Bregman-Frangos, Matthew Hayes, Caine Letschert, Dean Macleod-Henderson, Stefan Swart, Retief Malherbe and Mitchel Wilson can cite just the losses to Westville and St John’s College (Houghton) as blemishes on an otherwise clean copybook.
Results so far:
beat Kearsney 19-7
Lost to Westville 10-8
Drew with Selborne 6-6
Beat Pool Roos 9-7
Beat Woodridge 19-0
Beat Pearson 14-2
Beat Grey PE 10-9
Lost 15-5 to St John’s
Westville dominate on the basketball courts versus Hilton
Results in the 29 January 2022 basketball matches between Westville and Hilton College:
Westville took a 5 from 5 clean-sweep in the U15 age group as well as winning 3 of the 4 premier age-group matches.
Westville Basketball Results vs Hilton
1st – (W) 78-70
2nd – (W) 38-13
3rd – (L) 24-39
4th – (L) 19-30
5th – (L) 22-23
16A – (W) 28-21
16B – (L) 21-23
16C – (W) 23-11
16D – (W) 26-13
16E – (W) 27-14
15A – (W) 35-24
15B – (W) 34-26
15C – (W) 14-7
15D – (W) 21-7
15E – (W) 46-4
14A – (L) 21-23
14B – (W) 9-6
14C – (L) 6-7
14D – (W) 25-4
14E – (W) 9-2
* Of the 20 matches played, Westville won 14 and Hilton 6
Hilton College first XI cricket beat Westville
Home side the Hilton College first XI were able to run down the 153-run target set them by Westville to leave the Hart-Davis Oval with a six-wicket victory on Saturday, 29 January 2022.
Jake Carstens (3-46) and Kieran Kilmartin (4-36) did the damage with the ball for Hilton firsts while Messrs Pillay (50) and Doorgapersadh (40) were the mainstays with the bat in the Westville innings of 151 all out.
Hilton got home by a comfortable 6-wicket margin with Ivan Lockem ending on an unbeaten 51 and Charles Swart weighing in with a 43.
Two days earlier it had been another convincing Hilton first XI win over Westville, this time by 8 wickets in a T20 match, Westville scoring 102 for 8 in their 20 overs to which Hilton responded with 103 for 2.
* Hilton first XI are fixtured to play the Tuskers Academy Thursday afternoon in a T20 at the Hart-Davis.
Other Hilton/Westville cricket results
WB 2nds vs HC 2nds
HC 168/10 Lotter 34, Westoby 4/32
WB 144/10 Rout 5/27, Dukandar 50*
WB lost by 24 runs
WB 3rds Vs Hilton 3rds
WBHS 146/4, Burns (48), Wells 34
Hilton 147/8, Omar 3/23
WB lost by 2 wickets
WB U16A VS HC U16A
WB 123/8, Robertson 42, Kistna 30
HC 124/5, Bridgeford 46*, Shangase 3/21
WB lost by 5 wickets
WB U16B vs HC U16B
HC 71/10, Van Breda 5/6
WB 76/5, Albon 31*, Snijman 3/17
WB won by 5 wickets
WB U15A vs HC U15A
WB 271/6. Holman 106
HC 213/10. Hockley 36, Olivier 43. Payne 4/32.
WB won by 58 runs
WB U15B vs HC U15B
HC 200/10, Johnson 54, Grant 44*, Moola 4/25
WB 132/9
HC won by 68 runs
WB U14A vs Hilton U14A
WB 112/10
HIlton 101/10, Brooker 3 /15
WB won by 11 runs
WB U14B vs HC U14B
WB 144/10, Naicker 63, Steyn 3/26, Evans 3/18, Hove 3/13
HC 148 / 7
Hilton won by 3 wickets
Hilton won 9 and Westville 3 of the 12 matches played
Saints basketball coach commends Maritzburg College’s final-quarter showing
The St Charles College versus Maritzburg College basketball fixture always stirs the emotions and Saturday afternoon’s first team match at Maritzburg College’s Alan Paton Hall was no exception.
St Charles College head of Upper School and first team basketball head coach Darren Holcomb cited the performance of the Maritzburg College first team in the final quarter of the match as having been the decisive period that separated the sides.
Holcomb, himself a former SA basketball player, said: “The game between St Charles College and Maritzburg College is one of the most hyped and anticipated of the season.”
Going into Saturday’s fixture, Darren said the anticipation was even bigger, considering the two teams had split their previous matches. With both teams looking for the defining result, tensions were high, the clash living up to expectations.
“In front of a capacity crowd, the two teams traded baskets with both coaches adjusting defences to keep the opposition on their toes. With a mixture of man-to-man, zone and press defences utilised by both teams, there were regular changes in the lead on the scoreboard.
“Both teams struggled with their outside shooting and as a result relied on aggressive drives to the basket to keep the scores rolling over. Despite the efforts of both teams to extend their leads, the score remained tied up with 6 minutes left to play.”
Darren said that with everything to play for, it was St Charles College who blinked first with a few consecutive turnovers which led to fast-break opportunities and easy scores.
St Charles College, with the momentum against them were forced into a high-risk, high-reward defence to try pull the game back. However, College were up to the task and managed to exchange baskets for the remainder of the quarter.
“College are to be complimented on their play in the final quarter, which was outstanding, and resulted in them sealing the decider between these two fine teams, the final score 81-66 in Maritzburg College’s favour.”
Further info can be found here
https://kzn10.com/hectic-sports-weekend-at-maritzburg-college/