4 March 2025
A huge showdown beckoned on Saturday in the Alan Paton Memorial Hall, where Northwood put their unbeaten record on the line against Maritzburg College in a meeting of two of the best teams in South Africa. In the Knights‘ case, they were attempting to solidify their claim to being number one.
In front of a loud crowd, College got away to a strong start and opened up a double-digit lead over Northwood. The back-to-back St John’s College Basketball Tournament champions are made of stern stuff, however, and they clawed their way back into the contest.
With strong defensive pressure, they were able to force some errors out of College and, ultimately, came away with a tight 74-68 win to preserve their clean record.
While they went down in the 1st team match, College came away with wins in the other A team clashes and, overall, enjoyed a slight edge in results. Northwood wouldn’t be too unhappy, though. An unbeaten 1st team season, a second successive St John’s title, and number-one again is something about which to be proud.
RESULTS
1st: Maritzburg College 68-74 Northwood School
2nd: Maritzburg College 47-45 Northwood School
3rd: Maritzburg College 32-27 Northwood School
5th: Maritzburg College 20-16 Northwood School
6th: Maritzburg College 17-31 Northwood
7th: Maritzburg College 16-18 Northwood 6th
16A: Maritzburg College 33-32 Northwood School
16B: Maritzburg College 33-32 Northwood School
16C: Maritzburg College 33-17 Northwood School
16D: Maritzburg College 21-14 Northwood School
16E: Maritzburg College 14-26 Northwood School
15A: Maritzburg College 37-28 Northwood School
15B: Maritzburg College 32-15 Northwood School
15C: Maritzburg College 46-20 Northwood School
15D: Maritzburg College 7-9 Northwood School
15E: Maritzburg College 28-15 Northwood School
14A: Maritzburg College 24-6 Northwood School
14B: Maritzburg College 22-7 Northwood School
14C: Maritzburg College 4-10 Northwood School
14D: Maritzburg College 23-10 Northwood School
14E: Maritzburg College 10-2 Northwood School
14F: Maritzburg College 6-16 Northwood School
CRICKET
Northwood scored a convincing win in the clash of the 1st XIs on Goldstone’s. With consistently solid contributions from their top order, they posted a useful 206/6 in their 50 overs – a decent score on Goldstone’s, which has offered bowlers something this season – and then bowled out College for 157 in reply.
It’s been a trend that when the Knights’ top order settles, they win this season, and with their top five all making contributions they gave themselves a decent target to defend.
The key to their success was a 74-run partnership for the second wicket between Tuswa Phetha and Ross McGlashan, which ended when Ewald Bester caught Phetha off Nathan Pembridge for 31.
McGlashan top-scored with 79, striking five fours and two sixes, while opener David de Bruyn chipped in with 20, captain Kyle White made 19, and Morgan Jones was unbeaten on 23.
Reece Willson, with 2/23, and Daniel Nadasan, with 2/34, led the College bowling attack. Dom du Toit, with 0/14 in eight overs, made life difficult for the Northwood batsmen.
Nadasan, the home side’s captain, then contributed 36 at the top of the order, but there was nothing from College to counter McGlashan impactful innings. The next best for the Red, Black, and White was 22 not out from Sam Hughes and 22 from Karl Dedekind.
Off-spinner Ben Cilliers did the damage, snaring 3/26 in 10 overs, while left-arm spinner, Jordan Matthews removed the first batsman, Nadasan, and the last, Pembridge, to see the visitors to a clear-cut win.
While Maritzburg College’s season is done, Northwood’s will continue when they represent the KZN region in the Schools SA20 National Final in Pretoria from 12-15 March.
Scores
Northwood School 206/6 (Ross McGlashan 79, Tuswa Phetha 31, Morgan Jones 23*, David de Bruyn 20, Reece Willson 2/23, Daniel Nadasan 2/34); Maritzburg College 157/10 (Daniel Nadasan 36, Sam Hughes 22*, Karl Dedekind 22, Ben Cilliers 3/26, Jordan Matthews 2/39). Northwood won by 49 runs.
Northwood took the 1st XI win, while the remainder of the 18 matches were evenly split, with each school winning nine of them. Both schools have exhibited excellent strength in depth in the 2025 season, and it could hardly have been tighter than it turned out to be on Saturday.
2nd XI
Northwood 65/10
Maritzburg College 68/2
3rd XI
Maritzburg College won by 8 wickets
4th XI
Northwood won by 7 wickets
U16A
Northwood won by 9 wickets
u16B
Maritzburg College 112/10
Northwood 113/4
Northwood won by 6 wickets
u16C
Maritzburg College 62/7
Northwood 63/5
Northwood won by 5 wickets
u15A
Maritzburg College 114/10
Northwood 115/5
Northwood won by 5 wickets
u15B
Maritzburg College 202/7
Northwood 208/7
Northwood won by 3 wickets
u15C
Maritzburg College 138/6
Northwood 103/10
Maritzburg College won by 35 runs
U15D
Maritzburg College won by 48 runs
u15E
Northwood 51/10
Maritzburg College 52/1
Maritzburg College won by 9 wickets
u14A
Northwood 126/10
Maritzburg College 129/3
Maritzburg College won by 7 wickets
u14B
Maritzburg College won by 32 runs
u14C
Northwood won by 20 runs
u14D
Maritzburg College won by 4 wickets
u14E
Northwood 119/7
Maritzburg College 44/10
Northwood won by 75 runs
u14F
Merchiston 127/5
Maritzburg College 70/10
Merchiston won by 57 runs
u14G
Maritzburg College 119/3
Northwood 75/7
Maritzburg College won by 44 runs
u14H
Cordwalles 63/2
Maritzburg College 61/9
Cordwalles won by 8 wickets
WATER POLO
Maritzburg College @ The Reef Cup
Maritzburg College 12-3 Falcon College
Maritzburg College 5-13 Affies
Maritzburg College 13-6 Parktown Boys’ High
Maritzburg College 5-7 St Benedict’s College
Maritzburg College 9-10 St Alban’s College
Maritzburg College 10-8 St Peter’s College
Maritzburg College 11-5 Grey College
Northwood @ The KES Water Polo Tournament
Northwood 5-14 Bishops
Northwood 3-7 St Andrew’s College
Northwood 3-14 St Stithians College
Northwood 4-5 Paul Roos Gimnasium
Northwood 5-3 Jeppe
Northwood 1-2 Westville Boys’ High
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