30 March 2025
St Alban’s College shocked Durban High School (DHS) 2-1 in their first Belgotex Sport Coastal Cup match, on Friday, but they ran into a buzz saw on Saturday, getting shredded 9-0 by Paul Roos Gimnasium (PRG) at the Riverside Sports Club, in Durban.
The Pretoria school had benefitted from a slow pitch on Friday evening, after heavy rain had fallen, but PRG moved the ball well to overrun St Alban’s.
Eight goal scorers underlined the dominance of coach Michael Baker‘s charges, with Charles Lombard striking twice, while Caleb Cilliers, Christo Swanepoel, Matthew Cardoza, Francois Mouton, Daniel de Waal, Ruben Gouws, and Callum van Oudtshoorn also made it onto the score sheet.
In the last game of the day, Baker’s current side met his former team when PRG took on DHS. It was a tougher challenge for the Stellenbosch boys, but they came away with a 3-1 win.
Clifton College and Pearson High, who had their opening matches rained out on Friday evening, produced an intriguing clash.
Coach Calvin Price‘s Clifton boys grabbed the lead barely a minute into the contest through Dan Holiday and before the chukka was over Nabil Beija had made it 2-0 when he provided the finish after a sharp move down the Eastern Cape side’s left flank.
To their credit, Pearson took the blows in stride and slowly started to take charge of the midfield, leading to Clifton frequently turning over possession and finding it difficult to exit their half.
Petri Reynolds pulled one back for the Gqeberha boys in the second stanza to make it a tight game at the half.
Pearson continued to press hard in the second stanza and were rewarded with a penalty stroke. It appeared that the sanction against Clifton ‘keeper Georg Wolhuter was a little harsh; he appeared to have made a clean stop with his left pad, but the umpire felt he had used the back of his stick.
Wolhuter sucked it up and turned his attention to the penalty stroke. With sharp reflexes, he stretched out his left leg to reject a low shot at the corner to keep his side in front.
Pearson, though, kept the pressure on Clifton and their hard work was rewarded late in the fourth chukka when Anthwone April was set free on a counter-attack and he showed the local side a clean pair of heels before firing into the back of the net. It ended 2-2.
Clifton faced Garsfontein in an evening clash and the Pretoria school edged it 1-0. Earlier in the day, they had faced Michaelhouse, coached by Nick Bérichon, their former coach. In a tight contest, ‘House kept a first clean sheet of the season to claim a hard-fought 1-0 victory.
“It was a game of two halves again,” Bérichon said. “We are starting these games so slowly. In the second half, we just tried to hold onto the ball more. Turnovers have been a big problem for us. We win the ball and then give it back straight away.
“In the second half, I was repeating myself. ‘Just keep the ball and you’ll be surprised. We’ll move them around and create chances’.”
There weren’t many field goal opportunities created. Garsfontein has a disciplined and effective defence, but Michaelhouse forced some penalty corners and Elliott Springate made use of one of them to win the game for his team.
Paarl Boys’ High enjoyed a 3-0 win over Glenwood, who put up a spirited performance. The contest was a little tighter than the score makes it appear, but a successful penalty stroke on the final whistle gave Boishaai a comfortable margin of victory.
Parel Vallei shone in a 4-0 win over Menlopark. They’re a well-balanced outfit, and their clash with Garsfontein on Sunday should be an interesting one.
Westville Boys’ High, after a tough outing against Paul Roos on the opening day, came out with a share of the spoils against St Alban’s, sharing a 2-2 draw.
1ST XI RESULTS
Paul Roos 9-0 St Alban’s
Clifton 2-2 Pearson
Michaelhouse 1-0 Garsfontein
Paarl Boys 3-0 Glenwood
Parel Vallei 4-0 Menlopark
Westville 2-2 St Alban’s
Paul Roos 3-1 DHS
Garsfontein 1-0 Clifton
FIXTURES
Sunday, 30 March
07:30 – Clifton vs Paarl Boys’ High
09:30 – DHS vs Menlopark
11:00 – St Alban’s vs Michaelhouse
12:30 – Westville vs Pearson
14:00 – Garsfontein vs Parel Vallei
15:30 – Menlopark vs Glenwood
17:00 – DHS vs Paarl Boys
18:30 – Paul Roos vs Michaelhouse
Monday, 31 March
08:00 – Pearson vs Glenwood
09:30 – Clifton vs Parel Vallei
11:00 – Westville vs Paarl Boys
U16 RESULTS
Michaelhouse 1-0 Garsfontein
Paul Roos 5-0 DHS
Pearson 3-0 Clifton
Westville 0-0 St Alban’s
Michaelhouse 2-1 Parel Vallei
Garsfontein 1-1 Glenwood
Pearson 1-0 Menlopark
DHS 3-0 St Alban’s
Paul Roos 3-1 Westville
Paarl Boys’ High 3-0 Clifton
U14 RESULTS
DHS 1-0 Menlopark
Pearson 2-1 Clifton
Michaelhouse 4-1 Garsfontein
Paarl Boys’ High 6-1 Glenwood
Menlopark 1-0 Parel Vallei
DHS 5-0 St Alban’s
Paul Roos 8-0 Westville
Glenwood 2-0 Garsfontein
Parel Vallei 3-1 Michaelhouse
Clifton 0-0 Paarl Boys’ High
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