5 May 2025
While the Standard Bank Hibbert Shield confirmed that the top teams in South Africa remain in the Western Cape – SACS, Paarl Gim, and Paul Roos finished in the first three places in the u19 competition – the results of the KZN contingent of Clifton College, Durban High School (DHS), Maritzburg College, and Westville Boys’ High proved to be far less predictable.
College headed into the event having won 2-1 away at Pretoria Boys High the previous weekend, which followed on a strong run at the Standard Bank KES Easter Hockey Festival, where they went five for five.
Clifton, meanwhile, was in action at the Saints Sports Festival at nearby St Stithians when College did duty at KES. Results for the Durban boys were mixed: one win, one draw, and three defeats.
“Saints wasn’t our greatest. I think we were in a funny phase of our journey. and we came back and, I’ll be honest, I had some hard words with the boys to get ourselves better because, if we wanted to compete with the best at Hibbert, we had to do a lot of the off-field stuff better,” Clifton’s Director of Hockey and 1st XI coach, Calvin Price, said on Monday.
In Gqeberha, at the Hibbert Shield, which brings together the highest-quality field of the season, Clifton rose to the standard of the competition and ended it as the highest placed of the four KZN competitors.
Their results in pool play included a 0-2 loss to an outstanding Paul Roos team that narrowly missed out on the final after a penalty shootout against SACS, and a 3-1 victory over Selborne College.
College, meanwhile, placed 15th in the 16-team field. That result was perhaps, a little harsh. They were in the same group as Clifton and scored a come-from-behind 1-1 draw in their match against their KZN rivals.
Paul Roos Gimnasium, though, outplayed the Red, Black, and White. Credit to College, they fought back from 0-6 down to score the last two goals of the contest. Then, they finished pool play with a 2-0 win over Selborne College. It was, however, Paul Roos and Clifton that advanced to the quarterfinals.
DHS also made it through to the quarters. They opened with a 3-2 win over Bishops, drew 0-0 with Hoërskool Garsfontein, and 1-1 with Parel Vallei.
Westville, with an inexperienced team, gave a tough St Stithians side a hard workout, but succumbed 0-1 in their first match. They were beaten 4-0 by a slick Paarl Gim side, which went on to contest the final, and Grey High sneaked a 1-0 victory over the Griffin.
They lost three times in the pool, but those were against three teams with legitimate claims to be among the top 10 teams in the country.
In the playoffs, though, they got one over Maritzburg College, winning 1-0, and that was followed by a 1-1 draw with St Alban’s. College, meanwhile, drew 2-2 with Bishops in their second playoff match.
In the top half of the draw, Clifton, subsequently, was edged out by Grey College, losing 1-2, while St Stithians beat DHS 3-1. Then, in the quarterfinals, Clifton fell 2-3 to Paarl Gimnasium. DHS, after leading 2-1 at half-time, was overrun in the second half by the eventual champions, SACS, and went down 2-6.
That left Clifton and DHS to battle it out for seventh on the final day. When the teams met recently on the Blue and Gold Astro, DHS won 4-1. This time, though, Clifton claimed the win by a 2-1 margin.
Reflecting on his team’s campaign, Clifton coach Calvin Price said: “The boys turned up! Mentally, we were better, and physically, a lot better. I thought we were very unlucky in many games. All in all, I thought we were very good and took a good few steps forward in our approach to the season.
“I was very happy with how we turned out. A seventh-place finish was great for us.
“It’s my second year in, and it has taken a while for the boys to adapt to the style that I would like to bring in, but I am starting to see the results that I want to see. I tell the boys we are building a culture, and we are leaving it in a better place.”
Interestingly, it was in a loss that Price said he was most proud of his players: “In that Paarl Gim game, I know we lost 3-2, but that game, from a culture viewpoint, determination and grit, was great. We took off the ‘keeper and nearly made it 3-3. It was the cherry on the top and, hopefully, the start of what we want to achieve.
“Then, we beat DHS in the final game. It was a great comeback from losing 1-4 [to them, in Durban] to beating them 2-1. I’m starting to see a lot of mindset changes, what I’d like to have, and I am very chuffed with it.”
The difference between the defeat at DHS and victory over the same side at Grey High was in the players’ attitude and their defence, Price reckoned.
“Mentally, we were better prepared for the DHS game at Hibbert. We defended exceptionally well, and we took our chances.
“To win 2-1, after going 0-1 down, and coming back to win, there was so much grit and determination, so I was very proud of the boys for that.”
“I think it is the best finish ever for Clifton at the Hibbert Shield,” he added. Given the standard of the competition, that is no mean feat.
In the playoffs, Westville faced Grey High for a second time, with ninth place up for grabs, and the home side sneaked a 3-2 win.
College completed their schedule with a 2-1 defeat of Selborne College.
PLAYOFFS
1st/2nd: SACS 6-3 Paarl Gim
3rd/4th: Paul Roos 2-1 Garsfontein
5th/6th: St Stithians 5-2 Grey College
7th/8th: Clifton 2-1 DHS
9th/10th: Grey High 3-2 Westville
11th/12th: Parel Vallei 3-0 St Alban’s
13th/14th: Bishops 5-2 Pearson
15th/16th: Maritzburg College 2-1 Selborne College
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