14 March 2026
As an exercise in community building and a demonstration of community unity, Clifton College‘s first Friday Night Lights home game of 2026 was an unqualified success. The Riverside turf was surrounded on every side by an enthusiastic crowd, with a large contingent of Clifton boys enjoying lively support from a sizeable group of Durban Girls’ College girls, who matched their energy in support of the Clifton 1st XI.
That support was rewarded as coach Calvin Price‘s charges produced an energetic and sharp performance to down Kearsney College 4-1.
Commenting on the turnout and the focus on Friday Night Lights, Clifton College’s Executive Headmaster, Adam Rogers, said: “It’s incredibly exciting. This is a wonderful thing for schoolboy sport, and it is something that Clifton is definitely embracing.
“It’s wonderful to have the Durban North community come out, in particular our sister school, Durban Girls’ College. Definitely, that support led to a phenomenal result.”
The most impressive part of Clifton’s performance against a game Kearsney team, which enjoyed more than its fair share of possession, was the home side’s counterattack. Three times during the contest, Clifton turned over possession, counterattacked with precision and pace, and had the ball in the Kearsney net in the blink of an eye.
Their first goal, though, came from more conventional means and was netted by captain Ryde Brisset (feature photo), who, after a year spent on the sidelines following shoulder surgery, was hungry and inspirational, providing a spark that lifted his team. He converted a penalty corner within the first five minutes, firing a low shot to the ‘keeper’s right with pinpoint precision.
Of some concern, though, will be the fact that the Clifton skipper appeared to hurt his shoulder when he fired the drag flick into the goal. Still, he was soon back in action.
Early in the second chukka, after Clifton turned over possession in Kearsney’s half, Brisset drove at pace down the right flank, then made an early cross to pick out an unmarked Dan Holiday at the far post, and he made no mistake, diverting the ball into the goalbox for the hosts’ second.
The Clifton skipper was then at the heart of his team’s third goal, three minutes before halftime, cutting out a Kearsney pass, laying off quickly, and then making himself available for the return from Dan Rea before finishing with composure.
“It’s great to have Ryde back. We missed him, but, for his own future, it was the best thing he did to take a year off,” coach Calvin Price said of the Clifton captain, who, in 2024, represented South Africa at the Dato Mirnawan Cup in Malaysia, an international u17 competition, when he was still u16.
“He’s got an incredibly bright future in SA hockey. I definitely think he’s going to wear the green and gold. To have him back is massive,” Price added.
Kearsney had an opportunity to pull one back right on the halftime whistle when they won a penalty corner. In the context of the match, they needed to score then, but the shot by captain Keegan de Jager was wide of the mark, and Clifton led 3-0 at the break.
It’s early season, and Kearsney will, no doubt, put in hard work on their PCs. They were rusty.
When they have them working, though, they have, in Keegan de Jager – who is, like Brisset, an SA u17 player – a dangerous penalty corner weapon, which he showed when he scored a hat-trick for SA against the Malaysian Tigers at the Dato Mirnawan Cup in November 2025.
The contest received a necessary boost early in the second half when Kearsney got themselves onto the board from a penalty corner. It was, though, Dylan Forbes who netted with a pinpoint drag flick into the top right-hand corner, with Clifton’s goalkeeper, Georg Wolhuter, somewhat unsighted.
Kearsney enjoyed the better of the third chukka and won some more PCs, but they were unable to find another finish.
Five minutes into the final chukka, Clifton struck again, with another scything counterattack finished by Tye Milne to make certain that the night would belong to them. It was their third counterattacking goal of the evening.
“The first year I was with them, we played a lot of counterattack,” coach Price said. “Then, last year, we tried to be more expansive. I don’t think it worked for us, so we’ve gone back to counterattacking. We’ve worked a lot on it, and we’re hoping to utilise that more.
“Credit to the boys, they took their chances.”
Kearsney was game, but they lacked the cutting edge of Clifton’s swift counterattacks. Had their penalty corners been sharper, the result would have been tighter, but the evening belonged to Clifton and their happy supporters.
“If we could have this crowd every week, I would be very happy. We’re trying very hard. It’s a beautiful Friday to be out here at Riverside, with two turfs,” Price said.
His charges delivered a strong team performance, but the core of the unit was the school’s three KZN Coastal u18 indoor hockey players, who helped the province win the inter-provincial title late last year.
“Georg [Wolhuter] in the goals; he’s trained hard this year. He really wants to achieve. Tye [Milne] has been outstanding. He’s stepped up into a leadership role, and he’s putting in his yards. Then we have Ryde back. He’s a special player. The three of them have a great relationship, so it is really good for us,” Price, the SA women’s national indoor hockey coach, said.
He also touched on another important plus from the return of Brisset: his threat at penalty corner time. Last year, in his absence, Clifton didn’t convert as many chances as they should have, Price said, “but having Ryder back, with Tye off the top, we’ve got a few options.”
He also had kind words for Nabil Bejia, saying he had performed outstandingly in the midfield. While there are a good number of familiar names in the squad of boys who are top cricketers, Bejia is different. He’s a leading water polo player, who represented KZN at u16 level in 2025.
“We’ve got a great squad. We have trained hard,” Price commented.
Kearsney will have better days. They have outstanding coaches and quality in their ranks. On Friday night, though, Clifton College was simply sharper. With the win, they improved to three wins from three outings in 2026 – they beat Westville Boys’ High 2-0 and Helpmekaar Kollege 3-1 last weekend.
“It was great hockey,” Clifton’s Headmaster, Adam Rogers, said. “Friday Night Lights is a relatively new format for schoolboy sport, and we’re very excited about this. We’ve got a couple more Friday nights coming up, and we really hope to build on this. This is a wonderful start and something very special.”
Results
1st: Clifton 4-1 Kearsney
2nd: Clifton 0-5 Kearsney
16A: Clifton 1-2 Kearsney
16B: Clifton 0-4 Kearsney
14A: Clifton 1-1 Kearsney
14B: Clifton 0-4 Kearsney
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