28 April 2026
Clifton College, Durban High School (DHS), and Westville Boys’ High headed to the Standard Bank Hibbert Shield with high hopes. All three had shown good early-season form, but their challenges were undone by some untimely sub-standard performances against some of the country’s leading hockey-playing schools.
For Clifton, that performance came in their Pool B clash with Paul Roos Gimnasium (PRG). They were 1-2 down at halftime but let the game get away from them in the second stanza, with PRG racing away to a 7-1 win. In Clifton’s defence, PRG dominated the group, also thumping Selborne College 8-1 and St Stithians 5-1.
In their key clash, Clifton, 1-0 winners over St Stithians at the Saints Easter Festival, fell 2-3 to the same side in Gqeberha. Coach Calvin Price‘s boys beat Selborne 3-2 in their other Pool B match.
DHS, unbeaten before the Hibbert Shield, was in a tough Pool A. They opened with a tighter-than-expected 2-1 win over St Alban’s College. Their second match was where they let matters slip. Like Clifton, they conceded goals late in the contest and tumbled to a 1-5 defeat against Grey High.
Parel Vallei had beaten Grey 5-2 in the home side’s previous match. Given that DHS had beaten Parel Vallei 6-3 at the Belgotex Sport Coastal Festival, the Horseflies would have been confident ahead of their game against Grey, but it went contrary to their hopes.
School played to their potential against Parel Vallei, with the sides sharing a 3-3 draw. Unfortunately, for DHS, that wasn’t enough to see them into the quarterfinals. Parel Vallei, meanwhile, would go on to make it all the way through to the final.
Westville was the lone KZN side to make it through to the quarterfinals. That feat owed plenty to a gritty 2-2 draw with SACS, the eventual champions. That was the only game the Capetonians didn’t win, although they needed a penalty shootout to get by Paul Roos in the semi-finals.
In their other group games, Westville cruised to a 4-0 win over Garsfontein, but backed into the quarterfinals on the back of a 1-2 loss to Grey College.
Clifton’s best performance came in the Bowl playoffs against St Alban’s, which ended 8-0 to the Durban boys. DHS struggled to find their rhythm, but they reserved their top showing for their last match, a 4-2 win over Garsfontein. Westville’s best outing was the aforementioned clash against Garsies in their Pool D match.
RESULTS
Pool A
DHS 2-1 St Alban’s
Parel Vallei 5-2 Grey High
Parel Vallei 3-0 St Alban’s
Grey High 5-1 DHS
Grey High 2-0 St Alban’s College
Parel Vallei 3-3 DHS
Pool B
Paul Roos 7-1 Clifton
St Stithians College 3-0 Selborne
Paul Roos 5-1 St Stithians College
Clifton 3-2 Selborne
Clifton 2-3 St Stithians College
Paul Roos Gimnasium 8-1 Selborne
Pool C
SACS 2-2 Westville
Garsfontein 2-1 Grey College
SACS 7-0 Grey College
Westville Boys’ High 4-0 Garsfontein
SACS 4-2 Garsfontein
Grey College 2-1 Westville
Pool D
Paarl Gimnasium 1-1 Jeppe
Bishops 3-0 Pearson
Jeppe 4-0 Bishops
Paarl Gimnasium 4-0 Pearson High
Bishops 1-0 Paarl Gimnasium
Jeppe 7-2 Pearson High
Quarterfinals
SACS 3-1 Bishops
Jeppe 3-0 Westville
Paul Roos 3-2 Grey High
Parel Vallei 5-0 St Stithians
Bowl
Selborne College 3-2 Durban High School
Pearson High 3-2 Garsfontein
Clifton College 8-0 St Alban’s College
Grey College 2-1 Paarl Gimnasium
Semi-finals
SACS (3) 1-1 (2) Paul Roos
Parel Vallei (2) 4-4 (1) Jeppe
5-8 Playoffs
Grey High 3-2 Bishops
Westville Boys’ High (3) 2-2 (0) St Stithians College
Bowl Playoffs
Durban High School 4-2 Garsfontein
Selborne 2-1 Pearson
Paarl Gimnasium 3-1 St Alban’s College
Grey College (2) 1-1 (1) Clifton College
Final Placings
1st/2nd – SACS 5-2 Parel Vallei
3rd/4th – Jeppe 2-1 Paul Roos
5th/6th- Grey High 5-0 Westville Boys’ High
7th/8th – Bishops 3-1 St Stithians College
9th/10th- Grey College 1-0 Selborne College
11th/12th- Pearson High 2-1 Clifton College
13th/14th – Durban High School 3-0 Paarl Gimnasium
15th/16th – Garsfontein 1-0 St Alban’s College
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