Month: June 2013

The Northwood 1^st hockey team claimed a scrappy 3 – 2 victory over Clifton on Tuesday.

Northwood looked to be in control of the match in the first half after camping in the opposition territory but it was Clifton who scored first when a striker smashed a rebound into the back of the net after a good counter attack.

Northwood answered almost immediately when Jamie Pillay scored a rebound off a penalty corner to take the score to 1 – 1 at half time.

The second half saw both teams step up their tempo and it was Northwood who scored first with a brilliant individual effort from Matthew de Sousa who took a long corner and ran skilfully through the Clifton defence and keeper to finish into an open net.

Clifton answered back through a great counter attacking goal with the striker scoring a diving deflection on the far post.

It was Northwood who sealed the victory when Matthew de Sousa scored a reverse stick shot from a penalty corner variation.

Northwood’s last match see’s them attempt to defend their night league title in the final against Kearsney on Wednesday night.

The Northwood 1^st hockey team claimed a hard fought 1 – 0 victory against rivals Glenwood on Old Boys Day on Saturday.

Northwood dominated the opening phases of the game creating a number of good scoring opportunities. Glenwood’s keeper Michael Labuschagne was in outstanding form for the visitors and kept Northwood out with some fantastic saves in field play. Northwood then hit the post with their second penalty corner of the game and the rebound was scrambled away by Glenwood.

Northwood eventually made the dominance count when their top class finisher Dale van der Merwe scored a powerful drag flick into the bottom corner to give the hosts a 1 – 0 lead.

After the goal Glenwood threw everything into attack and created some good scoring chances but it was Northwood’s goal keeper, Kyle Pillay who made some fantastic saves of his own to ensure the home team took a 1 – 0 lead into the break.

The second half was an even contest with both teams creating good chances. Northwood had a goal disallowed when the umpire judged the build up to be dangerous. Glenwood also had an outstanding chance when a striker created a one on one with the Northwood keeper but Kyle Pillay was up to the challenge with a diving stick tackle.

Northwood managed to take the victory in what was an absorbing, skilful contest between two good teams.

Saturday saw Northwood kick off against Glenwood in an unusually early Reunion Day time slot of 12H30, due to the International double header being played at Kings Park.  With Glenwood fielding 13 provincial players, it was always going to be a tough task for a young Northwood side fielding 11 GR11 boys.

The 1^st XV took to the field to rapturous applause and looked very focussed.  Glenwood were quickly into their stride, wining the ball from the kick off.  Both sides looked evenly matched for the first few minutes, until an intercept by Phiko Sobahle was popped to David Weersma.  Weersma carried the ball for 20m, before giving Northwood captain Garreth Murran a perfectly timed pass that saw him racing to the tryline for the first points of the match.

The conversion was missed by Weersma and the score stood at 5-0.  Glenwood was stung into action and a very well executed backline move saw the Green Machine scoring in the corner.  Morne Joubert converted to take the score to 7-5 to Glenwood. A few minutes later, Weersma attempted a long range penalty, which had the distance but shaved the uprights.

It was evident that while the Northwood forwards were getting the better of Glenwood, the slick handling of the Green Machines backline was devastating.  Glenwood played to their strength and kept the ball with the backs, scoring 3 more tries in the first half, courtesy of Jonas, Ncobo and Vidima, with Joubert converting 2.  Lindo Makhanya was successful with 2 penalty attempts in the first half, with the score at 26-11 at half time.

Northwood’s half time team talk by coach Donald Ngwenya seemed to be on the mark, as the Knights played with a renewed sense of urgency in the second half.  Eventual “Man of the Match” David Weersma was outstanding in both defence and attack ad constantly broke the Glenwood line. Such was the defence of both sides, that Glenwood managed only 1 try in the second half, scored and converted by Joubert.

The full time score of 33-11 flattered Glenwood somewhat, as Northwood chose not to goal a number of kickable penalties, opting instead for touch.  However, Glenwood were always full value for money and played some superb rugby.  Whilst Weersma was man of the match, Curtis Jonas and Morne Joubert were also in great form.  Northwood has now ended their season, but have reason to be confident about 2014 given the fine performance of the youngsters on Saturday.

 

 

The Northwood 1^st hockey team had another victory on Wednesday when they beat a hard working, passionate DHS team 3 – 1.

The first half was played at a high tempo with Northwood dominating most of the possession. After creating a number of chances, Northwood finally got on the score sheet when Matthew de Sousa played a brilliant ball to Jamie Pillay who smashed the ball into the bottom corner from a wide angle.

Northwood stepped up their dominance in the early phase of the second half and were rewarded with two goals. The first coming from a well worked penalty corner variation which resulted in Steve McManus deflecting into the back of the net. Dale van der Merwe then smashed one past the DHS keeper to make it 3 – 0.

DHS managed to pull one back before the final whistle when Taylor Kelly-Stack scored from a penalty corner drag flick.

Northwood welcomes ROB CLIFT as the 1^st XI cricket coach.  Rob played 1^st XI cricket for Northwood in 1998/9 before he went on to complete a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance at the University of Cape Town.  He has played club cricket for the 1^st XI at Northwood Crusaders first team since 1999 where he is currently the Captain.  Northwood Crusaders have been Club Champion of  KZN for the past 4 years, representing KZN at the National Club Champions each year.  Rob has also spent time playing Premier League cricket in Kent, England.  He takes over an impressive 1^st XI  who have already achieved successes against Michaelhouse, Glenwood and Clifton this year.  Welcome Rob to the Northwood family !

The Northwood 1^st hockey team came out on top of a very scrappy encounter against St Charles on Saturday.

The match was played in hot, windy conditions on a very slow and sticky turf. The first half was even with both teams creating a number of chances. It was Northwood who broke the deadlock when Matthew de Sousa found Jamie Pillay unmarked on the far post after a brilliant run from just inside the oppositions half.

St Charles hit back when they latched onto a loose rebound after a great save from Kyle Pillay. The scoreline remained at 1 – 1 going into the half time break.

The second half saw Northwood step up the pressure and they were rewarded on three occasions. The first coming when Matthew de Sousa smashed in a rebound. This was then followed by a great reverse stick goal from Dale van der Merwe and a deft finish from Shane Bradbury.

St Charles managed to pull one back before the end of the game when they tapped home after a goal mouth scramble but Northwood secured the 4 – 2 victory.

Northwood congratulates the  following players who have made the KZN Coastals hockey teams, well done boys!

KZN Coastals U18A

Rhys Westermeyer
Tylo Remke
Matthew de Sousa
Dale van der Merwe
Steve McManus
Youlan Govender

KZN Coastals U18B

Greg Wright

KZN Coastals U18C

Kyle Pillay
Hilton Venning-Pridham
Simon du Plessis
Michael McNeill
Jamie Pillay
Matthew Robinson

KZN Coastals U16B

Shane Bradbury
Mfana Dlamini
Sacha de Marigny

KZN Coastals U14A

Conner Ronquest
Shahied Cariem

KZN Coastals U14B

Fuzelethu Ngcobo
Slater Capell