The 2025 Chronicle

for a long time. Their defensive set-up forced us to adjust our approach, with a strong focus on keeping possession and mov ing their defence quickly around the pitch. We completed 312 of 357 passes – a season high. At one point we strung togeth er 29 consecutive passes without an error. We closed out a superb 2-1 win, thanks to two clinical short corner slip-slaps, both deflected in by Heuer. After a short but much-needed break, we were straight back into it – with four of our next five games at home. Friday night games are everyone’s favourite, and we’re incredibly lucky to experience them in front of such a special home crowd. We started strongly against Clifton, dominating play but un able to convert early chances. A rocket from Deutscher put us 1-0 up in the second quarter. Clifton pushed back hard, and credit must go to Hunter and our penalty corner defence for keeping us ahead. We stayed patient and sealed it with a sec ond goal five minutes from time – perfect momentum heading into the Hilton match. We went into the Hilton match feeling confident but knew we’d need to be at our best against a quality team. Our preparation was sharp, and we felt ready. But in front of a packed Punch bowl, we started slowly and conceded a well-executed Hilton short corner just seven minutes in. Late in the second quar ter, Zuma intercepted a long ball and played in Camerer, who earned us a short corner. A perfect injection and trap set up Deutscher to fire in his trademark bottom-right drag flick to lev el it at 1-1. The match ended in a draw – but it felt like a loss. In hindsight, we overanalysed the opposition and drifted from our own identity. With such a dynamic, attacking group, we needed to go forward more and play with more freedom. We made key tweaks the following week in the build-up to Kear sney. Watching the preperation that week and seeing the team embrace a more fluid, attacking style in the build-up to the match, we knew we’d found something special. We opened the scoring with what was our goal of the season. It started with Purdon to Camerer, then Gilson up the left, back through Bigalke, across to Leslie on the right. Leslie drew the defence in and played Heuer centrally, who rolled it back out to Bigalke. He shifted it to his centre back partner, von May er, who broke Kearsney’s press with a trademark, against-the grain pass to Deutscher. Deutscher took it in stride and fed Love, who tapped it in at the back post. The perfect team goal. Nine out of ten outfield players touched the ball without the Kearsney defence getting a sniff. We added two more before the first-quarter break to go 3-0 up, backed by outstanding defensive work. Our goalkeeper Hunter earned his fifth clean sheet of the season – seven in total by year-end. At this level, clean sheets are rare and pre cious. Credit to the full defensive unit, but especially to the man between the posts. But there were heartbreaks, too. A second match versus North wood gave us an opportunity to beat them twice in one season. We lost 3-2 despite leading twice – first from a stroke won by a dangerous Simukonda run, setting up Springate on the penalty spot, and then a brilliant spin finish from Camerer to make it 2-1. With three minutes left, Northwood equalised. In our des perate push to regain the lead, we overcommitted and were caught on the counter, conceding a heartbreaking last-minute goal. Losing to a last-minute winner is tough, especially after

such a strong performance. We bounced back a few days later against St Charles before enjoying a fantastic trip to Pretoria Boys. Playing there is never easy, and it was our first away game in six matches. We domi nated with 36 circle entries. Gilson scored two penalty corners. Love once again found himself in the right place and finished comfortably. We sealed a solid 3-1 win. Next, we returned to Punchbowl to face College. Although they had started the season slowly, they had found their stride, and under the lights at home it promised to be a cracker of a game. We took the lead with what was arguably our best-executed penalty corner variation of the season and later went 2-1 up. But every time we scored, College fought back and equalised, with the match ending 2-2. Our match of the season came the following weekend against Westville. We were flawless in both defence and attack, hitting a season-high 43 circle entries – seven more than our previous best – and scoring six goals. An impressive 6-0 win against one of KZN’s proud hockey schools. We went into the final game of the season away to Hilton having lost just three of our last 19 matches. It was another dominant performance from the boys in the blocked shirts. Unfortunate ly, things didn’t go our way. From the start of the season, we agreed to aim for near perfection, so no calls could sway the outcome. At 1-1, we had two big chances cleared off the line, but the match ended 3-2 – a tough way to finish the season.

RESULTS

OPPONENT

RESULT

PF

PA

Northwood School

Won

5

4

Durban High School

Lost

1

4

Parel Vallei High School

Won

4

3

Hoërskool Garsfontein

Won

1

0

St Alban’s College

Won

1

0

Paul Roos Gymnasium

Lost

4

2

St David’s Marist, Inanda

Won

2

1

Diocesan College (Bishops)

Drew

1

1

York High School

Won

6

4

St Andrew’s School, Bloem

Won

1

0

St Benedict’s College

Won

2

1

Clifton College

Won

2

0

Hilton College

Drew

1

1

Kearsney College

Won

3

0

Northwood School

Lost

2

3

St Charles College

Won

2

0

Pretoria Boys High School

Won

3

1

Maritzburg College

Drew

2

2

Westville Boys’ High School

Won

6

0

Hilton College

Lost

3

2

173