Rugby, Sport Results

Jnr Rugby Results vs Karel Theron

Victory for Union in annual derby

On Tuesday afternoon, 14 May, Union High School’s u/11A and u/13A rugby teams travelled to Middleburg for the much-anticipated annual mid-week derby against Karel Theron Primary School.

In a stellar effort, the U/11As won their match 15 – 12.

The U/13A’s match that followed was played under challenging conditions with the boys putting together their best performance to date.  The first half was dominated by hard running from the backs leading to a 31-point lead at half-time.  The second half proved challenging, as Union had very little possession. A massive defensive effort, however, secured Union a 46-10 victory in the end.

The Union teams can be tremendously proud of their performance.

Sport Results

Snr Hockey Results vs Stirling

Nail-biting matches for Union against Stirling

Union’s hockey teams travelled to East London this past weekend, to take on Stirling High School in a nail-biting hockey encounter on Saturday, 11 May.

In matches that were closely contested to the very end, Union’s U/16B team beat Stirling 1 – 0, the U/16As drew 0 – 0, the second team won their match 1 – 0 and the first team drew 2 – 2.

Unions U/16B girls kicked off the day with a 1 – 0 victory over Stirling’s u/16B’s.  The scores were level until the last 10 seconds of the match when Union was awarded a penalty corner.  A perfect set piece saw Tayla Kingwill convert a cracking shot at goal, allowing Union to be the victors.

U/16A girls, who faced Stirling’s U/16As, played to a goalless draw. The girls were in the game from the very first minute and fought very hard to the bitter end.  Some chances to score were created, but both the Stirling and Union goalkeepers had an outstanding match, denying both sides in finding the back of the net.  It was a great display of skill and fellowship by both teams in ending the match in a draw.

The second team then took to the turf in, what proved to be, another exciting and thrilling encounter.  Union penetrated the Stirling goal area on many occasions but failed to find the back of the net.  It took a well-struck hit by Jemimah Mangunda to take the lead in the second half to seal the match 1 – 0 in Union’s favour.

Union’s first team then battled it out against Stirling’s 1st XI and went down by a goal in the 7th minute of the first quarter.  Stirling scored in the second quarter again to take them 2 – 0 up.  Union stuck to their game plan and played some brilliant hockey in the third and fourth quarter, which saw goals by Rosslyn Sparks and Henzѐ Japhta, to end the match in a 2-all draw.

The players must be commended on their fighting spirit throughout the match.

Well done to all the girls!

 

Sport Results

Snr Rugby Results vs Stirling

Union faced tough opposition in East London

On Saturday, 11 May, Union’s rugby teams played against Stirling in a much-anticipated clash.

In the games that preceded that of the 1st XV’s, our U/14A team lost 12 – 20, the U/15As lost 0 – 32, the U/16As lost 7 – 21 and the second team won 36 – 34.

The match between the two school’s 1st XVs lived up to expectations and was an incredibly tough, physical game with both teams having to put everything on the line.Union put on a much-improved performance at the set pieces and were able to match Stirling up front and dominate at times.

Union scored first through a penalty from Brett Amsterdam.  The game kept spectators on the edge of their seats for the full 35 minutes of the first half, where Union held the lead with 15 minutes to go until Stirling managed to score two tries leading up to the break.  Brett Amsterdam then put over another penalty on the brink of half-time.  Stirling’s two tries outscored Union’s two penalties, leaving the score to stand at 10 – 6 at half-time.

At the turn, both sides continued to put together phases of attack which was met with fierce defence.

Stirling, however, managed to take a further lead with two tries early on in the second half.  Union continued to hold their own and managed to cross the line through Mack Rubidge, keeping Union in the game.  Unfortunately, in the end, Stirling proved too strong and managed to cross the line twice through some tiring defence in the last two minutes, winning the match 34 – 11.

Despite the tough opposition faced on the day, the Union boys did their school and supporters proud and played with great heart, never giving up and consistently showing great sportsmanship throughout the day.

All in all, it was a great day of rugby and a fixture Union’s rugby teams will continue to look forward to.

Despite the tough opposition faced on the day, the Union boys did their school and supporters proud and played with great heart, never giving up and always showing great sportsmanship throughout the day.  All in all it was a great day of rugby and a fixture we will continue to look forward to.

Sport Results

Jnr Hockey Results vs Lorraine

Union’s junior hockey teams faced Lorraine Primary on the UHS AstroTurf on Saturday, 11 May.

The 5th juniors lost 1 – 0, the 4th juniors drew 0 – 0, the 5th juniors (in a match against Lorraine’s 6th juniors) won 1 – 0, the 3rd juniors won 4 – 0.

2nd Jnr Team:  1 – 0
On a day where Union had dominated in general, the 2nd team girls did not disappoint. The girls played really well together as a unit and are definitely starting to gel. They worked incredibly hard and were able to hold the determined Lorraine side at bay. Although Union had possession for the majority of the game, it took a long time for our girls to convert their efforts into points on the board. Misha Newton was eventually able to score off a well-worked short corner, putting us into the lead. Despite some nail-biting moments, Union managed to hang onto their tenuous 1 – 0 advantage till the end. Well done to all the girls and especially to Misha Newton and Katelyn Trollip who worked exceptionally hard throughout the game.

1st Jnr Team:  1 – 2
With 4 of our regular 1st team players unable to play on the day, it was a fairly nervous team that took to the field against Lorraine. The girls were on the back-foot from the start and struggled to turn the tide of play, making mistake after panicky mistake and quickly forgetting the basics, especially in defense. They soon conceded a goal, but fortunately managed to limit the first half damage to this.

After a stern talking to at half time, the girls returned to the field focused and ready to make amends. They were finally able to piece together some great runs of play, but without result. Towards the end, the girls began to run out of legs and Lorraine were able to slip another goal past our ragged defenses. In a last ditch effort to improve the goal difference, Soso Mroro made a spectacular individual break, and after beating three players on her own, popped a stunning ball through to Ferronique Booysen who slotted it past the surprised keeper mere moments before the final whistle, making the final score 2 -1 to Lorraine.

Although the girls were disappointed by the result, all the teams enjoyed a wonderful day of hockey played with spirit and sportsmanship. Thank you to all involved and particularly to Kyle-Luke du Preez for your invaluable assistance with coaching and umpiring.

Sport Results

Snr Hockey vs Burgersdorp

Hockey teams victorious

When Burgersdorp High School’s hockey teams visited UHS on Saturday morning, 4 May, they found themselves on the back foot from the get-go, when their u/16A team went down 6 – 0 to Union’s u/16Bs.

Burgersdorp’s second team also conceded six unanswered goals as Union u/16As cruised to a 6 – 0 victory. A great achievement for the u/16As in taking on a senior team

Union’s first team girls then took to the turf.  They struggled to keep possession for lengthy periods of the first half and failed to convert chances on offer.

Goals by Henze Jaftha, Rosslyn Sparks and Marche Green in the first half, however, saw Union lead by 3 – 0 at half time.

It was, however, a game of two halves with the Union girls seeming to find their flair in the second half.  Union managed to score a further 6 goals with an improved performance.  Goals by Rosslyn Sparks, Jenna McNaughton, Laetitia Theron (2), Micela Loock and Jade Shires sealed a 9 – 0 victory.

“There is much work needed to be done this week ahead of a tough fixture against Stirling High School this weekend,” says coach Alvin August.

“The tone will need to set from the word go in order to come home successful.”

Cultural, Sport Results

Chess

Chess players test their skills in Middelburg

On Monday afternoon, 6 May, Union High School’s chess players competed in an individual Swiss Open chess tournament in Middelburg.

This tournament served as the second round of trials to select a team to represent the Chris Hani Chess District at the South African Junior Chess Championship to be held in Johannesburg in early January 2020.

Union will soon hear who will be invited to participate in the closed tournament in August, where it will be determined which Union players will represent the district and the school at a national level.

Hockey, Sport Results

Jnr Hockey vs Westering

On Saturday, 4 May, Union High School’s junior hockey teams competed against Westering Primary School.

The 2nd Juniors took to the field first, a little bit later than expected as their opposition was late in arriving from Port Elizabeth.  After the wait, the girls were excited to finally get on the field, but then had a rather shaky start to the game.  They soon settled, however, and quickly started piecing together some fine runs of play.

The teams were very evenly matched throughout the game with possession changing constantly and neither team getting a chance to dominate.  The match was looking to end in a goalless draw, when Westering managed to slot home a lovely goal in the dying minutes of the game, giving them a 1 – 0 win.

The 1st Juniors’ match that followed, started off with an aggressive attack by Union which had Westering on the back foot for the first few minutes of the game.  Westering, however, slowly regained their equilibrium and the match became a ding-dong battle for possession, with both teams showing some fine teamwork and also some lovely individual displays of skill.

Westering was first to score, which galvanized the Union team into action and they soon equalized through a joint effort between Aaminah Steele (who capitalized on a loose ball in the circle) and Leshay Fourie (who finished it off).

Throughout the rest of the game, Westering pieced together many attacks and managed to score three brilliant goals, while Union responded with another joint effort between Xarah Hoffman (who drove the ball into the circle) and Chloe Erasmus (who added the finishing touch).

Union had more than a few opportunities that they didn’t utilise and the team will need to concentrate hard on the basics in the weeks to come.  Mention must definitely be made of Sadé May, who worked like a Trojan throughout the match and made many game-changing tackles and passes.

Sethu Vena – in the goal-box – was also instrumental in making sure the score-line was restricted. Without her composure while under attack, the outcome would most certainly have been very different.

A word of thanks is also extended to Kyle-Luke du Preez who has been offering valuable assistance with the coaching and umpiring of these two teams.

Rugby, Sport Results

Snr Rugby vs Burgersdorp

A fantastic day of rugby

Union High School hosted Burgerdorp High School’s rugby teams this past Saturday, 4 May.  The fixture resulted in a day filled with good rugby played by both schools

Union’s u/14As lost 10 – 33, the u/15As (in the accompanying photos) won 24 – 19, the u/16As lost 22-24 and the second team won 19 – 7.  The third team, who played against Murraysburg High School, won 15 – 12.

After all these matches were finalised, spectators were treated to an epic clash between the two schools’ 1st XVs.  The match lived up to all expectations and had everyone on the edge of their seats for a thrilling 70 minutes.

Burgersdorp was first to cross the line with a well-played move from a set piece.  Union bounced back and continued to build pressure, holding onto possession and putting together some wonderful phases until they could take advantage of a well-set lineout. This saw Brett Amsterdam cross the line which he then also converted to put the scores level.

Union continued to maintain possession and control territory which led to a well-worked team try scored by Khwezi Simon.  Union was, unfortunately, unable to take advantage of this lead and allowed Burgersdorp to score on the brink of half time with the scores standing at 12 – 12 at the break.

In the second half, Burgersdorp was again first to strike with a try against the run of play.  Union managed to stay composed and once again put together phase after phase of attack, unfortunately, a lack of accuracy in the set pieces kept Union from crossing the line.  Despite the inaccuracy, the continued pressure allowed for some individual brilliance from Lihle Mxhunyelwa, who touched down under the poles for Brett Amsterdam to convert to level up the scores.  This seemed to give Union a boost in confidence and the team once again managed to maintain possession and dominate territory.

Unfortunately, Union was unable to capitalize on the advantages they gave themselves and allowed Burgersdorp to take advantage of their inaccuracy at set pieces which put the Union team under pressure.

In the end, Union was unable to keep Burgersdorp from crossing the line to clinch the match in the last minute and lost the match 19 – 26.