Sport Results

50 Caps for Chelsea Theron

In an encounter against Pearson High School on Saturday, 20 July, Union High School’s 1st hockey team centre-half, Chelsea Theron claimed her 50th cap for the school’s 1st hockey team.

In a pre-match ceremony before today’s fixture against Framesby, she received a small gift in recognition of this achievement, from Headmaster Mr. William Pringle and team captain Jenna McNaughton

This talented young hockey player has been representing the first team since she was in Grade 9.

Union thanks her for her hard work and dedication and congratulates her on this special achievement!

Hockey, Sport Results

Snr Hockey Results vs Framesby

Victory for Union against Framesby

The hockey matches were fast and fierce against Framesby on Friday afternoon, 26 July 2019.

As part of the top 8 schools in the Eastern Cape, this was a “must-win” for union’s 1st team girls in order to ensure an upward movement on the overall log as the 2019 season nears the end. The girls started off by setting the pace for the match with an early goal in the second minute by Leatitia Theron.

This was followed by a feisty goal from Henzé Jaftha and a third by the captain, Jenna McNaughton, in the second quarter.  This took the girls to a comfortable 3 – 0 lead at half time. The third quarter enabled Henzé to shine again with two quick masterpieces, racking up her hat-trick for the match.

The final quarter allowed the girls to cement their lead even more with two goals from Micela Loock, resulting in a 7 – 0 victory.

The girls worked hard to maintain consistency throughout the match, capitalising on opportunities presented and keeping their work rate up for the entire match.

“This is a great start to a tough end of the season which is coming up for the girls, I look forward to seeing the hard work put in this season pay off on a high note against Alex, DSG, and Volkskool,” said coach Alvin August.

In other results against Framesby, Union’s 16B team beat Framesby 1 – 0, the u/16As also won 2 – 0, the 3dr team won 5 – 0 and the 2nd team won 3 – 0.

Hockey, Rugby, Sport Results

Snr Sport Results vs Winterberg

RUGBY

In Saturday’s rugby matches against Winterberg Agricultural High School in Fort Beaufort, the u/14A team lost 12 – 19, the u/15A team lost 12 – 14, the u/16A team won 36 – 14, the second team won 7 – 5 and the 1st team lost 14 – 31.

HOCKEY

Special mention must also be made off the girls who represented the school against Winterberg this past weekend – most playing against one team higher than their own ranking.  The girls were successful and flew the Union flag high, with the 2nd team beating Winterberg’s 1st team 4 – 0 and the u/16B team beating Winterberg’s 2nd team 6 – 0.

Hockey, Rugby, Sport Results

Jnr Results vs Clarendon

The junior rugby and hockey teams faced Clarendon Park Primary School on home ground this past Saturday morning, 27 July.

RUGBY RESULTS

The u/11B team lost 5 – 33, the u/11A team lost 5 – 20 and the u/13B team lost 5 – 17.

In the last match of the day, the u/13A boys worked hard to put their opposition under pressure in challenging conditions.  The first half was closely contested, but Union cemented their dominance in the second half to secure a 29 – 7 win over Clarendon Park.

HOCKEY RESULTS

A polished Clarendon side made a confident start against our 1st team and slotted home their first goal after only 5 minutes. This galvanized our girls into action and they soon regrouped and began to fight back. Shortly before the end of the first half, Union were finally rewarded for their efforts when Caytah-Leigh Koeberg and Leshay Fourie combined successfully to pop a sneaky goal past the keeper.

The second half delivered more fast-paced, exciting hockey and Clarendon again managed to score at the beginning of the half to put them one goal ahead. They continued to put pressure on our girls with many attempts at goal, but the Union girls worked hard to deny them. As the game drew to a close, Soso Mroro made one of her trade-mark break-aways, and the spectators held their breath as she stormed towards the goalbox with seconds to spare. An unfortunate foot fault at the crucial moment denied her the opportunity to equalize and the match ended with a 2 – 1 loss for Union.

2nd team lost 0 – 4

3rds vs u/11A lost 0 – 2

Hockey, Sport Results

Snr Hockey Results vs Pearson

Well done to the hockey teams for braving today’s cold and wet weather conditions in Port Elizabeth.  Union played against Pearson High School.

The competition was tough, but the girls gave it their all and worked as a team to get the goals they could.Today’s matches saw the 3rd team lose 0 – 6, the 2nd team 1 – 2, the u/16As 1 – 2 and the u/16Bs 0 – 7 with the 1st team drawing their match 2 – 2.

Congratulations to Chelsea Theron (photo) who played her 50th cap for the 1st hockey team in the match against Pearson today.

Rugby, Sport Results

Jnr Rugby Results vs Albertyn

Another win for u/13As

This past Saturday, 20 July, Union’s u/13A rugby team played against Uitenhage’s Albertyn Primary.  In a very exciting match, the Union boys executed their game plan perfectly and put Albertyn under pressure from the get-go.

Good spacial awareness saw both forwards and backs run straight, before offloading into space created, leading to numerous points scored out wide. Albertyn needs to be commended for the spirit in which they played the game, however, they ultimately fell short, with Union winning the encounter 53 – 0.

* The u/11As also recorded a win against Albertyn Primary, beating their opponents 29 – 5.

Rugby, Sport Results

Snr Rugby Result vs Pearson

It was tough going for Union’s rugby teams in Port Elizabeth on Saturday, 20 July.

Playing in ice-cold weather against tough opposition, the teams recorded the following results in their encounter against Person High School: the u/14As lost 3 – 43, the u/15As lost 7 – 51, the u/16As lost 5 – 34, the second tea lost 0- 62 and the 1st XV lost 5 – 53.

Despite the results, the Union boys showed great character and fight in every game that was played and stayed true to showing …great sportsmanship.

The 1st XV knew they were in for an epic battle and took the field well prepared and ready for the clash.  The first half lived up to expectations and both sides gave everything they had with hard running attack and big-hitting defence.  Union, unfortunately, had two lapses in defence and allowed Pearson to cross the line twice – this proved to be the only scoring opportunities in this half, as Union’s defence stood strong for what remained of the first half.  Union went into the break 12 – 0 down and still very much in the game.

The second half, however, proved to be very different – the Union team was unable to curb the flow of attacks from Pearson who were able to hold on to possession better than the Union team.  In the end, the Pearson team proved too strong.

Despite the scoreline, the Union boys gave it their all and never backed down.

They showed tremendous character, managing to hold onto the ball at stages and in the end, the best passage of play came in the last 5 to 10 minutes, where Union put together some wonderful phases and running rugby, managing to cross the line through Cleathon Koeberg.

Although the encounter didn’t deliver the desired results, good lessons were learned.

Rugby, Sport Results

New Rugby Kit for U/13As

During the recent Anne Beagley Junior Rugby and Hockey Festival, Union’s u/13A rugby team took the field in their brand new rugby kit.

This was made possible by the generous sponsorship of the Desert Springs Spur and Graaff-Reinet Mica.  The team’s coach, Floris Steenkamp, thanks them for this gesture.  “The team looks really great! Your support is not something we take lightly and is very much appreciated by the school. The new kit will go a long way in inspiring the players to believe in themselves.” he said

 

Hockey, Sport Results

Interprovincial Hockey Tournaments

U/18 Interprovincial Tournament

During the recent school holidays – from the 16th to the 22nd of June – Jenna McNaughton and Micela Loock represented the EP u/18A team at an interprovincial hockey tournament held in Pietermaritzburg.

After five games, the team ended top of their pool with a goal difference of 23.  Having successfully qualified for the semi-finals, they then pitted their skills against that of the Northern Blues.  After this tightly contested match ended in a 1-all draw, a penalty shootout ensued, which the EP side unfortunately lost.  They then contested the tournament’s 3rd and 4th position against Southern Gauteng.  After losing this game, they ended 4th overall out of 12 teams.

Both players enjoyed the tournament tremendously and were grateful for the opportunity to improve their hockey.

U/14 Interprovincial Tournament

Grade 7 learner Sonwabise Mroro was recently part of the u/14B team that represented the Eastern Province at the inter-provincial hockey tournament held in Bloemfontein (23 to 27 June).

The team fared exceptionally well, especially considering that they were a ‘B’ side competing in the ‘A’ division

The team finished 8th overall among 11 ‘A’ sides and 3 ‘B’ sides.

The team’s coach only had the highest of praise for Soso, saying, “Soso had a fantastic tournament showcasing her talent and growing as an individual player.”

Well played Soso!

Hockey, Rugby, Sport Results

Sport Results vs Gill College and Gill Primary School

Emotions ran high during Saturday’s derby day against Gill College and Gill Primary School.

The day, which was as usual characterised by wonderful interaction between the schools involved, saw the matric 1st XV rugby boys represent Union High School for the very last time on home soil.

Many Old Unionites filled the stands to support the players.

Rugby Results

The rugby matches against Gill delivered mixed results, with the U/14s losing 10 – 20, the U/15s winning 36 – 7, the U/16s winning 47 – 12, the second team winning 31 – 12 and the 1st XVs losing 16 – 21.

Senior 1st Team Report
The first team match – which also happened to be the matric 1st XV rugby boys’ last one on home soil – was fiercely contested with both teams taking the lead on occasions.  Union managed to gain the lead and maintained it until the last five minutes.

However, in a game where Union dominated possession and set phases, the Union players were, unfortunately, unable to take full advantage of the many opportunities presented to them, which allowed Gill to stay in the game.

The only difference between the two sides on the day was that one was able to take full advantage of their chances, therefore, in the end, it was Gill College that came out on top winning the match 21 – 16.

Although it was a tough start to the third term, the team hopes to bounce back in a spectacular fashion in their next fixture against Pearson.

Hockey Results

Union’s hockey teams had a successful encounter against Gill today, with the 1st Juniors winning their match 3 – 0 and the 2nd Juniors winning 1 – 0.

The school’s senior 2nd team won 8 – 0 and the 1st team enjoyed a 17 – 0 victory.

Senior 1st Team Report
Gill opted to play a match of 4 quarters which seemed to suit the Union girls’ style of play and saw the 1st quarter provide 4 brilliantly worked goals in favour of Union.

Union then continued to dominate the match with some slick and accurate passing and great finishing in the goal area. Three goals were scored in the 2nd quarter, 6 in the 3rd and 4 in the last quarter.

The final score stood at 17 – 0 in Union’s favour.

The Union girls put up a good performance overall and positive signs are showing ahead of some tough fixtures to come.

Union’s goals were scored by Micela Loock (7), Jenna McNaughton (3), Henze Japhta (4), Laetitia Theron (1), Chelsea Theron (1) and Jade Shires (1).

Junior 1st Team Report
After a long holiday break, the girls got off to a rather slow start, with some uninspiring play.   As the first half continued however, Union eventually found their rhythm and began to play to their strengths against the determined Gill side. Shortly before the half time whistle sounded, Lisa Menos and Leshay Fourie scored an opportunistic goal to put Union into the lead. The second half saw Union stepping up the pace and dominating play. Soso Mroro and Chloe Erasmus collaborated beautifully to add to the scoreboard with a text-book perfect, field goal; and then Lisa Menos and Leshay Fourie again proved to be the duo of the day as they slotted home the final goal of the match, giving Union a convincing 3-0 win.

It is incredible to see how much this young team has grown over the course of the season and we can only hope that they maintain this momentum as we work towards the end of the season which culminates with the traditional inter-school’s fixture.