Sport Results

Snr Hockey Results vs Woodridge

Saturday, 1 June, saw Union High School’s hockey girls take on Woodridge College in what proved to be a challenging, yet competitive encounter.

To start, the u/16B team lost their encounter 2 – 4, the u/16A team lost 1 – 4 and the second team won 3 – 1.

The first team girls then took the turf, with the first quarter starting with a fast pace, catching Union’s defense on the back foot from the push back.After absorbing an immense amount of pressure, the Union team girls went 1 – 0 down after the 10th minute.  Although the girls worked hard, the pressure mounted again and the first quarter finished with Union 2 – 0 down.

The Union girls fought back hard in the second quarter, showing skill and determination.  Henzé Jaftha found the back of the net after a beautiful pass from Marché Green to close the score line to 2 – 1.  Woodridge quickly fought back and scored a third goal.  This seemed to light the fire again for Union and Henzé converted another beautiful goal.  After another moment of weakness in defense, Woodridge converted again to end the second quarter with a final score of 4 – 2 in favour of Woodridge.

Although the Union girls showed guts and determination in the last two quarters, they weren’t able to hold defensive lines or stick to the game plan, leading to an influx of goals from Woodridge.  “We definitely competed and the final score is not a true reflection of the level of hockey played on the day,” said coach Mr. Alvin August. “The Union girls missed excellent opportunities and allowed poor decision making in defense to let in easy goals against us.”

A beautiful short corner that worked perfectly, allowed Union to remind Woodridge of their attacking ability with a third and final goal for the Union attack. The final score stood at 3 – 9 in Woodridge’s favour.

“It was a privilege to compete against a competitive, skilled team like Woodridge and the girls should be extremely proud of their overall team effort and hockey played on the day,” concluded Mr. August.

Sport Results

Snr Hockey Results vs Westering

Mixed results for senior hockey teams

Union High School’s hockey teams travelled to Port Elizabeth on Saturday, 25 May, to take on Westering High School in what proved to be a very tough encounter.

The Union players were, however, up for the challenge.  The u/16B team drew 1 – 1, the u/16A team won 2 – 0, the second team lost 0 – 2 and the first team won 2 – 1.

After a lengthy trip to PE, Union’s first team started a little flat when they took to the turf but soon managed to find some rhythm.  Union penetrated the Westering circle and won penalty corners on many occasions, but, unfortunately, failed to convert.  It took the Union team 21 minutes to eventually find the back of the net with a well-worked goal by Laetitia Theron who made a good run with the perfect finish.

Westering then equalized a few minutes later and made it tough for the Union team with some good defensive efforts on their side.  In the 47th minute, Union saw a beautiful ball picked up by Henzè Japhta who entered the Westering circle and struck the perfect shot into the back of the net to put Union 2 – 1 up.

With only a few minutes left on the clock, Westering pressed into Union’s half with intent, but the UHS defense was up to the task and kept them out.

Rugby, Sport Results

Snr Rugby Results vs Westering

UHS claims victory at annual derby day

This past Saturday, 25 May, Union High School travelled to Port Elizabeth to face Westering High School in the two schools’ much-anticipated annual derby day.

A very early start to the day and a 3-hour bus trip tested the Union players’ character from the get-go.  The rugby games started at 09:15 on dewy fields which made handling very tough for both schools.

The willingness to succeed and teamwork proved to be the difference in the junior ranks. UHS won two out of the three junior matches, which encouraged the senior teams to give it their all.

The second team once again proved way too strong for their opponents and dominated all facets of the game. This was a true reflection of the depth Union has in the senior rugby ranks and the benefit of the first and second team practicing well together.

Union’s 1st XV stated their intentions from the first whistle, as Zusakhe Ngwane leaped into the air to reclaim possession from a Jaden Brotherton kick-off. This moment set the tone for the rest of the match as Union put Westering under pressure for the duration of the game.

Westering defended admirably, but after 15 minutes of continuous defense, Junior Duba broke the line untouched to score under the poles. Brett Amsterdam added the conversion.

A few minutes later, a lack of discipline led to a Westering penalty. The score now read 7 – 3 in favour of UHS.  Union continued to apply pressure but failed to convert the hard work into points. Westering pounced on a defensive error and scored an unconverted try. The score now stood at 8 – 7 in Westering’s favour after 18 minutes of play.  Union, however, regained composure and controlled the pace at which the game was played.

Holding onto possession and continuity, led to Junior Duba crossing over for his second try. Brett Amsterdam converted to put Union 14 – 8 ahead. Five minutes later, Khwezi Simon dotted over for a well-worked team try. The conversion was missed and the score now stood at 19 – 8 in favour of Union’s ‘Mighty Whites’.  A lack in depth on attack and playing away from the ball, saw Westering intercept a pass and score a converted try for the score to read 19 – 15 in Union’s favour.

Under a bit of scoreboard pressure, Zusakhe Ngwane showed his experience by quick tapping a penalty to put Ashton Dawids in space to cross over in the corner. Brett Amsterdam used the wind well to slot a difficult touchline conversion. Union went into half time 26 – 15 up.

The second half started off very similar to the beginning of the match, as Union continued to apply pressure to Westering’s defense. They continued to defend with all their might, but individual brilliance from Junior Duba saw him cross the whitewash for his hat-trick. Brett Amsterdam converted to increase Union’s lead to 33 – 15.

Westering replied with a good chip and gather try. They converted to make the score stand at 33 – 22.  Wonderful skills and interplay by Union’s backline then led to a try by Brett Amsterdam. He converted to take Union’s tally to 40 points.  With five minutes to go on the clock, Union broke through the heart of Westering’s defense and saw the UHS backline casually shift the ball from fly-half to wing untouched with no defenders in sight. Junior Duba crossed the line to score his fourth try of the game.

Union won the match 45 – 22.

The try scorers for Union, were Junior Duba (4), Khwezi Simon, Ashton Dawids and Brett Amsterdam.

Brett Amsterdam successfully converted 5 from 7.

The other matches during the course of the morning, saw Union’s u/14As lose, the u/15As win 19 – 15, the u/16As win 25 – 20 and the second team win 48 – 3.

Thanks are extended to all the parents and old scholars for their loyal support of Union’s sports teams.

Rugby, Sport Results

Jnr Rugby Results vs Cradock

In what proved to be a very challenging fixture for Union, the school’s u/13A rugby team came out on top in their encounter against Cradock Primary School (CPS) in Graaff-Reinet on Saturday, 25 May, with the final score standing at 21 – 15 in Union’s favour.

The other matches against CPS, saw the u/7As lose 0 – 30, the u/9Bs win 28 – 7, the u/9As lose 7 – 33, the u/11Bs lose 0 – 50 and the u/13Bs lose 0 – 12.

Thanks are extended to all the supporters who showed up to support the Union teams.

Hockey, Sport Results

Jnr Hockey Results vs Cradock

JUNIOR HOCKEY VS CRADOCK (home) – 25 MAY 2019

3rd Jnr won 3 – 0

2nd Jnr drew 0 – 0

1st Jnr lost 0 – 2

Our Junior hockey teams hosted Cradock Primary this weekend in hot, dry conditions. Despite a great start to the morning, with a fine win by the 3rd team girls, the 2nd and 1st team girls were unable to maintain the momentum and neither managed to put a score on the board.

The girls came up against tough opposition from a physical Cradock side and although they tried hard to penetrate the defenses, they were denied success.

The second team girls played well, and displayed some lovely passing skills, but were unfortunately a little too “polite” on the day and would certainly have benefited from being a touch more aggressive in getting to the ball first. Mention must be made of Emma Short, who through exceptional work epitomised this skill on the day, and as a result, directly initiated the majority of our circle entries. The teams were very evenly matched and this made for an entertaining outing for the spectators.

The first team girls appeared to be a little lethargic in their match against the spirited Cradock team and consequently spent a lot of the game on defense which left us rattled and produced some scrappy play. While the teams did appear fairly evenly matched in skill, our girls were just a touch slower off the mark and this put us under great pressure for much of the match. We did manage more than a few circle entries, but were unable to convert, while Cradock were able to push two soft goals home after some sloppy defense on our behalf.

This was not the best result to give us confidence for our upcoming encounter against Collegiate next weekend, but it has given us scope to reflect on what we are doing wrong so that we can work on improving our game plan and our mindset for future fixtures.

Rugby, Sport Results

Rugby EPCD Academy Side

Union players named for EPCD Academy side

Three Union High School rugby players, (photo left to right) Bladen Jacobs, Cleathon Koeberg and Sbongakonke Koyingana, have been selected to represent the Eastern Province Country Districts (EPCD) u/18 side that will be competing at the upcoming Academy Week.

In addition to this, UHS educator Mr. Christopher Felix will be serving as the assistant coach of the EPCD team.  The Academy Week will be hosted by Grey College in Bloemfontein from 1 to 6 July.

Prior to this, the Union players will meet up with the rest of the team on 22 June in Grahamstown to play a warm-up match at Rhodes University.

This will be followed by a training camp in Aliwal North (from 24 to 29 June) from where they will then depart to participate in Bloemfontein.

Rugby, Sport Results

Jnr Rugby Results vs Niko Brummer

Early Saturday morning, 18 May, Union’s u/13A rugby boys played a very physical match against Niko Brummer from Beaufort-West.

The Union players absorbed countless waves of attack and managed to capitalize on the mistakes of their opposition.

Both teams displayed great determination with the lead changing hands on more than one occasion.  The last five minutes proved to be the difference between the two teams, as the Union players fought hard to see out a 24 – 15 win.

• In their respective matches, the u/11As lost 24 – 10 against Niko Brummer while the u/9As lost 7 – 29 and the u/7As lost 5 – 20 against Graaff-Reinet Primary.

Hockey, Sport Results

Snr Hockey Results vs Cradock

UHS hockey shows determination

On Saturday, 18 May, the three hockey matches played at the UHS AstroTurf resulted in three victories for the Union teams who faced off against their Cradock High School counterparts.

From the get-go, Cradock struggled against the fine hockey being presented by the Union teams on the turf and Union proceeded to dominate in what has, in years gone by, always been a tough encounter.

The u/16B team was first to take to the turf, winning their bout 9 – 0, the Union second team then followed suit, winning their match 8 – 0.

At the start of the match between the two school’s first teams that followed, the Union girls battled to stamp their authority on the game, despite six or more attempts at goal in the first quarter, with only Marche Green being able to find the back of the net in the 12th minute.

Union, however, settled into their game plan and the second quarter saw Micela Loock score an excellent goal in the first minute and Henzѐ Jaftha another well-worked goal in the third minute.  Jenna McNaughton then scored in the sixth minute to follow suit.  With the half time score standing at 4 – 0 in Union’s favour, the second half saw Union again firing on all cylinders with Henze, Jade and Micela scoring in the third, fourth and 14th minute respectively.

The fourth quarter saw the Union team again attacking from the outset which saw Micela scored two more goals and Jenna one more to bring the final score to stand at 10 – 0 to Union.

“This was by far the girls’ best performance to date, with excellent passing, ball speed and vision leading to an entertaining match,” said proud coach Alvin August. “More of these performances will see our girls become a force to be reckoned with among the Top 8 teams in the Eastern Cape.”

Rugby, Sport Results

Snr Rugby Results vs Cradock

Union hosted Cradock High School on Saturday, 18 May for their annual showdown.

It turned out to be an enjoyable morning for all the Union supporters who turned up to watch the encounter, as the rugby teams managed to record several successes: the u/14As won 33 – 7, the u/15Bs lost 5 – 36, the u/15As won 26 – 15, the u/16As won 46 – 12 , the 2nd XV won 37 – 7 and the 1st XV won 33 – 15.

Judging by the entertaining brand of rugby spectators were treated to all morning, the first team match was set to be a good one. The game started with Cradock scoring a try in the first eight minutes, due to some ill-discipline by Union at the breakdown.  The ‘Mighty Whites’ soon lifted their intensity levels and bounced back with a good lineout maul, resulting in Zusakhe Ngwane diving over to get Union onto the scoreboard.

Brett Amsterdam converted to make the score stand at 7 – 5 in Union’s favour.  Keeping possession by setting up phases and good execution, saw Gary Shell cross over for Union’s second try. Brett converted once again, taking Union’s tally to 14.  Union kept the pressure on and ran fiercely at Cradock – their defences were breached once again as Ashton Dawids dotted down under the poles. Brett converted and Union went into half time 21 – 5 up.

The second half was closely contested for the first 20 minutes.  The ‘Mighty Whites’, however, then shifted their play up a gear and got the structures back into place.  Brilliant interplay between backs and forwards saw Ashton Davids score an amazing team try. Brett converted to increase Union’s lead to 28-5.

A lapse in concentration led to a Cradock try on the blind side. The score now stood at 28 – 10 to UHS.

Union then piled on the pressure, sucked in defenders and exploited the space wonderfully as Bladen Jacobs scored in the corner. The conversion was unsuccessful and the score then stood at 33 – 10 in Union’s favour.

Cradock scored a third try due to Union not shifting quick enough on defence. The conversion was missed and the final score was 33 – 15 in Union’s favour.

Union’s try scorers were Zusakhe Ngwane, Gary Shell, Ashton Dawids (2) and Bladen Jacobs.  Brett Amsterdam successfully converted 4 from 5.

Thanks are extended to all the supporters for the tremendous encouragement extended to the players from the sidelines.

Hockey, Sport Results

Jnr Hockey Results vs Riebeek College

Union’s junior hockey teams arrived in Uitenhage on Saturday (18 May), greeted by lovely weather and very welcoming hosts.

The teams had a great encounter against Riebeek College, with the 3rd Juniors winning 3 – 0, the 2nd Juniors losing 0 – 1 and the 1st Juniors winning 5 – 3.

1st JUNIORS MATCH REPORT

Our junior hockey girls travelled to Uitenhage this weekend to compete against Riebeek College. After a hard mid-week lesson against Gill on grass, the girls were much better prepared for this encounter. They turned on the pressure from the get-go, with our first shot at goal coming within the first 15 seconds of the match. From this moment on, a fast-paced tussle for the lead ensued, and while Union were undoubtedly in control of the game, Riebeek were ultimately the first to score. By the time the whistle at the end of the first half went, Union were down 1 goal to 2.

The 2nd half commenced with a renewed effort from our gutsy girls and they worked extremely hard to maintain this pressure for the remainder of the game. Once they took the lead, they never looked back, thus securing a well-deserved victory for themselves. The goal scorers on the day were Soso Mroro (3 goals), Chloe Erasmus (1) and Charlize Vorster (1).

All the girls played very well, but the following deserve special mention: Sadé May (whose phenomenal work-rate was key to the team’s success); Alinda Goosen (whose solid defense stymied many attacks); Soso Mroro (with her 3 timely goals) and finally, Bontle Mashiane (who stepped in at the last minute as keeper for the team and did a sterling job on her first time out).

Congratulations on a fine result girls!