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!

Hockey, Sport Results

Union Learners in EP Hockey Squad

Union learners in EP hockey squad

Hockey at Union High School continues to flourish as is evident by the exceptional performances of the players at the recent provincial trials.

Three learners, Micela Loock, Jenna McNaughton and Sonwabise Mroro, were selected to represent the province at interprovincial tournaments in the coming June school holiday.

Micela Loock, Jenna McNaughton and Sonwabise Mroro

Jenna and Micela will represent the EP u/18A team in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands (15 to 22 June) and Sonwabise the EP u/14B team in Bloemfontein (23 to 27 June).

“Playing at provincial level affords players the opportunity to participate at the highest level and grow their skills through the experience,” said coach Alvin August.  “We are incredibly proud of each and every one of them and wish them the best of luck for the forthcoming tournaments.”

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!