Over the past weekend, Stanford Lake College hosted Beaulieu College for their annual sporting derby. The two schools have battled it out against one another every year for the last 17 years and so the derby is a much anticipated event in both of the colleges’ calendars. The two-day derby did not fail to disappoint this year, with some evenly matched fixtures being played across six sporting and co-curricular disciplines, namely: squash, golf, chess, netball, hockey and rugby.
The first sporting code of the derby to be played was squash. SLC’s glass-backed squash courts made for exciting viewing for the spectators of both schools. Six players from each college took to the courts and the two schools left the courts with three wins apiece. Justin Schwaeble (Grade 12), Lia Revelas (Grade 11) and Iggy Lindeque (Grade 8) claimed victories for Stanford Lake College.
Bright and breezy on Friday morning, four golfers from each school travelled to Polokwane Golf Club to play a full 18 holes. SLC played against a very good Beaulieu side, two of Beaulieu’s players having handicaps of +3 and 2 compared to SLC’s of 7 and 10! The best three Stableford points of the four players counted towards the final score. The SLC players had a very good day on the course and managed to make 103 points compared to Beaulieu’s 68. A convincing win for the Stanfordians.
When it came to netball and hockey, it was certainly Beaulieu’s weekend to triumph, winning all six of the netball matches and six out of eight hockey games. The 1st team girls’ netball match was arguably the most exciting fixture of the weekend. The two teams were evenly matched and the girls played an adrenaline-filled, high-paced game. Spectators from both parties kept spirits high with well-rehearsed chants courtside and the Beaulieu and SLC mascots added extra festivity to the occasion. The SLC girls managed to hold Beaulieu back for most of the match, but their opponents snuck in the final winning shot just seconds before the final whistle blew. Both teams left the court absolutely exhausted.
The hockey results came as no surprise to the SLC coaches. Beaulieu have always been a force to be reckoned with on the hockey front. Despite the impending onslaught, the SLC teams played with courage and determination and took the losses as a learning curve. Many Stanfordians were in awe of the stick skills displayed by the Beaulieu players and will certainly be working on a few of the moves in their practice sessions. The SLC U/14 boys and the U/15 girls managed to secure victories in their games.
Where SLC came into their own was in the chess and rugby fixtures. The checkerboard masters played with focus and secured seven wins compared to Beaulieu’s five. On the rugby pitch, it was SLC’s time to shine. The U/15 A’s secured a 33-14 win over Beaulieu with tries from Sifiso Magagula (2), Christian Krüger (1) and Devon Coad (2). Devon also managed to bump up the score by successfully converting four of the five tries. The U/16s played a game of 7s, winning 31-10. Tries came from Ethan Jones (1), Abe Athanassiades (2), Stefan Otto (1) and Dylan van den Berg (1), of which three of the five tries were converted by Abe Athanassiades, Ethan Jones and Dylan van den Berg.
After SLC’s 1st team’s loss against St. Dunstan’s the previous weekend, the pressure was on for them to redeem themselves against Beaulieu. With improved communication and well-rehearsed sets of play, the boys managed to claim victory with a convincing 45 points to 34. Seven tries were scored by the likes of Thomas Mayes (2), David Pullinger (2), Musa Mathebula (1), Marthinus Maritz (1) and Ethan Chidavaenzi (1). Ethan also displayed great kicking skills, converting five of the seven tries.
All in all, it was a great derby and was thoroughly enjoyed by both schools. Stanford Lake College looks forward to being hosted by Beaulieu next year and hope to even up some scores on the netball courts and hockey pitches.
Photos: GKT SportPics