Two goals, scored by Reuben Sendzul, and Barend Geldenhuys, secured a hard-fought 2-0 win for Paul Roos Gimnasium (PRG) over Bishops Diocesan College on Wednesday evening on the Maties AstroTurf in Stellenbosch.
The match was the first between the teams this year, and their first outings since the mid-year holidays.
It was also Bishops’ first defeat in the Western Cape. Previously, they had suffered only one loss, and that came back in May at the Hibbert Shield against Garsfontein.
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Heading into the eagerly anticipated clash, both teams sported impressive records, including convincing wins in their last games of the second term.
The hosts, in their last meeting before facing Bishops, put on a masterful display, back in May, to race to a 7-1 win over Wynberg Boys’ High in Stellenbosch.
In that clash, coach Michael Baker’s side was in sync, ruthless in attack, and, arguably, played their best hockey of the season.
Bishops, meanwhile, took on Rondebosch Boys’ High and dominated their southern suburbs neighbours to record an emphatic 5-1 win.
Bishops, for their recent matches, have also been without their head coach, Ryan Julius, who is on national duty for the SA Men’s team at the Paris Olympics. In his absence, Abdul Cassiem, the father of the renowned Cassiem brothers, has led the team. That mattered little to PRG on Wednesday evening as they started the brighter and attacked with intent.
In the second chukka, coach Baker’s side opened the scoring through Sendzul. After failing to execute two short corners, which were blocked by Joshua Mettler and ‘keeper, Mu’aath Ganief respectively, PRG made their third attempt count.
Hano Basson and Sendzul swapped castles to get Bishops guessing about who would drag. Then, a swift injection from Callum van Oudsthoorn went to SA Schools u17 player Christo Swanepoel on his right-hand side. He, in turn, laid off to Sendzul, who calmly slotted to make it 1-0.
Soon after, PRG was awarded another PC but, for a second third time, Mettler got in the way of the drag flick. It was 1-0 to the home team at half-time.
The third chukka was all Bishops as they attempted a comeback but PRG’s shot-stopper, Beor van Reenen was not having it in his 50th appearance, and pulled off three acrobatic saves in the space of a minute.
Van Reenen came to his side’s rescue again in the fourth chukka, twice preventing the Cape Town school from scoring.
His teammate, Barend Geldenhuys, put the final nail in the Bishops’ coffin with an extraordinary solo goal. After working his way into the circle, he created space and fired a reverse stick shot that flew into the top-hand left corner to seal the win for his side.
“I’m very happy with the boys’ performance,” Baker told SuperSport Schools Plus after the encounter.
“I think Bishops has snuck under the radar this year. Ryan and the legend Mr. Cassiem have done an incredible job.
“Their half-court press is so tough to break. This meant, potentially, a slow game, and I’m proud of my boys for being patient and executing what we worked on.
“We set up nicely to try to stop their counter threat. [We had] a well-worked PC, which we only trained for them, and a clean sheet for Beor on his 50th, so I’m very happy,” he concluded.
Paul Roos will return to action in a week when they host South African College High School (SACS) on their home turf in a massive clash.
Meanwhile, Bishops will be tested in their attempt to get back to winning ways when they tackle Cape Town International Hockey Tournament champions, Paarl Gimnasium, next Monday.
RESULTS
Paul Roos Gimnasium 2-0 Bishops Diocesan College
Paarl Boys’ High 3-2 DF Malan
Avuyile Sawula is a multimedia sports journalist, broadcaster, and writer. He possesses a journalism qualification from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology. During his time in the media industry, he has worked for various online media publications covering a variety of sporting codes. He also has a broadcasting background having worked as a news journalist at one of Cape Town’s commercial radio stations. His reporting beats include hockey, rugby, water polo, and cricket. Apart from writing, he has a knack for creating sports content, and video editing.
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