Maritzburg College vs Michaelhouse hockey - WORST of times, BEST of times …
26 May 2010
HOCKEY enthusiast recalls two schoolboy matches 25 years ago that remain burned in his memory …
JONATHAN COOK
THERE we were, warming up alongside Michaelhouse's pristine grass hockey field.
With 10 minutes to go before the umps blew the first whistle, I was trying to inject some gees into the guys during our subdued warm-up. "Come on boys, Giles Bonnet's only human [and the SA Schools' captain]. Don't worry about him. Andrew "Tiny" Townsend and Gavin Mitton might have made Natal Schools' but, hey, they're dodgy halves. Graham Hurlbatt? He's just a [flipping good] polo player who thinks he's a [fearsome] SA Schools' fast bowler. We can beat those guys!"
No one looked at me. As the 1982 Maritzburg College hockey captain, I realised that my pep talk nearby Michaelhouse's first team hockey field wasn't having much effect … the players looked anywhere but at me, like dead men walking to the gallows and the hangman's noose. Ah well, the manne would settle down once the first whistle had blown, I thought.
As if sensing a kill, the Red Army closed their quarry down like a pack of hyenas
We eventually lost 6-1, the biggest College defeat against Michaelhouse to this day. On the bus back to the hallowed turf on Goldstones at Maritzburg College for the first XV rugby match, the guys were thinking of any excuse not to pitch for the game, knowing the scorn we would receive at the hands of the rugger blokes.
One small voice piped up from the front. "Please Cook, there's still the return game! I know you can win it!"
"A second former with an undying belief in the College cause; that's all I need right now," I thought
Yeah, right!
"Listen lightie," I felt like telling him, "if we're lucky those okes will drill us 10-0 when they come here for the return match." But I just nodded ruefully, not wanting to burst this naïve second former's idealistic pipedream - I had more chance of kissing Olivia Neutron-Bomb than us beating the Michaelhouse Mean Machine.
Wow! At 2-1 up, could we somehow hold on?
'I told you, please Cook! I told you on the bus! I just knew we could beat them!'
Wow! At 2-1 up, could we somehow hold on? As if awoken from their slumber, Giles and company stepped up a gear or three and suddenly we were under attack from all sides as "House" pushed for the equaliser, spurred on by their aghast fan club.
As we trooped off, walking on air, a tiny second former with basher aloft rushed on. "I told you, please Cook! I told you on the bus! I just knew we could beat them!"
All those years ago ... It's something I will never - ever - forget.
* I wrote this fun piece on 19 July 2007 for a Weekend Witness Special to commemorate the 100-plus year Maritzburg College versus Michaelhouse rugby tradition - and a hockey tradition probably stretching back 50-odd years. What a day it was, way back in my matric year in the early eighties, and then again on that momentous winter's day 25 years' later … and seeing Giles has just been appointed the new SA women's coach, I thought it appropriate to dredge this piece up from the depths of my old desktop. Hope you enjoy it. (JC)
These outstanding South Africa hockey schools do SA proud.
HOCKEY enthusiast recalls two schoolboy matches 25 years ago that remain burned in his memory …
JONATHAN COOK
THERE we were, warming up alongside Michaelhouse's pristine grass hockey field.
With 10 minutes to go before the umps blew the first whistle, I was trying to inject some gees into the guys during our subdued warm-up. "Come on boys, Giles Bonnet's only human [and the SA Schools' captain]. Don't worry about him. Andrew "Tiny" Townsend and Gavin Mitton might have made Natal Schools' but, hey, they're dodgy halves. Graham Hurlbatt? He's just a [flipping good] polo player who thinks he's a [fearsome] SA Schools' fast bowler. We can beat those guys!"
No one looked at me. As the 1982 Maritzburg College hockey captain, I realised that my pep talk nearby Michaelhouse's first team hockey field wasn't having much effect … the players looked anywhere but at me, like dead men walking to the gallows and the hangman's noose. Ah well, the manne would settle down once the first whistle had blown, I thought.
Merino Sheep's ear-bursting shriek created havoc in the old age home
Yeah, right! What followed was mayhem at it worst (if you're a College supporter, that is). Hurricane Hurlbatt blew us away (including bewildered sweeper Luc Princen and bemused goalkeeper Clive Mingay, who could have hurt his back the number of times he had to pick the ball out of the back of our net) as our half-line crumbled in the face of wave after wave of attack from the red-and-whites.
Bonnet was his silky, sublime self, twinkling past defenders in a manner that belied his backline rugby player build before laying off inch-perfect passes to striker Hurlbatt, who obliged with polo-like whirls of his hockey stick on the billiard table Michaelhouse grass pitch that sent the ball fizzing into our net. Mitton and Townsend were calmness personified in the Michaelhouse first team half-line, skilfully snuffing out the rare College attacks before setting up Bonnet and Hurlbatt for the kill.
Bonnet was his silky, sublime self, twinkling past defenders in a manner that belied his backline rugby player build before laying off inch-perfect passes to striker Hurlbatt, who obliged with polo-like whirls of his hockey stick on the billiard table Michaelhouse grass pitch that sent the ball fizzing into our net. Mitton and Townsend were calmness personified in the Michaelhouse first team half-line, skilfully snuffing out the rare College attacks before setting up Bonnet and Hurlbatt for the kill.
As if sensing a kill, the Red Army closed their quarry down like a pack of hyenas
We eventually lost 6-1, the biggest College defeat against Michaelhouse to this day. On the bus back to the hallowed turf on Goldstones at Maritzburg College for the first XV rugby match, the guys were thinking of any excuse not to pitch for the game, knowing the scorn we would receive at the hands of the rugger blokes.
One small voice piped up from the front. "Please Cook, there's still the return game! I know you can win it!"
"A second former with an undying belief in the College cause; that's all I need right now," I thought
Yeah, right!
"Listen lightie," I felt like telling him, "if we're lucky those okes will drill us 10-0 when they come here for the return match." But I just nodded ruefully, not wanting to burst this naïve second former's idealistic pipedream - I had more chance of kissing Olivia Neutron-Bomb than us beating the Michaelhouse Mean Machine.
Wow! At 2-1 up, could we somehow hold on?
Still, the return game at home came around and we all decided to just relax and play our hearts out. After all, what would be would be.
It was a midweek fixture on the AB Jackson's dubious grass and after we had swatted the earthworm clods off the field, it was clear from the first whistle that, somehow, Michaelhouse weren't on song.
As if sensing a kill, the Red Army of Maritzburg College closed their quarry down like a pack of hyenas. Our left centreback Andrew Brown, now a Michaelhouse teacher, had an absolute blinder, robbing Michaelhouse of the ball on countless occasions.
It was a midweek fixture on the AB Jackson's dubious grass and after we had swatted the earthworm clods off the field, it was clear from the first whistle that, somehow, Michaelhouse weren't on song.
As if sensing a kill, the Red Army of Maritzburg College closed their quarry down like a pack of hyenas. Our left centreback Andrew Brown, now a Michaelhouse teacher, had an absolute blinder, robbing Michaelhouse of the ball on countless occasions.
Last lines of defence Princen and Mingay were like rocks, strengthened by a College half-line that was doing its job for a change. And before long, Michael "Specks" Cook (my brother was virtually blind without his glasses) weaved his way like a weasel through half the Michaelhouse team to score our second!
'I told you, please Cook! I told you on the bus! I just knew we could beat them!'
Wow! At 2-1 up, could we somehow hold on? As if awoken from their slumber, Giles and company stepped up a gear or three and suddenly we were under attack from all sides as "House" pushed for the equaliser, spurred on by their aghast fan club.
Not to worry. My abiding memory – as clear as daylight – is watching in awe as the indefatigable fighter that is Andrew Brown miraculously emerged from a crush of Michaelhouse bodies in our goalmouth and cleared the ball into touch. Merino Sheep, alias Afrikaans teacher J. Kedian, blew the final whistle as only he could – an eardrum-bursting shriek that must have created havoc in the nearby old age home.
We had, quite unbelievably, incredibly and absolutely, magically, WON!
As we trooped off, walking on air, a tiny second former with basher aloft rushed on. "I told you, please Cook! I told you on the bus! I just knew we could beat them!"
All those years ago ... It's something I will never - ever - forget.
* I wrote this fun piece on 19 July 2007 for a Weekend Witness Special to commemorate the 100-plus year Maritzburg College versus Michaelhouse rugby tradition - and a hockey tradition probably stretching back 50-odd years. What a day it was, way back in my matric year in the early eighties, and then again on that momentous winter's day 25 years' later … and seeing Giles has just been appointed the new SA women's coach, I thought it appropriate to dredge this piece up from the depths of my old desktop. Hope you enjoy it. (JC)
These outstanding South Africa hockey schools do SA proud.
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SA Women's Schedule
| 24 May | RSA v GBR | London |
| 25 May | RSA v GBR | London |
| 27 May - 2 June |
RSA v ECO | 5 Tests, Glasgow |
| 5 - 10 June | London Cup | London |
| 12 June | 3 week camp | South Africa |
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| 6 July | RSA v NED | Netherlands |
| 9 July | RSA v GBR | London |
| 10 July | RSA v GBR | London |
| 12 July | RSA v GER | 4 Nations, Bremen, GER |
| 14 July | RSA v BEL | 4 Nations, Bremen, GER |
| 15 July | RSA v NZL | 4 Nations, Bremen, GER |
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| Masters | Cape Town | 27 – 30 April 2012 |
| Senior Women | Johannesburg | 19 – 25 August 2012 |
| Senior Men | Bloemfontein | 26 August – 1 September 2012 |
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