Mixed fortunes for Grey festival sides

GREY had a busy Easter Weekend holiday with no fewer than nine rugby and hockey teams attending festivals throughout the country.

The first rugby and hockey teams had mixed fortunes, both teams starting slowly, and leaving their best performances to last.

The hockey team beat the unbeaten Maritzburg College 2-0 and the rugby side thrashed Parktown by 61 points on the final day of their festivals.

The Grey first rugby team at the St Stithian’s Festival:

Versus Bishops

Grey began the festival with a match against a fired-up Diocesan’s Boys from Cape Town. They were lethargic and failed to match their opponents’ intensity, unsurprisingly trailing 13-3 at half time.

While Grey did produce glimmers of their potential in the second stanza, it was not to be their day as Bishops ran out 27-10 winners.

Versus Maritzburg College

Grey had the better of the first half, dominating the collisions and enjoying possession and went into the break leading 10-8. The second half saw Grey run in four more tries to outclass Maritzburg College 30-15.

Josh Oosthuysen scored a hat-trick of tries.

Versus Parktown Boys

Parktown were combative in close quarters, but could not match Grey’s set pieces or the sensational speed of the outside backs. Grey ran riot to win 61-0.

ý Grey junior rugby teams also attended Easter festivals.

The Grey 2nd and 3rd XV combination, known as the Unicorns, attended the annual Union High Festival and enjoyed two wins, beating Grens 2nd XV 42-5 and Camps Bay 1st XV 33-15.

The U16As attended the Jeppe U16 Festival, beating Parktown Boys 27-7 and St Charles 29-11, before losing 14-7 to highly-rated Jeppe.

Grey’s U15A and U14A teams both attended the Kwagga Festival. The U15A beat Ben Vorster 48-0, a powerful Boland Landbou 14-5 and lost 31-7 to an excellent Outeniqua side in the unofficial final.

Grey’s U14As enjoyed two excellent victories too, beating Noordheuwel 29-28 and Monument by 38 points to 10. They too were selected to play in the final of the U14 division, but lost 41-24 to a powerful Paarl Boys side.

ý The Hockey results from various festivals were:

The Grey first team at the Nomads Festival in Bloemfontein: drew 1-1 with Jeppe, drew 2-2 with Hilton, lost 3-2 to KES after leading 2-0, lost 1-0 to St John’s, beat Maritzburg College 2-0.

The U16A side at Nomads in East London: drew 1-1 with Jeppe, beat Hilton 5-0, drew 2-2 with KES, beat Pretoria Boys 10-0, beat Maritzburg College 3-1.

The U14A and B teams at the Rob Taylor Festival in East London: U14A: beat Cambridge 5-0, beat Hudson Park 7-0, beat Queens 5-0, beat Dale 4-0, beat Selborne 1-0, beat Merrifield 1-0, Goals for 23, none against; U14 B team: beat Dale 14A 1-0, lost 1-0 to Selborne 14A, beat Selborne 14B 2-0, beat Cambridge 14A 2-1.