WBHS beats Affies 3-1

WESTVILLE Boys’ High School hosted Pretoria giants, Affies, on Saturday and they played out a scrappy 3-1 win with the two teams continuing their competitive spirit, leaving everything out on the field.

According to Cameron Mackay, first team hockey coach, the game started slowly with Westville not getting into their usual good tempo. Affies was the better side in the early stages.

“Westville finally gained more control after the 10th minute and created a few good chances. They took the lead with a well-taken goal by striker, Mbuso Mgobozi. This was followed up a minute later with a fantastic finish from Minenhle Ntshangase after a good save,” said Mackay.

The first half continued in the same vein as the early stages of the game as Westville went into the break with the lead, not capitalising on their numerical advantage after a green card against Affies.

“The second half started scrappily with a few cards dished out and some poor discipline costing the home side, with green cards for Keagan de Castro, Matthew Davies, Caleb Carney and Ryan Way all in the space of 15 minutes. Affies failed to capitalise on the ill-discipline and was punished with a green card of their own and Westville took control of the game once again, creating numerous chances, but lacking the final finish. Affies began growing in confidence and won a couple of penalty corners but Westville stood strong to keep the scoreboard the same,” added Mackay.

Westville found themselves 3-0 up late in the second half with a début goal from 16-year-old Caleb Carney. Both teams were punished with yellow cards with a couple minutes left. Westville let themselves down in the final minute, playing with the ball too much in their final third and eventually conceding a late penalty corner which turned into a stroke after hitting the last defender on the line. This was converted to end the game 3-1 up to hosts Westville, who won their fourth game in a row.

“The game wasn’t a great spectacle with many cards and scrappiness, but Westville will be happy with a hard-earned victory that they can take into a very busy week. Overall, Westville had a highly successful day, winning 12 of their 14 matches,” added Mackay.