September 2003
The question was whether our rugby teams could carry off the inaugural Schweppes Super 8 Schools Rugby League and a very close run event it all was. Last time I wrote Falcon were lying 3rd but with a game in hand. That was a midweek game against Churchill which proved very successful with all three league teams winning, the 1sts by 32-0. St John’s came next and this was bound to be a key one. The junior sides up in Harare were definitely unsuccessful but senior sides did very well, all of them convincing winners including the 1sts in a rather fractious game. Two late tries gave us a clear winning margin after the 2nds had themselves had a good win. Prince Edward can never be written off but I think it would have been a surprise if we had stumbled here. The 16 As lost again but only narrowly, 14-17 but once again all the senior teams, 1st down to 4th were victorious.
This set up the final weekend clash up at Peterhouse. At the request of Peterhouse all sports fixtures that weekend, rugby, hockey and soccer, were played in Marondera to coincide with their Old Boys Weekend and some cultural festival they were holding. I am so glad there is someone who understands that sport is just as much culture as acting, painting and poetry! This was a mammoth logistical exercise but ultimately a successful one. Dave Fleming and myself managed to fit all our players onto buses and the travelling was carried out safely and on schedule.
The various rugby matches were played through from 9 o’clock on the Saturday morning to the culmination of the 1st team clash at 4 o’clock. Not for the first time, our junior teams came a bit unstuck. The U14 A side was up against a side which, sizewise, wouldn’t have disgraced a U16 team and all things considered put up a good performance. The U15s too were outgunned and after a bright start the 16 A team went down quite heavily. The 4ths had an emphatic win in the morning and the 3rds squeaked through 5-0 to give both those sides 100% records for the season which was a good effort.
We had worked out that we would have to win at least 2 of the 3 league games if we were to pip Peterhouse for the title. Having lost the 16A game the 2nds were now on the field and they played in a most impressive manner as they have done all season and they came too with a full house of victories. The 1st XV match was a really good game of rugby. The first half was just in favour of Peterhouse and they had a small lead but the worry was that all the defending Falcon had done might mean they ran out of steam in the second half. Anything but. We came back tremendously and got right back in the game. With 5 or so minutes to go it was anyone’s match. A try suddenly put us within a score of taking the lead but at the death a breakaway try sealed victory for Peterhouse. It was a worthy final to the competition. Both teams had played really well. Both teams could hold their heads up and thanks to the good relations between the two schools, there was not a hint of animosity or gamesmanship either on or off the field to mar the occasion. Well done to both sides over the whole of the season.
Our rugby season closed when we all got back to Falcon with the junior inter House competition, George Lee-Bell’s combination of touch and contact rugby which appears to work well. I only managed to see the final but that was a very competitive and exciting game with Hervey winning 8-5 over George Grey.
Hockey
The term end saw quite a busy schedule for the hockey teams. The junior teams had all had their ups and downs over the season and a down day appeared to be the return matches against CBC with all the teams going down except the 16Bs. This was not too promising given that the A sides had to be up by 5 o’clock the following morning to be on the bus to Peterhouse for matches there in the afternoon. The previous week the 14As had demolished Petra 9-0 having struggled to beat them at home previously and the 16As reversed a defeat from the first round of matches so things had appeared to be looking up.
Anyway we were bundled off the bus at Peterhouse hurried through some lunch and then lined up on the fields for the matches. I didn’t watch the 16 A game because it was at the same time as my 14 As but they clearly did very well. On the back of two heavy defeats as U14 and U15s to lose 3-2 was a great effort and shows how much this side has progressed. Indeed if they had taken chances, a win would not have been beyond them. I had been a little disappointed with the 14A side this season. They had shown promise but in the tough matches against CBC we just didn’t rise to the occasion and had lost rather tamely. Finally they got things right. Having somehow achieved a slender 1-0 lead at half time they dominated the second half, playing good hockey and a late consolation goal for Peterhouse didn’t mar the impressive 4-1 victory with a hat-trick to Jack Randle, the other cheekily finished with a reverse flick after a superb build up from our own ‘D’ by cousin Tom Randell. The 15As spent most of the game with their backs to the wall but two breakaways led to a fine goal from Daniel Landman in the first half and a decisive second from captain, Matthew Bint, in the second giving them success. It was a fine performance to keep their heads under so much pressure and to take the opportunity when it came. Takudzwa Gonese and even more so Michael Todd were outstanding in defence, with Tshepo Ramoleko bravely defiant in goal.
The 2nds won a high scoring match 4-3 and the 1sts finished a successful hockey afternoon by winning 1-0 in a hard fought game which Falcon largely dominated but spoiling tactics by the Peterhouse defence kept us at bay before Sean Williams scored the vital goal quite late into the second half. Gary Manchip played well in midfield and Courtney Hunt in defence while Masimba Bimha was called on to make a couple of vital saves at the death to prevent Peterhouse sneaking a last-gasp equaliser. The following day the two senior teams went into Harare to take on St John’s. According to Chris Davison, the 1st team coach, the seconds were lucky to get away with only losing 1-2, whilst the our 1sts were the better team but went down 2-3.
Whilst there is a plethora of rugby awards, the recipients of whom, I apologise I do not have to hand, there are only two hockey awards for a senior and junior most improved player. The senior award went to Graham Swanepoel who has established himself as a reliable first team player this season and made the Zimbabwe U16 side. The junior winner was Campbell Carruthers, a very hard-working defensive midfield player in the U16 team. Both I feel were well justified. Incidentally, I have an unofficial, private awards ceremony for mu 14 A side and Campbell’s brother, Dougall, was chosen my player of the season, joint with Tom Randell for tremendous performances in defence and attack respectively. Should you wish to know, I gave Henry Vaughan the award for most promising player and Mbongeni Ndlovu one as most improved player.
Soccer
The soccer season was a little disappointing, particularly for the juniors with fixtures erratic and cancelled, with transport problems usually named as the culprit. The 1st team did have a few games however and may not have been as successful as last year but didn’t do at all badly really. Towards the end of term they took part in a FIFA ‘Goal Project’ competition against some local schools down in Gwanda reaching the semi-final there. Up at Peterhouse they were mainly on the defensive but prevented the home side any serious chances and in a flurry of activity in the last five minutes, Peterhouse put the first real chance of the match over the bar, Falcon came forward and won a penalty which was confidently netted but then immediately conceded an equaliser.
A rematch became possible at the CHISZ Tournament at Lomagundi at the start of the holidays. This time we were winners which took us through to the final where we lost on penalties to St George’s.
Squash and Tennis
The number of teams playing league squash in Matabeleland has been quite considerably reduced this year and Orlando Fernandes, our squash coach, knew right at the start of the season that our 4 teams were each in a league above what they should be. As I understand it we did in fact prop up the table in each of them but Orlando does not feel that it was a waste of a season. All teams, especially the A side showed improvement and were much more competitive in the return fixtures. A doubles league was also introduced for the top division and in this we did prove a little more successful.
Adam Joelson, our new tennis coach, entered a team in a new Bulawayo winter tennis league. It was a bit of a makeshift side as some first choice players were committed elsewhere but it was good experience for some of the younger players. Hopefully, it will have set us up for the school matches this coming term, including the Mim du Toit trophy in which we have not been too successful over the years.
So ends another busy Second Term of sport. I think it has been a successful one and it has gone remarkably smoothly despite fuel problems. The hockey teams at junior level actually played more matches than last year. The real problem for Falcon is finding fixtures for our B rugby teams and and 3rd and 4th hockey sides. Junior football matches as already noted are also a problem. Now with the weather warming up as I write we look forward to a new round of cricket, basketball, tennis and waterpolo. The 1st team cricket will be up in Harare in two weeks at the traditional Prince Edward Festival and I will report on that next time.
Richard Harrison
4th September 2003