Entertaining first day sets Easter Sports Festival in motion

Learners from various schools sang their school anthems and war cries as the St Dunstan’s College Easter Sports Festival burst to life on March 28.

Over 47 teams representing 29 schools competed in netball, rugby and hockey on the opening day of the festival, held on a packed St Dunstan’s College sports fields.

The girls’ hockey got the ball rolling as Benoni High School (BHS) took on Heritage on the St Dunstan’s astro while Thomas More College (TMC) battled St Dominic’s on the BHS astro.

The early entertainment was on the netball courts as TMC surrounded court one and burst out their war cry to motivate their team.

But all eyes were on court two as the tie between BHS and St Francis College took centre stage. The BHS girls dominated the match while St Francis lacked rhythm and couldn’t string more than three passes together without being intercepted.

BHS led the match 18-2 going into the second break. They added 10 more points to increase their tally to 28 while their opponents only added three. BHS eventually won the match 33-6 to start the tournament positively while St Francis went back to the drawing board.

The BHS shooter, Jodi Volkwyn, gave the festival a thumbs up, saying it was exciting and well-organised.

“The festival is amazing. It’s going to help us build as a team, especially because we are a new team and haven’t played many games. We are still learning and it will help us improve on the court.

Also Read: St Dunstan’s College netball team shines

“Personally, I think I did well. It’s always when you play on a new court against a team you’ve never played against. But my teammates and the shooters always help me around the circle and I always feel comfortable after taking the first shot,” said Volkwyn.

St Francis captain Thatohatsi Sothwana said the loss was a minor setback, adding their aim is to go all the way to the final.

“The game was good but our defence was weak. We need to strengthen our defence to obstruct the balls to get them to our side of the circle.

“The goal is to win the tournament. This is just a minor setback. It’s our first game of the tournament. We will improve and progess” she said.

BHS lost their second match 16-14 to Reddam Waterfall and beat Jeppe girls 13-8 in their third match.

In the boys’ hockey, CBC Zimbabwe laid down the marker when they thrashed Reddam 9-0 in a one-sided match. They led 5-0 going into the break and added four more goals in the second half to win the match convincingly.

On the rugby field, St John’s Zimbabwe opened the tournament against St David’s but it was the tie between the hosts, St Dunstan’s and Potchefstroom Boys that created a buzz around the field.

Buoyed by a noisy home crowd, St Dunstan’s edged ahead with a try and conversion, but that lead was short-lived as Potch touched-down moments later.

The match saw three tries within the first 15 minutes and the hosts led 21-19 going into the break but Potch came back strongly in the second half, adding seven more points to eventually win the match 26-21.

Springs Boys High beat Thomas More 62-7 and BHS xv outplayed Marists Brothers Linmeyer 76-0.

The festival continues until Monday. Find the full fixtures here https://www.citizen.co.za/benoni-city-times/sports-news/2024/03/28/st-dunstans-college-fixtures-released/

Also Read: St Dunstan’s College fixtures released

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