Westville Boys’ High School had a successful sporting weekend playing away against Northwood in rugby and hockey, with the 1st XI hockey recording their 15th straight win for the season and with rugby only losing 4 of their 16 fixtures against the Durban North opposition.

The 1st XV  had a very physical and exciting exhibition of rugby ending in favour of Northwood as they managed to pip Westville to a 19-15 win. While it is never easy to lose the boys can take a lot of pride from the game as they gave as good as they got.

Mambo Mkhize vs Northwood

The first points of the game only came after 16 minutes of play. Both teams came to this fixture fully prepared and motivated to bounce back after disappointing losses last week. The first try came when the Northwood flyhalf picked up space behind the Westville line and chipped behind. The Northwood winger gathered from the fortuitous bounce to score. The conversion was missed. Westville then got an opportunity to narrow the gap to 2 points with a penalty kick at goal but the kick was missed by Grove Akker and the score remained 0-5.  The teams continued to trade blows until late in the half. Amazing skill by Westville centre Mambo Mkhize put winger Eze Onyebilanma away for a great try. The try was unconverted.

The teams went to half time with the score at 5-5. A soft moment from the Westville defence shortly after the second half whistle sounded. The Northwood full back who proved to be a handful all day, broke through the Westville centres before off-loading to a team mate to score. The try was converted and Northwood were back in the lead. Westville fought their way back again, this time through Ockie Barnard after a great Westville passage of play. The kick was converted and yet again the scores were level. Westville then went ahead with a penalty shortly afterwards. At 15-12 both teams were at it again hammering away and cancelling one another out with great defence. Late in the game a great passage of play by Northwood eventually opened the Westville defence one more time to result in a try. The conversion went over and Northwood were in the lead 19-15. The final few minutes gave Westville a few more chances to grab the game but the Northwood defence stood firm. The final whistle sounded and Northwood had triumphed.

Although it was a tough pill to swallow for Westville, the game was a true exhibition and spectacle for all who were present and both teams can be proud of the performances they produced. Unfortunately there had to be a winner and a loser. On this particular day it proved to be Northwood.

RUGBY

Played: 16; Won: 11; Drew: 1; Lost: 4

HOCKEY

Played: 15; Won: 8; Drew: 3; Lost: 5