Westville’s goal scorer, Matthew Davies
Highway rivals, Westville and Kearsney, two of the best sides in the province played to a thrilling 1-1 draw to a packed crowd at the Mason Astro at Kearsney College.
The game started at a high tempo with both teams trying to take control early on. Westville had most of the possession in the early stages, with an early green card received by Kearsney. Kearsney soon started creating their own chances with four penalty corners in the 1st half to Westville’s one. The highlight was a fantastic stick save by Westville’s Goalkeeper, Keagan Moxey. Both teams created good chances through some great build up play, but poor finishing cost them and the scores remained level at the break 0-0.
Both teams started the second half in a similar vein to the 1st half, with very few clear cut chances. Westville were down a man early, with Lethu Thomo booked for 2 minutes and just a few minutes on the clock. Kearsney failed to capitalize on their man advantage, and Westville got themselves back into the game with two penalty corners which were both poorly executed by the attacking team. Westville found themselves slightly hard-done-by when Mbuso Mgobozi went one-on-one with Kearsney’s Goalkeeper, who brought down the Westville striker in what seemed to be a clear stroke. After consulting, the umpires decided to award a penalty corner as well as punish Lethu Thomo with a yellow card in a confusing minute. The penalty corner was again poorly executed and scores remained 0-0.
With 6 minutes left, Westville gave away the ball cheaply in midfield and Kearsney counterattacked effectively ending with a well taken goal by their striker to put the home side 1-0 up. Westville pushed hard to find an equalizer and dominated possession in the final few minutes. This pressure paid off with a final chance from a penalty corner. Westville held their nerve with Captain, Matthew Davies slotting home the goal with just seconds remaining on the clock.
It was a good but tough start to the season for both teams, who will be equally tough to beat as the season goes on. All in all it was a fantastic spectacle for schoolboy Hockey.
The full set of results are available under Sport/Latest Results on the website.