Our U/11 Cricket team took part in the Queen’s Festival where our boys had the opportunity to compete against some of the best schools in the border region. This was a challenging couple of days that saw our boys play four matches over three days. Our boys had some difficulty playing against strong opposition losing three of our four games.
Vs Queen’s lost by 95 runs
Vs Dale lost by 5 wickets
Vs Alice lost by 46 runs
Vs Komani won by 63 runs
This was a great experience for our young cricketers and one they would certainly cherish for years to come.
Saturday 29/09/18
Union High School vs Paul Roos Gimnasium (Declaration)
Paul Roos won the toss and sent Union in to bat in very difficult conditions. With the ball swinging around and moving off the pitch, we struggled to get any partnerships going and didn’t really apply ourselves in the first hour and a half. The Paul Roos bowlers used the conditions to their advantage and skittled us for a dismal 43 all out in 25 overs. Conditions really changed the longer and hotter the day got. Paul Roos comfortably scored 230 runs for the loss of two wicket in 49 overs. They then declared and only need to get 5 wickets in the Union second innings to get an out right victory. We reached 39 for the loss of 5 wickets in 15 overs and lost by an innings and 138 runs. Not a very good start to a tough cricket festival.
Sunday 30/09/18
Union High School vs Bishops Diocesan College (Declaration)
Union High was again sent in to bat after losing the toss. This time the boys were up for the challenge.
We scored 252 for 9 in 70 overs, batting out the allotted overs given to us in this format of the game.
Best Batsman: Cowan Swartz 65; Luke McNaughton 62; Bowen Langmead 36; Sinethemba Ndudula 34.
Bishops then went in to bat and found it quite simple with us bowling both sides of the wicket. Bishops scored 253 for 3 in 44 overs. Cowan Swartz, Matt Harpur and Jaden Brotherton each picked up one wicket.
Union High lost by 7 wickets.
Monday 01/10/18
Union High School vs Paarl Boys’ High School (Declaration)
We lost the toss and were sent in to bat again. Union High scored 131 all out in 41 overs.
Top Batsman: Luke McNaughton 64
Paarl Boys were put under pressure for some stages of their batting innings, however not enough runs on the scoreboard helped them scratch to 132 for 5 in 39 overs.
Best Bowlers: Brett Amsterdam 2 for 36 in 14 overs; Matt Harpur 2 for 42 in 11 overs.
Union High lost by 5 wickets.
Tuesday 02/10/18
Union High School vs South African College High School “SACS” (Limited Overs – 50)
Union High was sent in to Bowl for the first time in 5 matches. SACS scored 343 for 5 in 50 overs due to ill disciplined bowling and not being put under any pressure.
Best Bowler: Caerwyn Spence 2 for 51 in 8 overs.
Union High went in to bat and scored 165 for 5 in 35 overs. Best Batsman: Bowen Langmead 63; Brett Amsterdam 37; Matt Harpur 21; Peter Watermeyer 13*; Union High lost by 178 runs.
All in all this was an amazing experience for the boys. They were able to play against provincial and national cricket players. This festival will help boost our cricket as we have made many new contacts and fixtures for the future. Our lads learnt invaluable cricket lessons and this young team will turn heads in time to come.
Union High School will host The Cape Schools’ Cricket Festival in 2019.
1st XI
On Saturday 22 September Union High School played against Brandwag from Uitenhage in a 40 over match at the beautiful Asantesana Game Reserve.
Brandwag won the toss and sent the Union lads into the field on a flat track. Due to the conditions of the pitch our seamers struggled to pick up wickets, but maintained a decent economy rate. Cowan Swartz and Matt Harpur picked up a stick each. Brandwag were 97 for 2 at drinks. After drinks the captain brought on Caerwyn Spence and Jaden Brotherton to see if our spin attack could cause some damage. This proved to be exactly the right call! Our spin twins cleaned up the rest of the Brandwag batting line up and kept them at bay to reach a modest total of 167 all out in 39.2 overs.
Best Bowlers: Caerwyn Spence 4 for 26 in 8 overs; Jaden Brotherton 4 for 22 in 7 overs.
After lunch Union went in to bat. A sublime start by Jaden Brotherton and Brett Amsterdam saw Union have an opening stand of 70 runs. In the 18th over we lost our first wicket and in walked cool and calm Luke McNaughton. It didn’t take him many balls to get going…A few overs later he was joined at the wicket by Captain Matt Harpur. The two of them easily took on the Brandwag bowling attack and cruised to victory in the 29th over.
Best Batsman: Jaden Brotherton 43; Brett Amsterdam 36; Luke McNaughton 59*; Matt Harpur 17*
Union won by 8 wickets.
2nd Team
The 2nd team played at Brandwag in a 35 over match. Brandwag won the toss and elected to field first. Our batsman struggled up front losing wickets in quick succession. We were soon 40 for 5 when Trevor Moos and Brendan James consolidated for a well played 50 run partnership to restore some hope to the innings. This was backed up by another 40 run partnership between Khanya Butshingi and William Kayster. Union were eventually bowled out for 154 in 33.4 overs.
Top batsman: Trevor Moos 31; Brendon James 20; Khanya Butshingi 20; Noa Cilliers 18
The bowlers seemed troubled and struggled to bowl a consistent line and length. Poor fielding didn’t help our cause as we dropped catches at regular intervals. Brandwag past our score in the 20th over having lost only 3 wickets.
Top bowlers: Matthew Hesselink 1 for 25 in 3 overs; Trevor Moos 1 for 28 in 4 overs.
Union lost the match by 7 wickets.
U/15A
The U/15A team also played a 35 over match at Brandwag. Union won the toss and elected to bowl first.
Josh Calitz struck in the 2nd over of the match and from there on James Pienaar ripped through the top order. Brandwag soon found themselves 30 for 5. After an amazing bowling effort, Brandwag was bowled out for a poultry 44 runs.
Best bowlers: James Pienaar 5 for 15 in 6 overs; Josh Calitz 2 for 21 in 4 overs; Jarrod Naude 3 for 0 in 1.3 overs.
Union then went in to bat and confidently scored 45 runs without loss in 5 overs.
Best batsman: Kyle-Luke du Preez 32*; Sisipho Arnolds 6*
Union won by 10 wickets.
14 September
UHS 1st XI vs Woodridge 1st – T20
On Friday the 1st XI played against Woodridge in a T20 at Botanics.
Woodridge batted first and scored 107 for 5 in their 20 overs.
Bowling figures: Sinethemba Ndudula 1/10 in 4 overs; Luke McNaughton 1/18 in 4 overs; Matt Harpur 1/20 in 4 overs.
Union then replied with 1008 for 2 in 18.3 overs winning the match by 8 wickets thanks to a outstanding 92 run partnership between Matt Harpur and Cowan Swartz.
Batting: Matt Harpur 44 not out; Cowan Swartz 41 not out.
15 September
UHS 1st XI vs Woodridge 1st – 50 overs
On Saturday Union took on Woodridge again in a 50 overs match.
Woodridge won the toss and sent Union in to bat.
After a shaky start losing two quick wickets Matt Harpur and Cowan Swartz knuckled down and put together a well-played 50 run partnership laying what was looking to be the perfect platform, however we lost both batsmen in short succession and left Luke McNaughton and Caerwyn Spence to try and rebuild the innings who managed a 40 run partnership. Unfortunately neither were able to take advantage of their starts and fell to good consistent bowling and we were bowled out for 159 in 48 overs.
Batting: Luke McNaughton 37; Caerwyn Spence 33; Cowan Swartz 30.
Woodridge then came in to bat and Unions bowlers struggled to find their line and length coupled with a fair amount of missed chances allowed Woodridge to cruise to victory with only 5 wickets down.
Best bowlers: Matt Harpur 3/35 in 7 overs; Brett Amsterdam 3/70 in 8 overs.
U/15A vs Woodridge U/15A – 50 overs
Woodridge batted first and scored 119 all out. Best bowlers: James Pienaar 3/20 in 10 overs; Josh Calitz 2/23 in 8 overs; Kyle-Luke Du Preez 2/20 in 7 overs.
Union went in to bat and replied with 117 all out. Best batting: Rogan Odendaal 49; Sisipho Arnolds 25.
Union lost the match by 2 runs.
Cradock batted first and scored 88 for 3 in 20 overs. Kyle-Luke du Preez took 1 wicket for 8 runs in 4 overs, Rogan Odendaal 1 for 11 in 4 overs and Kwande Mhlabeni 1 for 16 in 3 overs. Union replied with 93 without loss in the 13th over.
Kyle-Luke du Preez 56*
Sisipho Arnold’s 25*
Union High School won by 10 wickets.
On Thursday 6 September, the 1st XI cricket team left to take part in the annual Pearson Cricket Festival. Owing to the rain, the boys played just one match. Despite this, the boys made use of every opportunity to enjoy the outing and put together some fun-filled team building experiences.
Results from the T20 vs Muir on Friday.
Union won the toss and sent Muir in to bat, hoping to take advantage of what appeared to be perfect bowling conditions. Union were met with some very good patient batting upfront from the Muir openers who put together a solid partnership. This was finally broken by some fine fielding which resulted in a run out. This allowed the Union boys to put pressure on the new batsman and they managed to curb Muir’s run rate. Union continued to take wickets at regular intervals, but it proved too little too late and Muir managed a well-played 139 in their 20 overs. Union went in to bat and could just not find any rhythm, struggling to get the scoreboard ticking over or put together any form of a partnership. The Union boys lost early wickets and could just not recover ending their innings on 64/6 – losing the match by 75 runs.
Bowling figures: Jaden Brotherton took 1 for 33 in 4 overs, James Pienaar 1 for 40 in 4 overs, Caerwyn Spence 1 for 13 in 4 overs and Khwezi Simon took 1 wicket for 8 runs in 2 overs.
The best batsmen were James Pringle top scored with 19 not out and Peter Watermeyer 11 not out.
On the 1st September students from the Karoo OGKK (Okinawan Goju Ryu Karate Kyokai) dojo based in Graaff-Reinet attended the 35th Annual Southern Cape and Eastern Cape Okinawan Goju Ryu Karate Tournament held in the picturesque town of George in the Western Cape.
The Tournament, hosted by Jannie Le Grange Sensei (7th Dan), saw teams from George, Uniondale, Port Elizabeth and Graaff-Reinet compete across 26 different divisions based on age, gender and rank in elimination stages. The categories for this tournament were Kata (detailed pattern of movements) and Kumite (freestyle sparing).
Having never attended a karate tournament before, our learners elected to compete in the individual Kata category with approximately 110 other entrants.
They returned home with two gold and two bronze well deserved medals, with James Rose-Innes and Max Price each achieving a bronze medal and Max Wright and Tyra Binney bringing home gold.
On Friday, 7 September, twelve rugby players, coached by Mr Felix and Mr Sparrius, travelled to Port Elizabeth to participate in the EPRU under 17 Sevens qualifiers. This was the first experience of 7’s rugby for the Union boys, and after the first match, the team realised what fitness levels are required of them to perform at optimum level, and to enjoy the game.
Union’s players were devastated to lose three of their matches on the stroke of the final whistle. However, through positive reinforcement and self-belief, they knew that a victory in the final match was inevitable. In a free-flowing match, displaying all their skills, the Union boys were extremely tenacious and outplayed their opponents, ending their campaign with a well-deserved victory.
This was an enjoyable tournament, with many positives taken and lessons learnt about this wonderful game. We commend the team on their great sportsmanship and being fine ambassadors for our school.
Results: Lost 0 – 33 to Framesby; Lost 5 – 12 to Andrew Rabie; Lost 5 – 12 to Humansdorp;
Lost 7 – 12 to Ndzondilelo; Won 29 – 10 against Arcadia.
Friday, 31 August
UHS 1st XI (T20): UHS won by 7 wickets
On Friday the 1st XI got their season under way playing a T20 against Pearson. Union won the toss and sent Pearson in to bat. The bowlers immediately found their straps with maintaining a perfect line and length and put Pearson under pressure from the get go, striking with two quick wickets. The Union boys continued to build great pressure with the ball and had Pearson struggling at 76/5 after 17 overs. Unfortunately they were unable to capitalize on all their opportunities, which allowed Pearson to reach a total of 125 in their 20 overs. Pick of the bowlers were Matt Harpur finishing with figures of 3/22 and Brett Amsterdam 2/18 off their allotted 4 overs respectively. Union went in to bat and got off to a perfect start with a wonderful 36 run opening partnership between Brett Amsterdam and Luke Mc Naughton. Despite losing both openers in one over Matt Harpur and Cowan Swartz showed great maturity and batted with tremendous intent putting together a very well-played 56 run partnership, which then allowed Bowen Langmead to come in and play a blistering innings of 19 to take us across the line winning the game by 7 wickets. Special mention must be made of Matt Harpur who had a wonderful all round performance and finished on 50 not out with the bat.
Best bowling figures: Matt Harpur 3/22 in 4 overs; Brett Amsterdam 2/18 in 4 overs
Best batting scores: Matt Harpur 50 not out; Luke Mc Naughton 25; Bowen Langmead 19 not out
Saturday, 1 September
UHS XI (50 overs): lost by 8 wickets
On Saturday the 1st XI took on Pearson again in a 50 over match. Pearson won the toss and sent Union in to bat. Despite being full of confidence after their performance the previous day Union were unable to carry on where they left off with the bat. They were met with some wonderful accurate bowling and were never allowed to put any substantial partnerships together after the well grinded 40 run partnership between Brett Amsterdam and Matt Harpur. Union continued to lose wickets at regular intervals and could only manage a less than modest 108 all out.
Pearson went in to bat and Union immediately found their line and length striking in the very first over. They continued to bowl with great accuracy and were able to keep Pearson under pressure, however missed some chances which allowed Pearson to knuckle down and with little scoreboard pressure they were able to manage Union’s score with only two wickets down winning the match by 8 wickets.
Best batting scores: Brett Amsterdam 25; Cowan Swartz 15
Best bowling figures: Cowan Swartz 2/34 in 8 overs
Despite the loss the Union boys must be commended for the way in which they played their cricket this weekend and even when their backs were against the wall they never gave up and maintained a positive approach to the game. All in all it was a great start to the season.
2nd Team (50 overs): lost by 181 runs
Pearson batted first and scored 239 for 5 in 40 overs. Sintu Nkosinkulu took 2 wickets for 39 in 8 overs. Union replied with 58 all out. Union lost by 181 runs.
U/15A Team
Union batted first and scored 51 all out in 22 overs. Pearson replied with 52 without loss.
Union lost by 10 wickets. U/15A (50 overs): lost by 10 wickets
On Saturday, 1 September, three Union High learners took part in the Angora Classic held in Jansenville.
James Potgieter came 3rd in his age group, finishing his 25km mountain bike race in 1:20:05. Keanu Nel also finished 3rd in his group with 1:37:35 and Megan Nel did a 10km race in 1:27:45, finishing in first position in her age group.