Day 12- Robben Island & Match 7 vs Bishops

Following match day 6 vs Pinelands we enjoyed an evening meal on the Waterfront at Cape Town where we were joined by Mr Shaun Hensilwood, our gap student from 2014 (having been joined by Mr Leroux Clorete, gappie 2015, the day before). We returned to Breakwater Lodge, the former prison, where we are staying for a couple of nights whilst in Cape Town.

We woke Wednesday morning for a short walk back to the waterfront where we boarded the ferry to Robben Island. We were fortunate as the ferry crossing had been closed the day before due to poor weather & rough water. Mr Hunter must have questioned whether it should still have been closed as he fixed his eyes on a cloud praying the journey would soon be over, whilst gradually turning greener & greener as the boat bobbed on the Atlantic swell. We embarked on a Coach journey around Robben (Dutch for Seal) Island. We learnt from a superb guide about the incredible history of the island both before & during its time as a political prison. The Island includes 2 grave yards following its time as a leper colony, large English guns stationed as protection during WW2, a conservation area, prison of war barracks, underground tunnels, a lighthouse, ~100 shipwrecks, 2 limestone quarries, electrical generators & its own desalination plant. We saw the fenced area where Robert Sobukwe was kept in solitary confinement for 6 years. We then moved into the prison where a former inmate (1983-1990) recalled his time in the prison, the changes during its history as a political prison (1959-1991) including the 18yrs endured by Nelson Mandela. The boys learnt about the awful food, sleeping conditions, labour at the quarry & even heard from Christo Brand, one of Mandela’s prison guards & close friends.

Following the tour we returned to the waterfront for lunch & then met our driver, Shemil, who took us to Bishops for our final hockey fixtures of the tour. The hockey facility at the school was superb, although this was not paralleled with the weather, with the pouring rain reminding us of home, whilst every local informs us of the horrific drought they are currently sustaining.

The 2nd XI played first against Bishops 3rd XI, who where a technically able team with great structure. Although the 2nd XI were resilient throughout, they unfortunately lost 5:0. Will Sparry made many fine saves for the 3rd game running, without him the score could easily have been doubled. Man of the Match went to Rashad Riaz for his gritty determination in defence and consistent outletting throughout.

The LGS 1st XI played Bishops 2nd XI, which we knew would be our most challenging fixture of the tour, with Bishops boosting many SA representative players throughout their ranks. LGS hoped to replicate some of the workfare, desire & form they had shown in the Durban leg of the tour in particular the stellar battle against Northwood 1st XI. LGS started brightly, but unfortunately conceded in the 1st half through 2 penalty corners & 2 field goals. LGS were certainly still fighting against a very able side. The message at half time from Captain Lawrie reflected our reignited desire to work hard for each other & the pride we could take from our efforts if we maintain them.  LGS went on to build more in the second half, scoring twice, both goals fittingly coming from the 2 departing yr13 players- Tom Lawrie & Oliver France, with them finishing on 2 & 3 goals respectively for the tour (France getting top Goalscorer for the 1st XI- Corden & Lawrie both 2). All players showed fine adaptability, playing across numerous lines due to injuries & fatigue. Both coaches were very pleased with the performance & especially pleased for Tom & Oliver to sign off their time at LGS with such a fine performance. MoM George Hughes.

This evening the boys will no doubt try to warm up & dry off before heading to the waterfront for evening festivities, whilst in the morning we check out & embark on our trek up Table mountain (weather permitting ……)

Dr Rhodes

 

Day 10

Mr Clarke blessed us with a lie in this morning by having to wake up at 7:00 instead of 5:00 like the past few mornings. After our luxury lie in we got on the coach and went to an eagle enclosure where we could walk freely around looking at various different birds, it also had a goat there for some reason which took a liking to Theo’s leg. We also had a show in which a woman who worked there bought out various different birds and talked about them with us as well as being able to hold some of them.

We than went to a rescue centre for cheetahs to try and reduce the deaths of cheetahs from farmers and people in the wild, by giving the farmers dogs and educating people about cheetahs. We first went into the enclosure with them and were able to stroke them and take photos with them which was good. Then we had a tour around the whole park where we saw a variety of rescued cats and other animals which was good.

We arrived at Bridge House College to see an incredible mountain range just behind the hockey pitch which would have been great to see whilst playing however it gets dark at 5:30 in South Africa. The 1st game was quite disappointing losing 4-0 to a very strong side. This was a must win game for us as it was Mr Sutcliffe’s son’s side who had been a student and played a lot of hockey for our school in the past. We had few chances to score today from Euan Phillips and James Corden but none of the chances lead to a goal. There was a large variety of votes for man of the match today including Sam Glass, Charlie Woodfield and George Hughes, however Tom Lawrie got the majority of the votes making him man of the match for the 5th game of the tour.

The 2nd team game went very well after the last two games instead of losing 6-1 and 6-0 we only lost 2-1 which was good we think. Everybody played well against bridgehouse.But as they were a good team with a few stand out players they were able to just win. Our only goal was scored by dan limb who after a few beautiful passes by the boys dan was presented with a 1 vs 1 chance in the middle of the D where he placed the ball in the goal. he then celebrated by skipping along the pitch like a flailing his arms about as every one stared at him thinking what he was doing. After this goal the other team took it in there stride scoring a goal just before half time. After a long and tiring second half in the dry air around the vineyards of Cape Town the conditions became very tiring, thus the opposition scored a second goal making the score 2-1. With a final push from LGS we kept getting close to another goal but never got one. Overall a good game and one of the 2nd teams best performances on the tour yet.

—Max Smith

Arrival to Cape Town

Following a wonderful two nights in Stellenbosch we have arrived In Cape Town to rather wet and windy conditions. Our matches today were against Pinelands High, who were a rugged and competitive bunch.

The 2’s played first, as is the norm, dominating the game with an impressive performance across the  whole team throughout the first half. The simple style of play adopted by the boys today, allowed us to connect with each other frequently, providing several scoring opportunities. However, it was the irrepressible Dan “Lesta” Limb; who has gone from Goalkeeper to Striker in the last two matches, who not only opened the scoring but added to his goal from yesterday to bag a brace. At 2:0 the half time talk revolved around a highly pumped up Limb spurting out gibberish, fortunately a calmer voice of greying wisdom prevailed to challenge the boys to stay in the game mentally as the next goal will be most important…classic punditry! Our opponents decided to bring on a few A teamers to level the decks but LGS stood firm for the first 10 minutes. In the 11th minute however, a penalty was awarded to the home team. With a growing crowd the home player decided to go high left but was thwarted by a magnificent stick save from our so called stand in keeper Will Spary; who has impressed throughout the tour both on and off the pitch.

With six minutes to go, we conceded and with the tired legs of the tourists beginning to show, nerves were jangling, especially mine. But, all was well as a third goal was scored by the ever improving Devan Patel, promoting him in to a god like figure among the group, (Thank heaven for Devan was heard around the dugout!) to secure our first win of the tour. Needless to say the boys were in high spirits and fine voice in supporting their tour mates in the next match; our 1’s V the opponents A team………..

As the temperature dropped and the lights came on, the 1st team took to the turf. After some positive early moves the Pinelands boys took a hold of the game and rarely let go of it. Captain and back to back man of the match winner, Tom Lawrie needed to leave the pitch following a leg injury, probably caused by the fact he has covered every part of every pitch in every game so far on the trip. Without our selfless leader, the game was always going to be difficult. However, the 1:0 score line reflects how well the team defended. Louis May, who could hardly stand up yesterday following a flu like bug was nothing short of awesome at centre back and so to Seb Pierson in goal, who again made a plethora of high class saves to keep us in the game. James Corden chased and chased lost causes all day and can be pleased with his all round pitch performance.

One boy, who shall remain nameless, will be wearing the yellow ‘ I had a shocker’ T-shirt for being be caught red handed with a brown paper bag containing a bottle in it! Needless to say the staff duly confiscated said bottle and disposed of its contents safely!!

All boys are in fine fettle, a few bumps and bruises here and there and some weary bodies but in general the tour is a pleasure to be in charge of, as the lads are fabulous company and could not be behaving any better, although the early choice for the community bus DJing of mainly 80’s music has sadly dried up, dodgy dance music has returned to the bus environment-please bring back “We built this City”

Mr Clarke

A quick snapshot below of the team coaches (on the shore line) imploring the team to do as they’re told and to “play wiiiiiiide”

Notice Penguin versions of Dan Limb and Devan patel holding hands in the bottom left corner! Who said romance was dead?

…………Its not really the team, we visited the Boulders beach penguin colony today, great entertainment!

Day 7-9

The boys have enjoyed once in a liftime experiences over the last couple of days; catching glimpses of Rhino, Elephant, Giraffe, and Zebra.

Staying in a beautiful traditional camp setting, we all relished the opportunity to have some down time in the grounds before extremely early starts both mornings.

We have since taken the 2 hour plane journey to Capetown, currently staying in the quaint ‘Stellenboche Hotel’, and visited an Eagle Encounter this morning.

Matches against Bridgehouse School will be played later today.

– Nathan Trasler