Preview: St Andrews v Kingswood
On a crisp Winters day in the City of Saints, Kingswood boys will make the trip from the top of the hill to St Andrews for one of the biggest schoolboy derbies in the country.
The 'K-Day' fixture, as it is known, is always a game that is played in the greatest spirit possible and although it is played hard – it is played fair.
The players single out this fixture as the most important of their season and for Kingswood it defines their season. If they are able to get one over their old foe it is never forgotten.
For any old Kingswoodian, 2011 will forever live on as one of the greatest wins. Kingswood made the trip to Lower Field and managed to cause one of the greatest upsets when they defeated their hosts 23-22.
St Andrews restored the historic balance in 2012 with a comfortable 43-19 win on City Lords but Kingswood are always up for the fight and if the St Andrews boys are slightly off guard they could pay the price.
This season St Andrews started their season with a number of wins and they only tasted defeat for the first time when they went down to Grey PE in Grahamstown a few weeks ago. From then on it has been tough for the College boys as they lost to Queens the follwoing week and then were unlucky not to beat Selborne last weekend and had to settle for a draw.
Kingswood have had a reasonable season and have won a number of their fixtures but they have suffered fairly large defeats against both Dale and Queens. They went down 40-21 to Queens which, along with Muir, are the only two sides that both teams have played this season. Kingswood only narrowly scraped past Muir by one point whilst St Andrews beat Muir handsomely earlier in the season.
Ultimately, past results count for nought when these two sides take the field and Kingswood maintain the underdog tag which gives them absolutely nothing to lose. This, coupled with partisan support creates a cocktail brewed for an upset.
Amongst the Kingswood side captain Jack Denton is the brother of current Scottish international David Denton and will hope that he can lead by example when his side runs out onto Lower Field.
St Andrews have a number of their players in the Eastern Province Country Districts Craven Week side and these players will need to stand up on Saturday – no more than skipper Sintu Manjezi who has captained the side with enthusiasm this year.
Kingswood have already got one over their opponents when they won the hockey fixture 2-1 on Wednesday.
Previous Results:
2012: St Andrews won 43-19
2011: Kingswood won 23-22
2010: St Andrews won 43-15
2009: St Andrews won 43-3
2008: St Andrews won 8-6
2007: St Andrews won 41-10
2006: St Andrews won 22-12
2005: St Andrews won 31-5
2004: St Andrews won 12-9
2003: St Andrews won 17-7
Prediction: A derby game is always going to be tightly contested for the early part of the game but if the favourite side gains any momentum then it is very difficult for the underdogs to reel them in. St Andrews have been very impressive this year and find themselves in our top 20 and they must go into the games as strong favourites. It is all about how the players manage the hype of the game and if St Andrews can focus on the game they will win the match by at least 20 points.
Teams:
St Andrews: 15 Mbulelo Mama, 14 Benjamin Dovey, 13 Robert Ball, 12 Ryan Horne, 11 Courtney Archer, 10 Hugo de la Fargue, 9 Jason Baggott, 8 Stuart Stopforth, 7 Sintu Manjezi (captain), 6 Matt Andrews, 5 Peter Kroon, 4 Tyler Paul, 3 Adrian Parsons, 2 Thomas Filmer, 1 David Murray.
Kingswood: 15 Anelisa Mteto, 14 Jono Amadi, 13 Davron Cameron, 12 Cameron Hertz, 11 James Chungu, 10 Zuko Zote, 9 Yalusa Nodada, 8 Adrian Donian, 7 Bradley Dodds, 6 Bradley Schwedhelm, 5 Sinekhaya Joseph, 4 Jack Denton (Captain), 3 Mvelo Khumalo, 2 Shane Liebenberg, 1 Kieran Kruger.
Match Schedule:
08h30:
14A – Lower Field
16B vs UK 15A – Knowling 1
15B – Knowling 2
09h30:
15A – Lower Field
16C vs KC 16C/17C – Knowling 1
15C vs UK 15B – Knowling 2
10h30:
16A vs KC 16A/17A – Lower Field
5ths vs KC 3rds – Knowling 1
14B vs UK 14A – Knowling 2
11h30:
6ths vs KC 16B/17B – Knowling 1
14C vs 14D – Knowling 2
11h45:
4ths vs UK 2nds – Lower Field
13h00:
3rds vs UK 1sts – Lower Field
14h15:
2nds – Lower Field
15h30:
1sts – Lower Field
