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GRAAFF-REINET NEWS — Graaff-Reinet saw not just a sporting weekend, but a full spread of activities and competitions last week as one of the oldest inter-school competitions in the country took place between Union and Volkskool.
Many businesses in the town became involved, with takeaway outlets offering inter-schools specials, and several nailing their colours to the mast with encouraging advertising promoting their team of choice.
Specials on biltong, beers and braai essentials were snapped up by the many supporters in town for the festivities.
The first event of the week was the shooting challenge at Union High’s shooting range on Monday, where the Volkskool marksmen came out on top with the score of 188 points to Union’s 118.
Some tennis and chess matches were also contested that day. The chess was Union’s forte, winning all games except the 1st junior (8-4 to Volkskool) and the beginners’ match, which was drawn. The Union U.10 tennis players also excelled, with almost a clean sweep. The boys won 5-1, and the girls 6-0.
Tuesday saw more tennis, with the Volkskool junior boys showing themselves superior on the day. The first team won by 6 games to 3, and the second teams 9-0. The junior girls' players were more closely matched, with the Volkskool first team winning 7-2, but the Union girls winning the second team match with the final score at 5-4.
On Wednesday, the golfers headed off to the town’s golf club. The Volkskool players took this event, with a score of 63 to Union’s 44. The day's overall winner was Laer Volkskool's Johndre Ludick.
A cultural event took place that evening, with the quiz (which was drawn) and speech competition. The junior speech contest was won by Volkskool's Carlin Jansen who gave sound advice to Little Red Riding Hood, with Union in second place.
In the senior competition, Union wiped the board, taking both first and second place. Rebecca Langmead came in for particular praise for her thought-provoking and well-delivered speech.
On Friday morning, a full assembly was held at Union High, attended by many parents, past pupils and reunion groups. The Old Unionites Association also held their Annual General Meeting that morning, which was well attended. The oldest reunion group present matriculated a full half century ago!
Volkskool had the same start to their day, with a gathering in the school hall, attended by various former pupils. Here the teams were proudly presented to the school with the rugby first team receiving their jerseys from their parents. The oldest reunion group present at the function was represented by Corlea Ittershagen-Strauss and Adri Landman who matriculated 60 years ago!
The senior tennis matches were played on Friday. The girls' teams ended the day almost even, with the Volkskool girls winning the first team match 6-3, losing the seconds’ 2-7, and winning the thirds’ game 6-3. Union’s boys however proved decisively superior on the day, winning the first team and third team games 6-3, and the second teams’ 8-1.
On the hockey pitch, the Volkskool U.7 team showed some promise, beating the Union team 1-0, but Union dominated the rest of the younger teams’ games.
The U.8s won 6-1, U.9s 7-0, and U.10s 4-1. In the junior section, the first teams drew 2-2, and the Union second team won 1-0. Volkskool won the senior thirds’ game by three goals to nil. Union dominated the U.16 and first and second team games totally, with Volkskool failing to score in all four games.
Union’s U.16A team won 1-0, U.16B by 7-0, the second team 2-0 and the first team by a convincing five goals to nil. The girls dominated the match from start to finish, and well-deserved their success. Player of the match was awarded jointly to the four matric pupils, who were playing in their last inter-schools game.
For many, rugby took centre stage, and the Volkskool teams scored decisive wins in all the age groups up to the U.13s. In high-scoring games, the U.7A won 15-5, and U.7B 20-10. The U.9A scored 36 points, while Union failed to put a single point on the scoresheet. The U.9B team won 25-5. The depth of Volkskool’s talent was shown when their U.11B team thrashed Union 41-5, while the A team in that age group won a much closer match 15-12.
The U.13A was won by Volkskool 19-12. Union supporters were delighted when the U.14A team beat Volkskool 23-17, but their joy was short-lived when both the Volkskool U.15A and U.16A teams won close games by scores of 12-10 and 13-10 respectively.
Union’s second team came off the field victorious, winning with 26 points to Volkskool’s 10. This set the stage for the final encounter of Saturday, the clash of the first XVs.
In the run-up to this, the cheerleaders took to the field amidst great tension and good-natured rivalry, with Hoër Volkskool's cheerleaders arriving in Mustangs and Harleys to the delight of the crowd.
After the tense build-up, the Union boys started brilliantly when Ronan Retief scored an outstanding opportunistic try which was converted by Matt Harpur.
Volkskool then pounced on a loose ball which led to Aubrey Passman scoring a try and Demitri Rogers converting it successfully.
Thanks to Matt Harpur’s accurate boot, Union kept ahead, with him kicking three penalties before half-time. Momentum was swinging in Volkskool’s favour after the break and wave after wave of their attack resulted in Volkskool's Cullen August scoring an unconverted try to bring them within three points.
Luthando Skapu of Union then scored a phenomenal try, outstripping the opposition defenders for 50 metres to score under the posts.
Matt Harpur again converted to make it 23-13. With the game wrapped up and time elapsed, Volkskool ran in a soft try by Devan Nel with the last play of the game to give a final score of victory to Union 23-20.
The match was incredibly physical and all the players from both teams put in their hearts and souls, determined to uphold the pride of their respective schools. One neutral supporter (there were not many!) was overheard to remark that it was a pity that one team had to lose!
The enthusiasm of the spectators at all of the events was very encouraging to the participants, and a great competitive spirit was felt throughout the town.
Both schools would like to thank those who attended for their support and to congratulate the competitors for their sportsmanship, enthusiasm and commitment. Parents and other spectators are also very grateful to the coaches for their endless patience and drive.
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