Pearson shine at nationals

PEARSON enjoyed a fine run in a national under-16 boys' hockey tournament in Bloemfontein at the weekend, but eventually had to settle for third place.

The Summerstrand school won a regional competition to qualify to represent the Eastern Cape at the South African Schools Sport Championships. The top team from each province qualified.

Pearson had an interesting start when their first match was reduced to one half after their opponents arrived late. However, they cruised easily to a 14-0 victory over Limpopo.

In the next game against Mpumalanga's Ermelo High, the Eastern Cape side continued to shine and finished with a 2-0 victory.

Their third game was against Grey College, who are always a tough side.

But Pearson were mentally prepared for their encounter at the University of Free State astro and a scintillating display of flowing team hockey, combined with some top-notch individual skills, saw them ease to a comfortable 4-0 win.

Jeppe from Gauteng put a halt to their progress as they edged home 1-0 in a tight encounter. This meant Pearson again played Ermelo and after a hard game of fast hockey, the PE lads won 1-0.

PEARSON'S cricket teams enjoyed a successful day on Saturday when they took on Nico Malan.

The first team travelled to Humansdorp for their 50-over match, with Pearson controlling things from the start as openers Siphe Vusani and Luntu Tofile put on 40.

Jarrod Froneman and Josh Dodd, who each made 39, supported Vusani well and Pearson were in the driving seat at 148/2. But Nico Malan fought back to dismiss the visitors for 193.

Vusani top-scored with 53.

After lunch, Pearson picked up regular wickets to dismiss Nico Malan for 135, giving the visitors a 58-run win.

Vusani (2/23) also excelled with the ball and was well supported by Josh Dodd (2/24) and Kyle Jacobs (2/14).

Another highlight of the day came from Pearson U14A batsman Krestan Spencer, who scored a brilliant unbeaten 104 in his team's total of 229/1 in 35 overs.

Nico Malan scored 65.