There was nothing to separate South African College High School (SACS) and Paul Roos Gimnasium (PRG) as the sides played to a 2-2 draw in Cape Town on Friday night.
The highly anticipated Edgars Friday Nite Lights clash delivered fireworks and rich entertainment at the Brewery Astroturf in Newlands.
It was the third meeting between the rivals in 2026, following clashes in April and May. Those previous encounters ended in draws, but SACS won the Hibbert Shield semifinal on penalties on their way to successfully defending the title.
In their last meeting in Stellenbosch, it went down to the wire, and the sides shared an electric 3-3 draw.
The clash at Newlands on Friday evening created an opportunity for the Western Cape powerhouses to claim the season’s bragging rights and to stake a claim to being the best team in the country.
It was a special occasion for Matthew Lassen, who played his 100th game for SACS, becoming only the second player to reach that milestone after his captain and friend, Litha Kraai.
Paul Roos, meanwhile, was without their captain, Seth Paterson, and that presented an opportunity for their young guns to step up.
The hosts started like a house on fire, but it was PRG who manufactured the first scoring opportunity after Conrad Gouws won his side a short corner against the run of play.
Luke van der Merwe’s attempt was saved by Ethan October, and Litha Kraai did enough to stop the rebound shot.
After that, the tempo of the game settled down, only for a cracking goal to get the scoreboard moving two minutes from the end of the chukka. Unsurprisingly, it came from Kraai.
He received the ball just outside PRG’s 23-metre line, dragged four defenders with him, entered the circle, and pulled off a blistering rising shot to open the scoring.
PRG responded almost immediately, with Louis Kriel beating October in the SACS goal with a cleanly-struck tomahawk shot.
Early in the second chukka, the visitors struck again after Caleb Cilliers found space inside the circle and pulled off a similar backhand shot to make it 2-1.
It was end-to-end stuff thereafter, and Kraai produced another moment of brilliance for his side to level the scores.
While neither side was able to add to their tallies, the contest continued to deliver outstanding action and excitement, with both teams creating goal-scoring opportunities.
The goalkeepers, Ethan October for SACS and Jeandré Cilliers for Paul Roos, delivered immense performances, pulling off some incredible saves to keep the scores level.
When the final whistle blew, the teams had to again settle for an enthralling draw.
“It was really special,” PRG head coach Michael Baker said after the game. “It was the last time Litha Kraai was playing against Paul Roos. I could be wrong, but he has played us 12 times, and, again, he was one of the highlights.
“With us missing Seth, our captain, it was a great opportunity for other boys to step up, and they really did.
“I’m really proud of that performance. It was a great advert for everything we have worked on this year.
“This really is one of my favourite fixtures. It is such a great advert for schoolboy hockey, and tonight was once again another hockey spectacle.”
Paul Roos will next shift their attention to a showdown with Parel Vallei, while SACS takes on Rondebosch Boys’ High.
Result
SACS 2-2 Paul Roos
