The Brewery AstroTurf will be buzzing, the ground packed, and supporters in full voice when South African College High School (SACS) hosts their rivals, Paul Roos Gimnasium (PRG), on Friday night.
The highly anticipated Edgars Friday Nite Lights clash starts at 19:20 and will be broadcast live on DStv Channel 216.
It will be the third time the sides meet in 2026. Previously, they faced off in April and May.
The first matchup was in the semifinals of the Hibbert Shield in Gqeberha, and SACS won that encounter 3-2 on penalties after the match ended in a frantic 1-1 draw.
In May, the two met in Stellenbosch, at the Maties AstroTurf. There was little to separate them, and the match ended in a 3-3 draw.
That stalemate delivered top-notch hockey and scintillating goals, and it underlined why the clash is one of the marquee fixtures in South African schoolboy hockey.
Luke van der Merwe scored a brace for PRG in the Stellenbosch showdown, while Louis Kriel also struck for the home side. SACS skipper, Litha Kraai, Jan Dijkstra, and Cameron Cordeiro replied for the visitors.
It was a feisty battle, living up to the excitement and standards of past duels between the sides.
Their last meeting at the Brewery was in 2025. SACS won the game 5-2 after being down by two goals at the start of the third chukka.
While PRG has come short against their rivals away from home in recent matches, history will count for very little come pushback time.
Both teams will be eager to get the final term of hockey off to a good start after the mid-year holidays’ inter-provincial tournaments.
SACS had a handful of players who represented Western Province A. They reached the final of the tournament but lost to KZN Coastal A on penalties after letting slip a 4-1 lead in the last four minutes.
Mohlodi Maseko captained the WP team and was named in the SA Schools u18A side that will compete in the u21 Inter-Provincial Tournament in Gqeberha next month.
PRG features six players who secured SA Schools selection. Coach Michael Baker‘s outstanding half-dozen includes Jeandré Cilliers, Logan Lackay, Jeandré van Zyl, Tyler Carter, Seth Paterson, and Caleb Cilliers.
Boland finished fourth at the u18 SASHOC National Week, and those players who represented the province will head to Cape Town confident that they could upend SACS on the Brewery AstroTurf.
In recent years, it has been a case of so close yet so far for PRG, but Friday’s encounter provides them with an opportunity to rewrite history and change that narrative.
While they’ve beaten SACS at the Hibbert Shield a couple of times in recent years, PRG is yet to get one over their rivals in a Western Cape derby, and they’ll be chomping at the bit to change that.
For SACS, it’s about preserving their perfect record at their Brewery stronghold and denying their opponents another big scalp.
Other matches
With the Cape Town International Hockey Tournament on the go, several teams will only resume traditional derbies on the final weekend of July. However, there are other matches to look forward to.
Rondebosch Boys’ High faces Paarl Boys’ High on Saturday morning at 10:00, while Stellenberg takes on Hoërskool Outeniqua at 08:45.
Fairmont High locks horns with Bishops on Friday at 17:15 in a league encounter.
FIXTURES
Friday, 24 July
17:15 – Fairmont High vs Bishops
19:20 – SACS vs Paul Roos
Saturday, 25 July
08:45 – Stellenberg vs Outeniqua
10:00 – Rondebosch Boys’ High vs Paarl Boys’ High
