12 March 2023
An encouraging season for Michaelhouse’s 1st water polo team saw the side finishing strongly, picking up eight wins in their last nine outings and shining in the Reef Cup tournament at Saint Stithian’s College in Johannesburg at the beginning of March.
It was a fantastic turnaround after a murders’ row of games at the Saint Andrew’s College Shield, played against many of South Africa’s leading teams, played a big role in ‘House’s record reading only two wins from their first 11 outings. By the end of the season, Michaelhouse had won 10 and lost 10, with a positive goal difference of 39.
Locally, their most impressive win was an 11-7 success against a good Northwood side.
Reef Cup
In the Reef Cup, which brought Michaelhouse’s season to an end, the boys in red and white opened their pool play with a 26-0 thrashing of Crawford College Lonehill. They followed that up with an 18-2 win over Saint Peter’s College to put themselves in a strong position after the first day of action.
Reddam House Umhlanga were, then, brushed aside 13-1 before a 10-5 win over Saint Alban’s College wrapped up an unbeaten run through the pool stage of the competition for Michaelhouse.
Quarterfinals
Next, they tackled Durban High School in the quarterfinals. After a hard-fought contest, the Balgowan boys moved on to the semi-finals, thanks to a 10-5 victory.
Their run of success was finally brought to an end by a polished Saint David’s Marist Inanda team, who powered their way to a 13-5 win.
That left Michaelhouse with another clash against Saint Alban’s College to determine third and fourth places. The second time around, ‘House did an even better job than their first meeting with the Pretoria school in the pool phase, racing away to a decisive 12-3 victory.
Podium place
It was a very significant win, marking the first time yet that Michaelhouse has finished on the podium at a water polo tournament. And it was further enhanced by the inclusion of Oliver Walters and Sean Erasmus in the tournament’s All-Star team, which was selected by the coaches of the competing schools.
An outstanding achievement for the school and a positive statement, both about the state of the sport at ‘House, and about the quality of the game and the high standard of competition among KwaZulu-Natal’s top schools.
These exciting results will ensure that when the new season finally rolls around, Michaelhouse, deservedly, will tackle it with high confidence and enthusiasm.
Leave a Reply