28 October 2023
Day three of the St Stithians Invitational began bright and early with a KZN classic between Clifton College and Hilton College.
Clifton had suffered two defeats on the opening two days and Hilton only one, but on Saturday the Durban school produced an outstanding showing to run out convincing 5-2 winners over Hilton.
Their defending, especially, was superb and a very good Hilton team struggled to stretch it enough to create meaningful goal-scoring chances.
Michaelhouse played in the mid-morning, but they were well beaten by St Stithians, with the hosts roaring to a 17-7 victory.
Clifton’s reward for their win over Hilton was a midday match against SACS, 2023’s top team, and a side that remains unbeaten at the Saints Invitational. Coach Paul Martins’ charges gave a good account of themselves, but the Capetonians pulled off a hard-fought 7-3 victory.
Hilton and Michaelhouse were both up at 14:30, and both responded with strong performances. Hilton easily accounted for Grey College, winning 11-2, while Michaelhouse cruised to a 10-4 win over an Affies outfit that had lost only once in Pool B before suffering a narrow 8-9 loss to St David’s earlier in the day.
Clifton started off the day’s action and they finished it, too, taking on St David’s for a second time. They had beaten the Johannesburg school 5-2 in Pool A action. Unfortunately, for the Durban boys, they went down 6-8 in the rematch.
They’ll face Bishops in the 7th/8th playoff, as a result of that defeat.
Finalists
SACS, as mentioned earlier, saw off Clifton and kept their sparkling record intact with a tough 8-6 victory over the previously unbeaten St Andrew’s College.
Matching them was St John’s College, the winners of the Clifton Water Polo Tournament in 2022. They scraped by Bishops 8-7 and then had another tough outing, holding on for a 7-5 win over St Stithians.
Those results have put SACS and St John’s into the title-decider on Sunday at 13:40.
The hosts and St Andrew’s meet at 10:20 for third and fourth. At the same time, the 5th/6th and 7th/8th playoffs take place, with St David’s meeting Rondebosch for fifth, and Clifton taking on Bishops for seventh.
Before that, the 9th/10th playoff will carry a surprising amount of importance. That’s because it has brought together two great rivals, Hilton College and Michaelhouse.
Hilton won 14-10 last weekend when they met, but this weekend Michaelhouse appears to have stepped up its game a notch. While House beat Affies on Saturday, it was Affies who defeated Hilton in Pool B play. Frankly, though, that counts for nothing, especially in a traditional rivalry. It’s anyone’s game.
A number of other schools, who are also traditional rivals, will face one another on Sunday: Jeppe vs KES and Grey College vs Affies.
RESULTS
PO 5-12 – Clifton 5-2 Hilton College
PO 5-12 – Affies 8-9 St David’s
PO 5-12 – Bishops 16-4 Grey College
PO 5-12 – St Stithians 17-7 Michaelhouse
PO 13-20 – Reddam Helderfontein 5-8 Grey High
PO 13-20 – St Alban’s 11-4 St Benedict’s
PO 13-20 – Pretoria Boys 9-11 Jeppe
PO 13-20 – KES 11-6 Reddam Constantia
QF – St John’s 8-7 Bishops
QF – St Stithians 12-10 Rondebosch
QF: Clifton 3-7 SACS
QF: St Andrew’s 8-5 St David’s
PO 17-20 – Reddam Helderfontein 4-5 Pretoria Boys
PO 17-20 – St Benedict’s 3-4 Reddam Constantia
PO 9-12 – Grey College 2-11 Hilton College
PO 9-12 – Michaelhouse 10-4 Affies
PO 13-16 – Jeppe 7-10 Grey High
SF – St Stithians 5-7 St John’s
PO 13-16 – St Alban’s 10-8 KES
SF – St Andrew’s 6-8 SACS
PO 5-8 – Rondebosch 12-7 Bishops
PO 5-8 – St David’s 8-6 Clifton
Sunday, 29 October 2023
07:00 (G63) 19th/20th – Olympic South, Reddam Helderfontein vs St Benedict’s
07:00 (G64) 17th/18th – Olympic North, Pretoria Boys vs Reddam Constantia
07:00 (G65) 15th/16th – Polo Pool, Jeppe vs KES
08:40 (G66) 13th/14th – Olympic South, Grey High vs St Alban’s
08:40 (G67) 11th/12th – Olympic North, Grey College vs Affies
08:40 (G68) 9th/10th – Polo Pool, Hilton College vs Michaelhouse
10:20 (G69) 7th/8th – Olympic South, Clifton vs Bishops
10:20 (G70) 5th/6th – Olympic North, Saint David’s vs Rondebosch
10:20 (G71) 3rd/4th – Polo Pool, St Andrew’s vs St Stithians
13:40 (G72) 1st/2nd – Polo Polo, SACS vs St John’s
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