29 October 2023
Hilton College and Michaelhouse faced off in the pool on Sunday at the St Stithians Invitational Water Polo Tournament, in the playoff for ninth and tenth places.
It was tight, but Hilton, winners over their arch-rivals by four goals last weekend, won by three this time, coming away with a 9-6 victory.
In other big traditional rivalry fixtures, Affies sneaked a 6-5 win over Grey College, while KES swamped Jeppe 15-8.
In mid-morning action, Clifton were on course for seventh place when they led Bishops 8-6 in the fourth chukka, but their finishing went cold as the clock ran down, which allowed the Capetonians to draw level and force a shootout.
Bishops were decisive from the spot, and one save was enough to secure seventh for them.
The hosts, St Stithians, tackled St Andrew’s College for third place and the Eastern Cape side rose to the occasion, recording an 8-5 win to finish the event with only one defeat, which came on Saturday against the highly rated SACS team by a 6-8 margin.
The Final
The aforementioned SACS took on St John’s College in the final, with both teams protecting their unbeaten records in the tournament, with the silverware on the line.
Shortly after the start of the title-decider, the contest was delayed by lightning. Eventually, though, after the players were allowed back into the water, a fitting final unfolded, with SACS edging out St John’s 7-6 for the title.
It has been a sensational past month for the Cape Town school, which previously won the Clifton Water Polo Tournament and the Hussar Grill SACS Water Polo Tournament. Through the course of those three events, only Clifton, with a 4-2 win in the pool stages of the Cape Town tournament, has managed a win against them.
Playoff Results
19th/20th Reddam Helderfontein 8-7 St Benedict’s
17th/18th Pretoria Boys 10-9 Reddam Constantia
15th/16th Jeppe 8-15 KES
13th/14th Grey High 7-9 St Alban’s
11th/12th Grey College 5-6 Affies
9th/10th Hilton College 9-6 Michaelhouse
7th/8th Clifton 8 (1)-8 (3) Bishops
5th/6th St David’s 5-3 Rondebosch
3rd/4th St Andrew’s 8-5 St Stithians
1st/2nd SACS 7-6 St John’s
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