26 September 2024
On a warm and windy opening day of the Clifton Centenary Water Polo Tournament, SACS and St John’s College lived up to their status as two of the favourites, while the hosts, Clifton, finished Thursday as one of six teams with perfect records of two wins from two starts.
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Coach Paul Martin‘s Clifton team had to battle hard for a win over Durban High School (DHS) in their Pool D opener. It was only late in the contest that they got on top of the stubborn Horseflies and broke open a 5-5 tie, eventually going on to win 8-5.
In their second outing, Clifton was more convincing, handing King Edward VII (KES) a 9-4 defeat. That was a significant scoreline. It matched the score the last time the schools met in March, except on that occasion KES won.
With DHS beating Reddam House Constantia 7-3 and Reddam defeating KES 6-4, Pool D is Clifton’s for the taking when they take on the Western Cape side at 10:15 on Friday morning.
Pool A remains open after both Hilton College and SACS went two for two. Hilton was stretched by Northwood in their opener. It was 8-8 in the last chukka before coach Jason Sileno’s side struck twice to claim a hard-fought 10-8 victory in a thrilling contest.
Hilton had an easier time against Grey College later in the day, recording a 9-2 win.
As handsome as that margin was, it was nowhere near as big as the win that SACS scored over Grey. The defending champions cruised to a 19-2 victory. Then, they followed up with an impressive 13-5 defeat of a gritty Northwood team. Clearly, the defending champions are going to be tough to dethrone.
One of the teams with the ammo to do so would be St John’s College. Playing a high-pressure game, always challenging the player in possession, the Johannesburg boys bulled their way to a 13-2 win over Maritzburg College in their opener. They next beat Selborne College 9-6. St John’s had the game in the bag when they led 5-1, but Selborne staged a valiant fightback.
In the evening, Selborne was beaten 8-3 by Westville Boys’ High. The Griffin, who beat College 13-6 in their opener, are level with St John’s on six points, which means their showdown, at 13:15 on Friday, in the last of the pool games, will decide first place in Pool C. While St John’s would be most people’s favourite to win, Westville is a dark horse challenger for the title.
That leaves Pool B and it is the most interesting of all because nothing is decided yet, with three teams in the running for the top spot.
Kearsney is in pole position, but only just. They outplayed Michaelhouse 13-3 in the first match of the tournament, but they were held to a 5-5 draw by Affies in their second game. However, they won that one 2-1 from the spot. That gives them five points.
Affies are second in the pool, with four points, after pulling off an upset win over Paul Roos Gimnasium (PRG), last year’s runner-up. PRG appeared to be on course for victory in the last game of the day, but Affies took advantage of a late red card to erase a 5-7 deficit and snatch an 8-7 win. That leaves them on four points.
Paul Roos, meanwhile, has three points. They beat Michaelhouse in their opening game, but they won it by the skin of their teeth. ‘House was magnificent in the first chukka, stunning PRG by racing into a 4-0 lead. The Stellenbosch boys, with typical heart, clawed their way back into the contest and levelled it at 4-4. It seemed that they had worked out Michaelhouse.
Not so fast! The Balgowan boys surged again, opening up a 7-4 advantage. Paul Roos didn’t panic, however, and they evened the scores at 8-8 in the last chukka before manufacturing a late winner. It was a case of relief for Paul Roos and bitter disappointment for Michaelhouse. They lost, but they had done themselves proud.
The final Pool positions will be decided early on Friday afternoon. After that, the cross-pool playoffs will commence from 14:45.
RESULTS
Pool A
Northwood 8-10 Hilton
SACS 19-2 Grey College
Hilton 9-2 Grey College
SACS 13-5 Northwood
Pool B
Michaelhouse 3-13 Kearsney
Paul Roos 9-8 Michaelhouse
Affies (1) 5-5 (2) Kearsney
Affies 8-7 Paul Roos
Pool C
Maritzburg College 2-13 St John’s
Westville 13-6 Maritzburg College
Selborne 6-9 St John’s
Selborne 3-8 Westville
Pool D
Clifton 8-5 DHS
KES 4-6 Reddam
Reddam 3-7 DHS
Clifton 9-4 KES
FIXTURES
Friday, 27 September
17 – 08:00 – KES vs DHS (D)
18 – 08:45 – Kearsney vs Paul Roos (B)
19 – 09:30 – Northwood vs Grey College (A)
20 – 10:15 – Clifton vs Reddam (D)
21 – 11:00 – Selborne vs Maritzburg College (C)
22 – 11:45 – Affies vs Michaelhouse (B)
23 – 12:30 – Hilton vs SACS (A)
24 – 13:15 – Westville vs St John’s (C)
25 – 14:45 – 2nd Pool A vs 3rd Pool C
26 – 15:30 – 2nd Pool B vs 3rd Pool D
27 – 16:15 – 3rd Pool A vs 2nd Pool C
28 – 17:00 – 3rd Pool B vs 2nd Pool D
29 – 17:45 – Loser 25 vs 4th Pool D
30 – 18:30 – Loser 26 vs 4th Pool A
Saturday, 28 September
31 – 08:00 – Loser 27 vs 4th Pool B
32 – 08:45 – Loser 28 vs 4th Pool C
33 – 09:30 – 1st Pool A vs Winner 26 (QF 1)
34 – 10:30 – 1st Pool B vs Winner 25 (QF 2)
35 – 11:30 – 1st Pool C vs Winner 28 (QF 3)
36 – 12:30 – 1st Pool D vs Winner 27 (QF 4)
37 – 13:30 – Winner 29 vs Winner 30
38 – 14:15 – Winner 31 vs Winner 32
39 – 15:00 – Loser 29 vs Loser 30
40 – 15:45 – Loser 31 vs Loser 32
41 – 16:30 – Loser 33 vs Loser 35 (PL SF 1)
42 – 17:15 – Loser 34 vs Loser 36 (PL SF 2)
43 – 18:00 – Winner 33 vs Winner 35 (SF 1)
44 – 19:00 – Winner 34 vs Winner 36 (SF 2)
Sunday, 29 September
45 – 07:00 – Loser 40 vs Loser 39 (15th/16th)
46 – 07:45 – Winner 40 vs Winner 39 (13th/14th)
47 – 08:30 – Loser 37 vs Loser 38 (11th/12th)
48 – 09:15 – Winner 37 vs Winner 38 (9th/10th)
49 – 10:00 – Loser 41 vs Loser 42 (7th/8th)
50 – 10:45 – Winner 41 vs Winner 42 (5th/6th)
51 – 11:30 – Loser 44 vs Loser 43 (3rd/4th)
52 – 12:30 – Winner 44 vs Winner 43 (1st/2nd)
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