A late upset highlights day one of the Clifton Water Polo Tournament
A bright, sunny day, but with south-westerly winds that reached 40 km/h, made for a challenging opening day of the Clifton Water Polo Tournament on Thursday, but there was some fantastic action in the Clifton Aquatic Centre pool. In the end, the favoured teams won their games, until the last match of the day.
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Paul Roos Gimnasium (PRG), one of the favourites and last year’s runner-up, was somewhat fortunate to escape with a 9-8 victory over Michaelhouse in their opener.
The Stellenbosch powerhouse was stunned in the first chukka as ‘House stormed into a 4-0 lead. Undaunted, PRG fought their way back to level the scores at 4-4. They appeared to have the momentum, but Michaelhouse, again, wrestled control of the contest away from them, surging 7-4 in the clear.
Coach Vaughn Marlow was calm and encouraging towards his Paul Roos players as the fourth chukka began, telling them they were doing well and encouraging them to keep doing what they were doing. It worked. Paul Roos clawed their way back to 8-8 and then clinched a win in the last 30 seconds.
A late red card in the day’s last clash, between PRG and Affies, however, cost the Bolanders as the Pretoria side overcame a 5-7 deficit to snatch an 8-7 victory. That result leaves Pool B as the toughest to call on day two, although Kearsney College has the inside line to first place.
Their loss to Paul Roos must have stung Michaelhouse, but they should take great heart from that performance. It was light years better than what they produced in the tournament’s first game against Kearsney, which the Botha’s Hill boys won 13-3.
Later in the day, Kearsney, playing without KZN water polo player and SA swimmer, Luca Sandri, shared a tense 5-5 draw with Affies. That sent the tie to a penalty shootout and goalkeeper Phiwayinkosi Hadebe firmly rejected Affies’ second attempt to help his side to a 2-1 win from the spot. On Saturday, Kearsney will welcome Sandri back from a swimming competition, which will boost their campaign.
Northwood and Hilton College shared a cracking game, going blow for blow until it was 8-8. Two late goals from Hilton, however, lifted coach Jason Sileno‘s men to a hard-fought victory.
One of the highlights of the contest was the battle between the Knights‘ SA u18 star, Matt Lortan, and Hilton’s KZN standout Meyer Malherbe. Lortan impressed with his speed and quick hands, getting shots off in the blink of an eye, while Malherbe, the Hilton captain, impressed with his power and composure.
Hilton followed up with a 9-2 win over Grey College, who had two tough matches on the opening day, with the other, against SACS, ending in a big 19-2 victory for the Cape Town school.
They also beat Northwood 13-5, which was an outstanding result, and it has marked SACS as one of the teams to beat. The defending champions were assured and calm and they finished well.
If they’re to go all the way, though, they’ll need to get past St John’s College. The Johannesburg boys looked very good on the opening day. They cruised to a 13-2 win over Maritzburg College and then beat Selborne College 9-6.
To Selborne’s credit, they found themselves 5-1 down but fought back to emerge from the contest with their honour intact. St John’s impressed with their trademark defensive pressure and any team wanting to beat them will have to deal with that challenge.
Unfortunately for Selborne, they ran into Westville Boys’ High in their second outing and the KZN side played up to their considerable potential to score a convincing 8-3 win. In their first match, the Griffin had won 13-6 against Maritzburg College.
The hosts, Clifton College, were given a good workout by Durban High School (DHS) in their opener, with the teams level-pegging before Clifton found their rhythm and scored the last three goals to secure an 8-5 win.
In the early evening, Clifton took on King Edward VII (KES), who had handed Clifton a 9-4 defeat at the Standard Bank King Edward VII Water Polo Tournament in March. This time, Clifton exacted revenge, ironically by a 9-4 margin.
DHS, meanwhile, showed they’re a dangerous team by chalking up a 7-3 win over Reddam House Constantia. The Cape school had looked good in a 6-4 victory over KES first time out.
Early on Friday morning, a crucial game in Pool B has Kearsney taking on Paul Roos. If Kearsney wins, first place belongs to them.
Just after midday, in Pool A, the clash of Hilton College and SACS will decide who wins Pool A, while the last of the pool games, which follows at 13:15, will pit Westville Boys’ High against St John’s with first place in Pool C up for grabs.
Pool D appears to be Clifton’s for the taking as they’re the only team with a clean record after Friday’s play. They tackle Reddam House Constantia at 10:15, with a chance to wrap up the top spot.
On Friday, from 14:45, the cross-pool playoffs begin.
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
