Clean sweep for Clarendon at Centennial Stayers Water Polo tournament
It was a glorious outing for Clarendon Girls High School as both their u15 and the first team claimed top honours in this year’s Centennial Stayers Water Polo Tournament in East London on Sunday.
The two teams came into the tournament as obvious favourites but were paired against some of the top co-ed schools in the Eastern Cape region.
Both sides defeated Diocesan School for Girls (DSG), with the junior team claiming an emphatic (5-0) win, while the senior side was made to work for their victory but eventually claimed the win (6-5).
Other impressive performances in the pool came from Merrifield College, with their junior side defeating Collegiate (6-5) on the final day. Whereas Kingswood College got the better of Pearson High School in the u18 section, winning (7-5) to finish within the top overall standings.
Onset dominance propels the junior team:
The u15 side from Clarendon Girls were dominant from their outing in the pool on Friday. The home side was drawn in Pool A, alongside Diocesan Girls School, Merrifield, Stirling, and Alex Road.
In their opening clash, the side scored a whopping 15 goals and kept a clean sheet against City rivals, Stirling High School.
They grew in confidence, and by the time they faced, Merrifield had already set their eyes on finishing at the top of their pool and breezing to the play-off stages.
To complete their group stage domination, they further thumped Merrifield (11-2) before a resounding (16-1) win against Alex Road meant the home side would indeed finish the pool stages on top.
The hosts breezed past Merrifield in the play-offs on day two, and the (10-3) win meant they would face DSG, who also had a pretty impressive tournament and journey to the final.
The final was hard fought, just like many would’ve expected it to be.
There was nothing to separate the two sides in the first chukka with both keepers having to make several saves to keep their teams in the match.
The hosts, however, came back fired up in the second chukka, scoring two goals before another goal in the third chukka saw them lead (3-0) with the final chukka to play.
Three goals quickly turned to five for the home side, as their attack remained brutal in front of goal, converting the opportunities created. DSG, after the first chukka never looked like threatening the goal, and they succumbed to a (5-0) defeat.
Seniors grind it out:
Unlike their junior side, the Clarendon Girls’ first team had a rather challenging journey to glory.
In the final, the hosts were tied at (5-5) with DSG in the final quarter, and a moment of brilliance with 12 seconds left from Clarendon’s striker sealed the victory for the side, much to the satisfaction of the home crowd.
Like the final, most of Clarendon’s matches were ones where the team had to grind out the victories.
In their first pool match against DSG, they won (8-6), also scoring late. They were also given a tough time by Pearson High from Gqeberha, who almost caused an upset, but the home side pulled off a (6-4) win.
Their most dominant match on day one was against Woodridge College.
They scored 16 goals, while only conceding three, a confidence booster needed going into the second day of action.
Despite losing against a strong Collegiate side on day two, the hosts still made their way to the final where they replicated the performance from their u15 side to make it a clean sweep for Clarendon.
Results:
Day 1:
u15
Merrifield 11, Stirling 2; Rhenish 10, Clarendon B 1; Hudson 5, Woodridge 2; Clarendon A 15, Stirling 0; Collegiate 8, Rhenish 2; DSG 6, Merrifield 5; Hudson 7, Clarendon B 1; Collegiate 14, Woodridge 1; DSG 13, Alex Road 1; Hudson 1, Rhenish 7; Stirling 10, Alex Road 2; Clarendon A 11, Merrifield 2; Clarendon B 3, Woodridge 4; DGS 5, Stirling 1; Merrifield 12, Alex Road 2; Collegiate 11, Clarendon B 1; Clarendon A 5, DSG 2; Rhenish 11, Woodridge 0; Hudson 2, Collegiate 6; Clarendon A 16, Alex Road 1.
u18:
Stirling 6, Hudson Park 5; Clarendon 17, Merrifield 2; Pearson 6, Woodridge 1; Stirling 9, Glenwood House 3; Collegiate 13, Hudson 5; Clarendon 8, DSG 6; Kingswood 11, Glenwood House 0; Pearson 10, Merrifield 3; Collegiate 4, Stirling 3; Kingswood College 9, Hudson 3; DSG 19, Merrifield 2; Kingswood a college 11, Stirling 5; Woodridge 8, Merrifield 3; Collegiate 8, Glenwood House 2; Clarendon 6, Pearson 4; DSG 10, Woodridge 0; Hudson 4, Glenwood house 3; Clarendon 16, Woodridge 3.
Day 2:
u15:
DSG 9, Hudson 1; Merrifield 10, Rhenish 4; Stirling 8, Clarendon B 0; Woodridge 4, Alex Road 3; Clarendon A 10, Merrifield 3; DSG 7, Collegiate 6; Hudson 7, Stirling 2; Rhenish 8, Woodridge 1.
u18:
Kingswood 6, Collegiate 0; DSG 5, Pearson 1; Pearson 6, Collegiate 2; DSG 7, Stirling 3; Hudson 1, Merrifield 1; Glenwood House 5, Woodridge 4; DSG 7, Kingswood 2; Pearson 5, Clarendon 2; Collegiate 3, Hudson 2; Stirling 9, Glenwood House 1.
Day 3:
u15:
Alex Road 5, Clarendon B 3; Stirling 6, Woodridge 1; Rhenish 5, Hudson 1; Merrifield 6, Collegiate 5; Clarendon 5, DSG 0.
u18
Woodridge 5, Merrifield 2; Hudson 8, Glenwood House 1; Collegiate 8, Stirling 6; Kingswood 7, Pearson 5; Clarendon 6, DSG 5.
Final standings:
u15:
Clarendon Girls High School A, DSG, Merrifield, Collegiate, Rhenish, Hudson, Stirling, Woodridge, Alex Road, Clarendon B.
u18:
Clarendon Girls High School, DSG, Kingswood, Pearson, Collegiate, Stirling, Hudson, Glenwood House, Woodridge, Merrifield.
