Clifton wins two KZN Top 10 titles, overall honours to Kearsney
In a repeat of 2024’s results, Clifton College won two out of the three KZN Top 10 water polo titles, but Kearsney College was crowned the overall champion, thanks to their consistency through the u14, u15, and u19 team competitions.
Unlike 2024, Kearsney didn’t lift a single title – they won last year’s 1st team competition – with Hilton College being crowned the u14 champion, and Clifton lifting the u15 and 1st team titles.
Echoing 2024’s overall results, Kearsney edged out Hilton and Clifton by a single point.
u19
The Clifton 1st team put together an outstanding run to win the u19 title at the Clifton Aquatic Centre on Sunday.
They were stretched by Westville Boys’ High, winning 10-9, and they downed Kearsney 7-4 in the final. But not once did they need penalties to win. An opening 8-5 victory over Hilton College set up coach Pierre le Roux‘s charges for their run to the title.
The highly regarded Le Roux took over the school’s water polo programme earlier this year and it was clear then that the players hadn’t enjoyed a full pre-season under his guidance. Now that he has had good time to prepare the 1st team and to institute his influence on the overall Clifton water polo programme, the results are evident, and they’re good.
Kearsney, last year’s winners – they edged out Hilton 8-7 in a thrilling final – hasn’t been quite the dominant team they became late in 2024, when they won the Saints Invitational Water Polo title, but they’ve been very good. Like Clifton, they were pushed to the limit by Westville and also won by only one goal against their neighbours, taking their semi-final showdown 6-5. Westville, meanwhile, handed Hilton a 7-6 loss in a pivotal contest.
Durban High School (DHS) turned in an encouraging showing and made it through to the semi-finals. Their key result was a 7-6 win over Northwood.
1st Team Results
Saturday, 25 October
Westville 18-6 Glenwood
Kearsney 14-8 DHS
Clifton 8-5 Hilton
Northwood 15-4 Thomas More
Westville 8-3 Maritzburg College
DHS 7-4 Michaelhouse
Clifton 25-1 Glenwood
Kearsney 18-3 Thomas More
Hilton 7-4 Maritzburg College
Northwood 7-5 Michaelhouse
Clifton 10-9 Westville
DHS 14-1 Thomas More
Hilton 22-2 Glenwood
Kearsney 9-6 Michaelhouse
DHS 7-6 Northwood
Clifton 10-3 Maritzburg College
Sunday, 26 October
Michaelhouse 11-5 Thomas More
Westville 7-6 Hilton
Kearsney 9-6 Northwood
Maritzburg College 16-4 Glenwood
Clifton 9-5 DHS (Semi)
Kearsney 6-5 Westville (Semi)
Glenwood 9-5 Thomas More (9/10)
Michaelhouse 7-5 Maritzburg College (7/8)
Northwood 6-4 Hilton (5/6)
Westville 7-5 DHS (3/4)
Clifton 7-4 Kearsney (1/2)
u15
Clifton’s u15 team as u14s last year, ran roughshod through their KZN Top 10 competition. They also proved recently that they remain one of the best teams in their age group in the country at Wynberg Boys’ High’s Ian Melliar Cup, which brought together most of South Africa’s leading sides.
While they were beaten in the quarterfinals by Rondebosch Boys’ High, the eventual champions, that defeat was the only one suffered by Clifton, who later beat St David’s Marist Inanda, who had surprised ‘Bosch in their opening game.
Clifton’s u15s, though, found the going far tougher on the weekend than they had found it to be a year earlier in the u14 competition. In their very first outing, they needed penalties to get by Northwood. All credit to Northwood, though. They went on to finish third after a 4-3 win over Kearsney.
Clifton also won by only one against Westville and needed penalties to defeat Hilton in the final, which ended 5-5, before Clifton slotted two penalties to Hilton’s one.
The Durban boys, though, have shown, time after time, an admirable quality to pull off victories in tight contests.
u15 Results
Saturday, 25 October
Michaelhouse 16-2 Glenwood
Clifton (2) 6-6 (0) Northwood
Hilton 14-7 Kearsney
Westville 4-0 Thomas More
Michaelhouse 15-1 DHS
Northwood 9-2 Maritzburg College
Kearsney 13-6 Glenwood
Clifton 15-1 Thomas More
Hilton 18-1 DHS
Westville 4-3 Maritzburg College
Kearsney 9-8 pens Michaelhouse
Northwood 9-2 Thomas More
Hilton 20-3 Glenwood
Clifton 11-1 Maritzburg College
Northwood 4-3 Westville
Kearsney 12-7 DHS
Sunday, 26 October
Maritzburg College 6-5 Thomas More
Hilton 14-5 Michaelhouse
Clifton 4-3 Westville
Glenwood 5-2 DHS
Hilton 8-5 Northwood (Semi)
Clifton 10-5 Kearsney (Semi)
Thoma More 10-2 DHS (9/10)
Maritzburg College 16-3 Glenwood (7/8)
Westville 5-4 Michaelhouse (5/6)
Northwood 4-3 Kearsney (3/4)
Clifton (2) 5-5 (1) Hilton (1/2)
u14
The u14 competition featured three teams that have proved themselves to be among the best in the country in the age group in 2025 – Hilton, Kearsney, and Michaelhouse – and they finished in that order, with Hilton scoring a 6-5 win over Kearsney to prevent the Botha’s Hill boys from winning a fourth tournament in 2025.
In the end, a 4-5 loss by Clifton against Northwood cost Clifton in the overall standings, with Northwood going on to finish sixth and Clifton ending seventh.
Hilton put together a clean run, which included a 6-3 victory over Michaelhouse. Apart from the final, that was as close as any team got to beating them.
u14 Results
Westville 25-0 Glenwood
Kearsney 9-4 Clifton
Hilton 6-3 Michaelhouse
Northwood 7-4 Invitational
Westville 7-4 Maritzburg College
Kearsney 12-5 DHS
Michaelhouse 21-1 Glenwood
Clifton 10-1 Invitational
Hilton 12-0 Maritzburg College
DHS 6-2 Northwood
Michaelhouse 12-2 Westville
Kearsney 12-0 Invitational
Hilton 24-0 Glenwood
DHS 8-5 Clifton
Kearsney 7-2 Northwood
Michaelhouse 10-4 Maritzburg College
DHS 9-2 Invitational
Hilton 12-3 Westville
Northwood 5-4 Clifton
Maritzburg College 16-0 Glenwood
Hilton 12-4 DHS (Semi)
Kearsney 9-4 Michaelhouse (Semi)
Invitational 17-1 Glenwood (9/10)
Clifton 6-4 Maritzburg College (7/8)
Westville 7-3 Northwood (5/6)
Michaelhouse 12-1 DHS (3/4)
Hilton 6-5 Kearsney (1/2)
Overall Ranking
Kearsney 27
Clifton 26
Hilton 26
Westville 20
Northwood 19
Michaelhouse 17
DHS 15
Maritzburg College 10
Glenwood 6
Thomas More 3
Points Allocations
1st – 11
2nd – 10
3rd – 8
4th – 7
5th – 6
6th – 5
7th – 4
8th – 3
9th – 2
10th -1
- Clifton wins two KZN Top 10 titles, overall honours to Kearsney - 2025-10-28
- Hockly hauls Hilton to win against DHS - 2025-10-26
- White bats Northwood to win, Kearsney victorous at Glenwood - 2025-10-26
