DAY 2| St Johns’s dominance continues in Makhanda
The second day of the annual SAC Shield, hosted by St Andrew’s College in Makhanda, produced more exhilarating action in the pool, along with championship-defining performances ahead of the looming quarterfinals.
One of the in-form teams at the tournament, St John’s College, continued on their prolific run and, although tested, remained unbeaten on the day.
The side from Johannesburg got one over last year’s champions, Paul Roos, beating them 10-8 early in the morning in a tightly contested affair. Soon after that, they repeated that scoreline against Michaelhouse, which took them to five wins in five games after victories against the hosts, Rondebosch Boys’ High, and Westville, which came only after a penalty shootout, on day one.
As a result, St John’s finished atop Pool B and qualified for the quarterfinals alongside Rondebosch Boys’ High, Westville, and Paul Roos.
St Andrew’s and Michaelhouse will sit out this year’s title race.
Final four spots in Pool A, which has one more team that Pool B, are still up for grabs, with three fixtures still to be played on Saturday morning.
As things stand, Bishops top the Pool A table with 10 points, with SACS trailing them by two.
SACS bounced back nicely on day two, playing with flair to score a combined 30 goals in their two matches against a winless Grey High and St Stithians College respectively. They take on Clifton College at 07:00 on Saturday in their last Pool A game.
Bishops will lock up first place if they defeat Grey High on day three.
The knock-out stages will resume right after those last Pool A encounters when the seventh-place team from Pool A tackles the team that is sixth in Pool B.
Results: Day Two
Pool A
St Stithians 8-6 Hilton College
Selborne College 13-8 Clifton College
SACS 17-7 Grey High
Bishops 9 (2)- 9(1) Selborne College
St Stithians 4-7 Clifton
Selborne 8-11 Hilton
Clifton 5-7 Bishops
SACS 13-9 St Stithians
Bishops 12-10 Hilton
Pool B
St John’s 10-8 Paul Roos
Rondebosch Boys 8-4 St Andrews
Westville 8-4 Michaelhouse
Rondebosch 11-8 Paul Roos
Westville 8-5 St Andrews
St John’s 10-8 Michaelhouse
Day 3 fixtures
Saturday, 27 January, @ St Andrew’s College
07:00– (34) Clifton vs SACS; 07:45 – (35) Grey High vs Bishops; 08:30 – (36) Selborne vs St Stithians; 09:15 – (37) 7th Pool A vs 6th Pool B (qualifier); 10:00 – (38) 1st Pool A vs 4th Pool B (quarterfinal 1); 10:50 – (39) 2nd Pool A vs 3rd Pool B (2nd quarterfinal); 11:40 – (40) 3rd Pool A vs 2nd Pool B (3rd quarterfinal); 12:30 – (41) 4th Pool A vs 1st Pool B (quarterfinal 4); 13:20 – (42) 5th Pool A vs Winner 37 (Plate semi-final); 14:10 – (43) 6th Pool A vs 5th Pool B (Plate semi-final); 15:00 – (44) Loser 38 vs Loser 40 (5th-8th); 15:50 – (45) Loser 30 vs Loser 41 (5th-8th); 16:40 – (46) Winner 38 vs Winner 40 (Semi-final 1); 17:30 – (47) Winner 39 vs Winner 41 (Semi-final 2).
