SuperSport Schools Plus

Four teams remain unbeaten after day two of the Saints Invitational

By Avuyile Sawula , in Water Sports | Featured Water Sports | News , at 2024-10-25 Tags: , , , , , , ,

Photo: Debbi Adcock PhotographyThe St Stithians College Olympic North and South swimming pools played host to the second day of the highly competitive St Stithians College Invitational Water Polo Tournament on Friday.

After a sizzling opening day, during which the defending champions in the boys’ section, South African College High School (SACS) suffered a 6-7 defeat to Hilton College, day two threatened more upsets and it duly delivered.

Heading into the day’s action, Bishops Diocesan College, Rondebosch Boys’ High, St David’s Marist Inanda, and Kearsney College were all unbeaten.

Those four sides maintained their clean records on Friday, adding another two wins to their records to end the round-robin stage sitting atop their respective groups.

In Group A, Rondebosch, coached by Jared Wingate-Pearse, claimed victories against two Eastern Cape schools, sneaking by St Andrew’s College 10-9, before scoring a more convincing 8-2 win over Grey High School.

St Andrew’s, who won the Woodridge Stayers tournament recently, finished the day in second place after winning three of their four matches. They were followed by Durban High School (DHS), Grey High, and Affies, with the latter two remaining winless after they shared a 7-7 draw.

Bishops was dominant in Group B and on Friday continued the impressive form they showed on day one. They rolled to a 16-5 win over King Edward VII 16-5 (KES) before Matt Fenn netted five times against St John’s College to lead his team to an outstanding 9-6 win over a strong side. St John’s star, Nicholas Searle, netted five of his team’s six goals.

Heading into the tournament, Group C had been dubbed the “group of death” with three top-quality teams – Hilton, Kearsney, and SACS – set to face each other.

It has been the KwaZulu-Natal teams that have stepped up to the plate. Kearsney, coached by Nick Rodda, notched up four notable wins, and on day two defeated the defending champions, SACS, 10-8 in the final match of the day.

Hilton also cemented their spot in the play-offs with wins against Pretoria Boys High and Jeppe High School for Boys, which followed victory over SACS on Thursday and a loss to Kearsney. Pretoria Boys High remains winless, while Jeppe has picked up just one win so far in the tournament, although they were very competitive in losses against the group’s three favoured teams.

Photo: Photo: Debbi Adcock Photography
Photo: Debbi Adcock Photography

Group D, while maybe not one that immediately captured the imagination, has delivered some fine play in the pool, with St David’s Marist Inanda catching the eye.

They surprised some by beating St Stithians 5-3 in the group’s key clash on day two, which kept their record at a perfect four from four. They also won against Reddam House Constantia on Friday.

Grey College, meanwhile, picked up their first victory of the tournament after edging a struggling St Alban’s team 6-4.

The group matches are done and dusted and the top teams will enter day three pursuing a place in the semi-finals.

SACS, the three-time defending champions, despite suffering two defeats in their group, are not out of the running. They can still secure a quarterfinal berth if they beat Saints in a cross-pool playoff. The top four teams will await other results to see who will join them in the quarterfinals.

Day three’s action will be LIVE on SuperSport Schools.

Boys | Day 2 Results

Group A

Durban High School 6-5 Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool
Rondebosch Boys’ High 8-2 Grey High School
St Andrew’s College 6-4 Durban High School
Rondebosch Boys’ High 10-9 St Andrew’s College
Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool 7-7 Grey High School.

Group B

Bishops Diocesan College 16-5 King Edward VII
St John’s College 12-4 Pearson High School
Michaelhouse 8-3 Pearson High School
King Edward VII 10-8 Michaelhouse
Bishops Diocesan College 9-6 St John’s College

Group C

Hilton College 12-5 Pretoria Boys High
Kearsney College 11-8 Jeppe High School for Boys
South African College High School (SACS) 12-4 Pretoria Boys High
Hilton 10-8 Jeppe High School for Boys
South African College High School (SACS) 8-10 Kearsney College

Group D

Reddam House Constantia 15-4 Grey College
St Stithians College 9-4 St Alban’s College
St David’s Marist Inanda 8-6 Reddam House Constantia
Grey College 6-4 St Alban’s College
St Stithians College 3-5 St David’s Marist Inanda

Avuyile Sawula
error: Sorry ol' chap, those shenanigans are not permissible.