Hilton to take on St John’s in Clifton Water Polo Tournament final
Hilton College will face St John’s College on Sunday at the Clifton Aquatic Centre, in Durban, for the Clifton Water Polo Tournament title.
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Hilton won comfortably against Kearsney College to secure their place in the title game, while St John’s was pushed all the way by a feisty, young Clifton side.
Matches between Hilton and Kearsney in recent times have been tight, back-and-forth affairs, but, on this occasion, Hilton caught Kearsney cold in the first chukka.
Coach Paul Martin‘s boys came out hot and powered their way into a 6-2 lead after the opening quarter. That was, to a large degree, the difference in the game.
Their dangerman, Tristan Uys, led the way, scoring three times, while Sebastian Laudenberg opened the scoring, and Andrew Schnell and Mitchel Garreau also got onto the scoresheet in a blistering start.
Credit to Kearsney, they slowed Hilton in the second chukka, but it was 8-3 at the break in Hilton’s favour.
The action in the second half replicated the second chukka, with goals drying up in comparison to the frenetic first quarter. In the end, though, Hilton recorded a convincing 12-6 win.
In the second semi-final, St John’s, in typical fashion, employed a suffocating press to put Clifton under early pressure. They hit the right upright, but Clifton headed up the pool and Kyle Human opened the scoring with a rocket from long range. He then made it 2-0 with a five-metre penalty.
St John’s, with smart ball movement, pulled one back through Simon Mussett after a superb assist from Christopher Chapman. Mussett then levelled with a powerful shot from directly in front of the Clifton goal box.
Before the chukka was out, St John’s hit the front for the first time, with Chapman beating Caleb Malumbete in the home team’s goal.
It was 3-2 at the end of the quarter and the Johannesburg side never again ceded the lead, although Clifton’s Jake Frederic took advantage of a man-up situation to fire home from close range to level the scores.
St John’s edged ahead towards the end of the quarter when a shot from Rupert Schonborn deflected off a defender and into the back of the net to make it 4-3 at halftime.
Early in the second half, the teams swopped goals, but St John’s then went two goals clear when Nicholas Searle beat Izah Roux, who had taken over in goal from Caleb Malumbete, from a five-metre penalty.
Before the end of the chukka, both sides had struck again. It was 7-5 to St John’s.
With six minutes remaining, the hosts had a couple of chances to reduce the deficit but didn’t capitalise. Then, when St John’s won a penalty, Searle had an opportunity to put his team three goals ahead, but Roux pulled off a spectacular stop.
Then, it was Clifton’s turn at the penalty spot after Jamie Nicolau the five-metre shot, and Nicolau himself fired home to make it 7-6 to St John’s.
When Clifton won a kick-out, coach Pierre le Roux immediately called a timeout to set up a move that could tie the game. The Durban side moved the ball well, but a redirected shot struck the St John’s crossbar.
The Joburg boys quickly headed up the pool and opened up Clifton, but a shot from close range was narrowly wide of the mark.
Then, with a minute left, St John’s forced a turnover. Clifton was caught out and conceded a penalty. This time, it was Christopher Chapman who took the shot, and he sneaked it under the outstretched right arm of Izah Roux.
Less than a minute remained, and St John’s saw it out to qualify for the final for a second year in succession, defeating Clifton 8-6.
The four winners of their pools – Clifton, Kearsney, St John’s, and Hilton College – stated their cases as being the four best teams at the Clifton Water Polo Tournament by producing dominant and decisive victories in the quarterfinals.
In the first quarterfinal, Hilton faced some pressure from Reddam House Constantia, but every time the Capetonians threatened to make a game of it, Hilton quickly struck, with Tristan Uys and Mitchel Garreau leading their outstanding offence. In the end, they won 13-7.
Kearsney took on Selborne College in the second quarterfinal and lifted their game to completely defuse the East Londoners’ challenge. It was late in the second chukka when Selborne scored their first goal. By then, though, Kearsney led 6-1. They went on to an emphatic 13-4 victory.
Up against Michaelhouse in the last eight, St John’s showed off their pedigree by handling a tricky opponent with aplomb to come away with a 12-8 win.
Then, in the last of the quarters, it was Clifton, the side with the best defensive record thus far in the tournament, up against the defending champions, SACS. The Cape Town school had gone down to Hilton and Michaelhouse in Pool D play, but they looked good in a 12-6 win over Paul Roos Gimnasium, which secured them their spot in the last eight.
The young Clifton side had SACS’s measure, however, and were once again strong on defence. They were also good on attack and scored a convincing 11-6 win.
RESULTS
Quarterfinals
Hilton 13-7 Reddam House Constantia
St John’s 12-8 Michaelhouse
Kearsney 13-4 Selborne
Clifton 11-6 SACS
Playoffs
Westville 8-6 Paul Roos
DHS 12-11 Affies
Maritzburg College 13-11 KES
Northwood 22-1 Grey College
Plate semi-finals
SACS 14-11 Michaelhouse
Selborne 8-6 Reddam
Cup semi-finals
Hilton 12-6 Kearsney
St John’s 8-6 Clifton
FIXTURES
Sunday, 28 September
Game 45 – 07:00 – 15/16 – Grey College vs KES
Game 46 – 07:50 – 13/14 – Northwood vs Maritzburg College
Game 47 – 08:40 – 11/12 – Paul Roos vs Affies
Game 48 – 09:30 – 9/10 – Westville vs DHS
Game 49 – 10:20 – 7/8 – Reddam vs Michaelhouse
Game 50 – 11:10 – 5/6 – Selborne vs SACS
Game 51 – 12:00 – 3/4 – Clifton vs Kearsney
Game 52 – 13:00 – 1/2 – Hilton vs St John’s
14:00 – Prize Giving
