Hudson Park and Wynberg Boys’ High crowned Woodridge Stayers champs
After four days of highly competitive water polo, Hudson Park High and Wynberg Boys’ High were crowned girls’ and boys’ champions of the Woodridge Stayers Water Polo Tournament at Thornhill, on Sunday.
Hudson Park, in their maiden appearance, defeated Glenwood House 9-5 in the girls’ final, while Wynberg Boys’ High edged out Selborne College 4-3 to win the tournament for the first time.
Relive the action on SuperSport Schools.
The Breakdown
Girls’ Section
It was a special campaign for the Eagles, beginning with their domination of their group stage opponents. Coached by the charismatic David Carter, Hudson Park ripped through Pool A, defeating last year’s champions, DSG Makhanda, Collegiate Girls’ High, Oakhill, Merrifield College, and Woodridge College.
In the quarterfinals, they brushed aside Stirling High 7-4 before beating Kingswood College by the same scoreline in the semifinals.
In the final, they came up against an unpredictable Glenwood House side.
The girls from George had edged out Clarendon High School for Girls 2-0 in a penalty shootout after their semi-final had ended level at 5-5.
The Final
Glenwood House made a bright start and scored two early goals through Mia Gibson and the dangerous Tatum Dace.
With three minutes remaining in the first chukka, Hudson responded captain fantastic, Kara Batting, netted an incredible lob goal.
During the second chukka, coach Carter’s side came into their own and began to boss proceedings.
Kayden Glasgow quickly scored a brace to give the East London school the lead for the first time before another strike by Batting made it 4-2 in favour of Hudson Park at the halfway point.
“The ‘Batting” show continued in the third chukka, with the skipper extending her side’s lead with another two goals before Tyler-Jade Roebert joined in on the scoring action to make it seven.
Glenwood House closed the gap with two of their own back through Nellie Hansson and Dace. Heading into the final chukka, it was 7-4 to Hudson Park.
A Jessica Whitehead strike for Glenwood House reduced the gap to only two goals in the final chukka, but Glasgow soon replied for Hudson Park, netting twice to complete her hat-trick, as the East London girls went on to a historic 9-5 victory.
Boys’ Section
The journey to the final for both Wynberg and Selborne was relatively smooth. Both were drawn in Pool B, but it was Selborne who emerged from group stage games unbeaten.
They defeated Grey High‘s second-stringers, Pearson High and Wynberg, with the match against the Cape Town school ending 4-3 in Selborne’s favour.
That resulted in those two sides finishing in first and second place, respectively, in Pool B, before heading into the playoffs.
Wynberg first had to tackle Kingswood College in a cross-pool fixture to progress to the quarterfinals. Coach Kwakhona Ngwanya‘s side dismantled the Makhanda school 20-0 before edging the 2024 winners, St Andrew’s College, 6-4 in the last eight.
They went on to thump Stirling High 16-1 in a one-sided semi-final, while coach Storm Siebert‘s side edged out Grey High 6-5 in their semifinal meeting.
The Final
Many spectators around Woodridge’s main pool were expecting a high-scoring final, but it turned out to be exactly the opposite, although Wynberg opened the scoring in the first minute through Tim Belcher.
It was a fairly balanced encounter thereafter, and both goalkeepers, Christian Fox (Wynberg) and Aaron James (Selborne), had to pull off some saves to keep the score at 1-0.
It was not 20 seconds from the end of the second chukka that Wynberg doubled their advantage, with lefty, Yakub Fakir, finding space on the wing before slamming the ball past James to put his team two-up at the break.
The second half was filled with drama, controversial decisions, and game-changing moments.
In the third chukka, Selborne came out firing. They were aggressive on defence and suffocated Wynberg.
Then, Blake Abrams scored their opener before Daniel Woodin converted a five-metre penalty to level things up heading into the final quarter.
Wynberg had a golden opportunity early in the final chukka to take back the lead through a five-metre penalty, but Jack de Beer’s shot hit the post.
That mattered little, however, as Caleb Harley struck to give them the lead a few minutes later. Then, with only 29 seconds left, Selborne made it 3-3 when Woodin converted a penalty.
It appeared that the contest was headed to penalties, but Riley Clarke had other ideas. He linked up well with his teammates in midfield and created some space for himself. Then, when the ball was returned to him, he pulled off an immaculate shot to make it 4-3 just 21 seconds remaining.
Selborne staged one last attack, but Wynberg’s defence stood firm, and they won the maiden Woodridge Stayers Water Polo Tournament title for the first time.
RESULTS
Sunday
Boys
Somerset College 7-2 Oakhill (15th/16th place)
Invitational team 7-0 Kingswood College (13th/14th place)
Grey High 2nds 8-6 Merrifield College (11th/12th place)
Pearson High 5-3 Hudson (9th/10th place)
Woodridge College 9-2 Grey College (7th/8th place)
St Andrew’s College 11-2 Glenwood House (5th/6th place)
Grey High School 8-4 Stirling High (3rd/4th place)
Wynberg Boys’ High 4-3 Selborne College (1st/2nd place)
Girls
Somerset College 4-3 Oakhill (11th/12th place)
Collegiate 8-2 Merrifield College (9th/10th place)
Woodridge College 7-1 Stirling High (7th/8th place)
Pearson High 6-4 DSG Makhanda (5th/6th place)
Clarendon 7-1 Kingswood College (3rd/4th place)
Hudson Park 9-5 Glenwood House (1st/2nd place)
