Only two remain unbeaten at Old Petrian’s Water Polo Tournament
There were fewer blowouts and matches were more tightly contested on the second day of the 19th edition of the Old Petrian’s U19 Girls Water Polo Tournament, being hosted by St Peter’s College. The event, which kicked off on Thursday, finishes on Sunday.
Several teams, who were buried under waves of double-digit margins of defeat, regrouped and worked their way back into the tournament. Only five teams – Rand Park, Springfield, Pretoria Girls, Wynberg and Reddam Helderfontein – are yet to register a first win in the 27-team event.
The big guns who made a splash on day one continued to build on those results.
Coach Alex Hawkins‘ Herschel, which boasts several Western Province u16 and u19 stars, including Kirsten Bottger and Anna Lieberman, swept the group with little trouble.
Pool A, which also has powerhouses St Stithians and Crawford in its ranks, is one of the toughest groups at the tournament. Herschel, the 2011 champions, were not unnerved by the reputations of the teams in their group, however, and they kept a clean record on their way to the top of the standings.
They prevailed 8-5 over the defending champions, St Stithians, in a tightly contested encounter, before trouncing Crawford and Alexander Road by double digits. The Western Cape outfit is a perfect six from six so far. They’re also six points clear of second-placed St Stithians, who have one game in hand.
Roedean is the only other undefeated team at the tournament. The Gauteng school has scored a mammoth 66 goals and conceded a miserly 13 on their way to the top of Pool B. The Garreth Prout-coached unit has followed the lead of their top scorer, SA Schools’ star Mia Loizides. Right now, Roedean looks like the team to beat.
Pool C has three big guns tied on 12 points each. Coach Nick Tinkler‘s Reddam Constantia leads the three-team pack because of a superior goal difference over St Dominic’s and Durban Girls College. The Hannah Banks-led unit dropped points when they faced off against St. Dominic’s, who beat them by four goals to two.
Gauteng Central u19A star Ruby Carlson was among the scorers for St Dominic’s, adding one more goal to her tally of seven from day one. She was key in St Dominic’s two victories over Collegiate and Pretoria Girls.
Kayla Andrews’ sensational form for DGC spilt into day two of the tournament. The KwaZulu-Natal sharpshooter scored five against Pretoria Girls and added two more to her tally when DGC breezed past the in-form St Dominic’s. Before falling to DGC, Coach Wade Marshall‘s team had been undefeated.
Reddam Bedfordview leads Pool D after an impressive showing that saw them win three of their four group matches to end day two on 15 points.
The Johannesburg outfit is not blowing teams out of the water, but they’re doing enough to secure victory. In their three games on Friday, they scored 14 goals and conceded four. However, their position at the summit is not secure. Clarendon and St Anne’s are hot on their heels. Both teams have 12 points and a game in hand.
Pool A
St Stithians 5-2 Kingswood
Crawford 0-10 Herschel
Kingswood 16-3 Alex Road
Rand Park 2-13 Hudson Park
Herschel 8-5 St Stithians
Hudson Park 9-2 Alex Road
Kingswood 3-7 Herschel
Rand Park 1-14 Crawford
Herschel 19-1 Alex
Hudson Park 5-7 Crawford
Rand Park 0-15 St Stithians
Pool B
Chisipite 1-6 St Mary’s
Stirling 8-1 Springfield
DSG 7-0 Kingsmead
Chisipite 9-1 Springfield
St Mary’s 4-13 Roedean
Stirling 5-3 Kingsmead
Roedean 14-2 Chisipite
Kingsmead 9-1 Springfield
St Mary’s 4-5 DSG
Kingsmead 6-2 Chisipite
DSG 5-10 Roedean
Pool C
St Dominic’s 4-2 Reddam Constantia
DGC 13-2 Pretoria Girls
Rustenburg 4-4 St Peter’s
St Dominic’s 3-7 DGC
Collegiate 6-5 Rustenburg
St Peters 8-3 Pretoria Girls
Collegiate 2-7 Reddam Constantia
Rustenburg 9-4 Pretoria Girls
St Dominic’s 11-2 St Peter’s
Reddam Constantia 6-1 DGC
Pretoria Girls 0-19 Collegiate
Pool D
Pearson 8-0 Westerford
St Anne’s 13-0 Wynberg
Clarendon 2-5 Reddam Bedfordview
Westerford 5-1 Reddam Helderfontein
Clarendon 4-3 St Anne’s
Wynberg 1-5 Reddam Bedfordview
Reddam Helderfontein 3-8 Pearson
Reddam Bedfordview 4-6 St Anne’s
Clarendon 20-0 Reddam Helderfontein
Pearson 1-4 Reddam Bedfordview
Saturday
@ Wahoo Aquatic Centre
07:00 – (71) Westerford vs Wynberg; 07:35 -(72) Reddam Constantia vs St Peter’s; 08:10 – (73) Clarendon vs Pearson; 08:45 – (74) Collegiate vs Durban Girls; 09:20 – (75) Wynberg vs Reddam Helderfontein; 09:55 – (76) Rustenburg vs St Dominic’s; 10:30 – (77) St Anne’s vs Westerford; 11:30 – Exhibition Match.
12:30 – (85) Play-off; 13:05 – (86) Play-off; 13:40 – (87) PlayoOff; 14:15 – (88) Play-off; 14:50 – (89) Quarterfinal Bowl; 15:25 – (90) Quarerfinal Bowl; 16:00 – (91) Quarterfinal Bowl; 16:35 – (92) Quaertfinal Bowl; 17:10 – (97) Quarterfinal Cup; 17:55 – (98) Quarterfinal Cup; 18:40 – (99) Quarterfinal Cup; 19:25 – (100) Quarterfinal Cup.
@ Peter’s Girls Prep School
07:00 – (78) Stirling vs St Mary’s; 07:35 – (79) Crawford vs Alex Road; 08:10 – (80) DSG vs Chisipite; 08:45 – (81) Hudson vs St Stithians; 09:20 – (82) Stirling vs Roedean; 09:55 – (83) Kingswood vs Rand Park; 10:30 – (84) Springfield vs St Mary’s
12:30 – (93) Quarterfinal Shield; 13:05 – (94) Quarterfinal Shield; 13:40 – (95) Quarterfinal Shield; 14:15 – (96) Quarterfinal Shield
