Reddam Constantia crowned St Anne’s Water Polo Tournament champs
After a tense and nerve-wracking 71 games in the St Anne’s Water Polo Tournament, Reddam House Constantia blew past the hosts, St Anne’s, in the 72nd and last match, beating them 10-2 in the final on Tuesday to be crowned the champions.
It was an emphatic ending to a superb run through the tournament for the Western Cape side.
They set the bar high from their very first game, opening their challenge with a 13-1 shellacking of St Mary’s DSG (Kloof).
Rhenish provided stiff opposition, but Reddam triumphed 6-1. After that, they brushed aside Westville Girls High’, racking up a 17-0 victory.
That momentum continued when they beat the Stingrays, the St Anne’s Junior team, 9-2, and Herschel 8-3.
In the final, the Constantia girls seized the initiative early on, racing into an 8-2 lead in the second chukka. The outcome was pretty much decided by then, but St Anne’s did well to limit the damage over the remainder of the contest, eventually going down by eight goals.
It was a good tournament for the hosts, who showed off their intent in their first two fixtures, crushing The Wykeham Collegiate 24-0 and Danville 25-1.
“I’m so proud of my St Anne’s teams, both of them,” coach Megan Sileno said. “The Junior team (the Stingrays) outdid themselves and exceeded all expectations by ending top eight and winning three out of three penalty shootouts. They were truly amazing.
“And my first team was truly incredible. They showed such grit, fight, and determination. They were remarkable this weekend. I am so proud of them,” she told SuperSport Schools Plus.
Sileno, who will bid farewell to St Anne’s at the end of the year, thanked everyone who had supported her and the water polo programme.
“I am unfortunate to be leaving St Anne’s at the end of the year,” she said. “It’s such an amazing community of parents and girls and school spirit. All of my parents were around, helping and troubleshooting. When the weather was so bad on Friday and Saturday, they were just helping,” she said, alluding to the icy conditions, which brought snow to the KZN Midlands, which could be seen from St Anne’s.
“My headmistress was helping with hay and was baling for me to cover the mud. Nobody was sleeping, they were getting stuck in and our ground staff was incredible as well. They were just all over the place and amazing.
“Our community catering staff and cleaning ladies all came down to show support for the final and they were remarkable. It was incredible, I am very happy with our performance and how the tournament ran,” Sileno concluded.
The 2023 champions, St Stithians, finished fifth after an impressive 9-3 win over Rhenish Girls’ High in the playoffs.
Coach Kyla Moolman’s girls had a tough opener, which ended in a 3-4 defeat at the hands of Durban Girls College (DGC). Later in the tournament, they avenged that loss, edging out DGC 6-5 in another one-goal thriller.
Saints dug deep in their second outing to defeat Beaulieu 8-2. A 4-2 victory over Maris Stella kept them in the running for the title, but St Anne’s hurt their prospects of success by recording a 5-2 win over the Johannesburg school.
Herschel, who had recently finished as the runners-up to Reddam House Constantia in the MacKenzie Cup, just missed out on the bronze medal, going 3-4 down to Roedean in the third-place playoff.
RESULTS – DAY 1
St Anne’s 24-0 The Wykehem Collegiate (TWC)
Stingrays v Reddam Umhlanga 4-3
DGC v Maris Stella
St Mary’s Kloof 15-3 Westville
St Anne’s 25-1 Danville
Herschel 11-1 Stingrays
Reddam Bedfordview 8-4 Beaulieu
DAY 2
St Mary’s Kloof 1-13 Reddam Constantia
Roedean 18-0 Danville
St Dominic’s 5-4 Reddam Umhlanga
DGC 4-3 St Stithians
St Mary’s Kloof 5-9 Rhenish
St Anne’s 5-4 Roedean
Stingrays 6-5 Crawford La Lucia
Maris Stella 3-9 Reddam Bedfordview
St Mary’s Waverley 11-2 Westville Girls’ High
Kingsmead 15-0 TWC
Herschel 8-2 St Dominic’s
St Stithians 8-2 Beaulieu
Reddam Constantia 6-1 Rhenish
Kingsmead 9-2 Danville
Crawford La Lucia 5-7 Reddam Umhlanga 5-7
DGC 11-10 Reddam Bedfordview
St Mary’s Waverley 5-4 St Mary’s Kloof
Kingsmead 1-5 Roedean
Stingrays 6-5 St Dominic’s 6-5
DAY 3
St Stithians 4-2 Maris Stella
Rhenish 11-1 Westville Girls’ High
Roedean 20-0 TWC
Herschel 10-1 Crawford La Lucia
DGC 5-1 Beaulieu
St Mary’s Waverley 4-6 Reddam Constantia
St Anne’s 8-4 Kingsmead
St Dominic’s 7-2 Crawford La Lucia
Reddam Bedfordview 5-6 St Stithians
St Mary’s Waverley 4-5 Rhenish
Herschel 5-2 Reddam Umhlanga
Maris Stella 4-5 Beaulieu
TWC 5-6 Danville
Reddam Constantia 17-0 Westville Girls’ High
Stingrays 6-5 Reddam Bedfordview
St Dominic’s 4-7 St Stithians
St Mary’s Waverley 2-7 Roedean
Rhenish 8-1 Kingsmead
DAY 4
Danville 3-4 Westville Girls’ High
Reddam Umhlanga 8-3 Maris Stella
Beaulieu 4-2 Crawford La Lucia
St Mary’s Kloof 9-3 TWC
St Anne’s 5-2 St Stithians
Herschel 11-3 Rhenish
Roedean 7-4 DGC
Reddam Constantia 9-2 Stingrays
Reddam Bedfordview 8-2 St Mary’s Waverley
St Dominic’s 6-4 Kingsmead
Crawford 8-1 Danville
Maris Stella 15-5 TWC
Westville Girls’ High 1-16 Beaulieu
Reddam Umhlanga 9-1 St Mary’s
DGC 5-6 St Stithians
Stingrays 3-6 Rhenish
St Anne’s v Roedean (3) 5-5 (2)
Reddam Constantia 8-3 Herschel
DAY 5
TWC 7-6 Danville (19/20)
Crawford La Lucia 5-2 Maris Stella (17/18)
Westville Girls’ High 2-7 St Mary’s Kloof (15/16)
Beaulieu (5) 3-3 (6) Reddam Umhlanga (13/14)
St Mary’s Waverley 9-5 Kingsmead (11/12)
St Dominic’s 2-4 Reddam Bedfordview (9/10)
Stingrays 2-5 DGC (7/8)
St Stithians 9-3 Rhenish 9-3 (5/6)
Roedean 4-3 Herschel (3/4)
St Anne’s 2-10 Reddam Constantia (1/2)
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