SAC Shield: St John’s outplays Bishops, will face Rondebosch in the final
New St Andrew’s College (SAC) Shield champions will be crowned after St John’s College and Rondebosch Boys’ High booked their places in the final on Saturday in Makhanda.
The annual tournament, hosted by St Andrew’s College, kicked off on Thursday and culminates with the highly anticipated final on Sunday at 12:10.
The event has produced fireworks and entertained from the get-go, including some shock results along the way.
To reserve their place in the title decider, St John’s recorded a gritty 8-6 win over Bishops Diocesan College, while Rondebosch outplayed Selborne College 11-6 in the other semi-final to secure a shot at the silverware.
St John’s, under the leadership of coaches Vlado Trninic and Jon-Marc De Carvalho, powered their way into the semi-finals with a convincing 14-7 defeat of Clifton College 14-7 in the last eight.
They were out of the blocks quickly and opened the scoring through their influential skipper, Nicholas Searle, within two minutes of the start of the contest.
They never trailed, although it was tight at half-time, with St John’s a goal ahead at 4-3 after Searle struck again, which was followed by goals from Luke Shipway and Christopher Chapman.
Bishops came out firing in the third chukka and drew first blood when captain Heath Blackwell found the back of the net early on to level matters.
Fan favourite Luke Shipway quickly restored the St John’s lead and upped his personal tally to two goals. As the contest headed into the final chukka, St John’s led 5-4.
They increased their advantage to two goals with a sixth goal early in the final quarter through Ethan Wilcocks, which served to increase the pressure on coach Jabulani Sibiya’s side.
Bishops was still in it, though, and they created opportunities, even without one of their key players, Timothy Young, who received three exclusions. The Capetonians struggled to finish, however. But credit must go to the St John’s defenders, who handled dangerman Matt Fenn well.
Owen Cross netted the last Bishops’ goal before Searle and Luke Towell took the game out of reach.
In the second semi-final, Rondebosch put their unbeaten record on the line against an unpredictable Selborne College outfit.
Coach Jared Wingate-Pearse’s boys, who had impressed all tournament long, faced one final hurdle in their pursuit of a place in the final, but they found themselves trailing early on when Dominic Stegman snuck one past Joel O’Brien.
That goal was, however, the wake-up call that ‘Bosch needed, and soon after they went into attack mode, scoring some outrageous goals that kept the spectators on the edge of their seats.
Noah Reiback, a regular goal-scorer, netted a hat-trick and was joined on the score sheet by Jack Robinson, Kieran Bennewith, and Matthew Galpin, who contributed two goals each. Luke Burger and Rupert Robinson completed the Rondebosch scoring.
Samuel van der Venter’s and Liam Hansen’s doubles provided a little silver lining for Selborne.
In some of the day’s other matches, Hilton College comfortably defeated their KZN rivals, Clifton, 13-5 in a 5th/8th playoff match, while SACS, the 2024 champions, bounced back from a quarterfinal loss to Rondebosch to edge past St Stithians College 10-9.
The final day’s action will begin with a clash between Grey High School and Paul Roos Gimnasium at 08:00.
Scorers in the semifinals
St John’s College 8: Nicholas Searle (3), Luke Shipway (2), Christopher Chapman, Luke Towell, Ethan Wilcocks. Bishops 6: Matt Fenn (2), Owen Cross (2), Heath Blackwell, James Malan.
Rondebosch Boys High 11: Noah Reiback (3), Jack Robinson (2), Kieran Bennewith (2), Matthew Galpin (2), Luke Burger, Rupert Robinson. Selborne College 6: Samuel van der Venter (2), Liam Hansen (2), Dominic Stegman, Connor Maree.
DAY 3 RESULTS
Pool A
Bishops Diocesan College 13-1 Westville Boys’ High
Clifton College (2) 7-7 (1) SACS
Pool B
Rondebosch Boys’ High 9-3 Grey High School
Quarterfinals
Bishops Diocesan College (3) 10-10 (1) Hilton College
Selborne College 9-5 St Stithians College
St John’s College 14-7 Clifton College
Rondebosch Boys’ High 13-9 SACS
Plate semifinals
St Andrew’s College 12-8 Grey High School
Westville Boys’ High (3) 8-8 (1) Paul Roos Gimnasium
Positions 5-8
Hilton College 13-5 Clifton College
SACS 10-9 St Stithians College
Semi-finals
St John’s College 8-6 Bishops Diocesan College
Rondebosch Boys’ High 11-6 Selborne College
Fixtures
Sunday, 26 January
08:00 – Grey High vs Paul Roos Gimnasium – 11th/12th
08:50 – St Andrew’s College vs Westville Boys’ High – 9th/10th
09:40 – Clifton College vs St Stithians College – 7th/8th
10:30 – SACS vs Hilton – 5th/6th
11:20 – Selborne College vs Bishops – 3rd/4th
12:10 – St John’s College vs Rondebosch – 1st/2nd
