Saints successfully defend Reef Cup
St Stithians College successfully defended their Reef Cup Water Polo Invitational Tournament title on Sunday afternoon, beating St Dominic’s Catholic School for Girls 7-5 in an exciting final.
With the victory, Saints ensured their coach, Etienne le Roux, oversaw one last title-winning effort before he moves to the Western Cape, and they did it with style.
On the first day, in their opener, Saints signalled their intent by blanking Falcon College 16-0. Then, in the afternoon, they overran Afrikaanse Hoër Meisieskool 20-3.
On day two, the hosts maintained their high energy performances to ease past St Peter’s College 11-1 and Reddam House Umhlanga 12-4, to secure their place on top of Pool D.
Matching them win-for-win along the way was St Dominic’s, whose only loss came in the final after they had subjected Saints to a tough examination.
Crawford College (Lonehill) also enjoyed a strong showing, losing one game when they went down 6-8 against Hellenic Academy. On Sunday, they held off Kingsmead, with a 6-5 win leaving them fifth in the final standings.
Third place went to Roedean, who overpowered Hellenic 15-5 in their last match.
In a tight final, St Stithians were on the board first and a second goal, by the outstanding Isabella Imbriolo, gave them a little breathing room.
Jessica Bott responded with a goal for St Dom’s, while Stephanie Stockenstroom and Simphiwe Zulu helped keep St Stithians at bay.
Then Ruby Carlson scored for the Boksburg school to raise the tension in the pool.
It went back and forth, with Saints edging in front and St Dom’s playing catch-up. Courtney Calenborne struck for the home side, but Stephanie Stockenstroom found a fantastic reply for St Dominic’s, sending the ball flying into the corner of the goal.
Saints retaliated through Hannah Lloyd, with a seventh goal, but St Dom’s kept at it. Morgan Harrison quickly found a way through the St Stithians defence, and Amy Hollard added a fifth for St Dominic’s, to ensure St Stithians would not be able to cruise to the title.
They maintained a two-goal gap, however, and secured the win in their home pool.
RESULTS
Pretoria 12-2 Affies
Rand Park 6-10 Steyn City
Maris Stella 11-5 Reddam Helderfontein
St Peter’s 9-10 Tournament Invitation
Woodridge 7-6 Parktown
Falcon 2-7 Reddam Umhlanga
Reddam Bedfordview 14-5 Beaulieu
Crawford 6-5 Kingsmead
Hellenic 5 -15 Roedean
St Stithians 7 – 5 Dominic’s
Final Standings
1. St Stithians College
2. St Dominic’s Catholic Schools for Girls
3. Roedean School
4. Hellenic Academy (Zimbabwe)
5. Crawford College (Lonehill)
6. Kingsmead College
7. Reddam House (Bedfordview)
8. Beaulieu College
9. Reddam House (Umhlanga)
10. Falcon College (Zimbabwe)
11. Woodridge College
12. Parktown High for Girls
13. Tournament Invitation Team
14. St Peter’s College
15. Maris Stella
16. Reddam House (Helderfontein)
17. Steyn City School
18. Rand Park High
19. Pretoria High School for Girls
20. Afrikaanse Hoër Meisieskool (Pretoria)
