Sibiya leads Bishops to historic SACS Water Polo Tournament triumph

Bishops Diocesan College‘s first team water polo head coach, Jabulani Sibiya, and his team made history on Monday when they became the first-ever Bishops’ team to win the annual SACS Water Polo Tournament after defeating Gauteng’s St John’s College 5-2 in the final at the SACS Aquatic Centre in Cape Town.

Bishops, who led 3-1 at half-time, scored twice in the second half and restricted their opponents to only one more goal to secure the win.

The victory opened up a place for Sibiya and troops in the history books as it made them the first Bishops team to win the title since the event’s inception in 1984.

Rewatch the action on SuperSportSchools.

On their journey to the final, Sibiya’s team was in top form. They dominated Pool B, which included St Stithians College, Rondebosch Boys’ High, and Hilton College, who were also playing at a high level.

Bishops played nine pool matches, won seven of them, drew 5-5 against Saints, and lost 3-5 against ‘Bosch in their final pool match on Monday.

In Pool A, St John’s impressed from the start and was favoured by some to go all the way. Coach Vlado Trninic‘s side stacked eight wins against a single defeat in their pool outings to finish in first place in the group ahead of SACS, Wynberg Boys’ High, and Paul Roos Gimnasium.

In the quarterfinals, they took on KwaZulu-Natal’s Hilton College, and edged them 4-3, while Bishops beat the hosts and defending champions, SACS, 4-2 to set up a semifinal clash against their rivals, Rondebosch Boys’ High. It was an opportunity to avenge their earlier loss to ‘Bosch in their last Pool A clash.

Sibiya’s side, sniffing an opportunity to make history, pulled out all the stops in their second showdown with Rondebosch, recording a nervy 3-1 win. St John’s, meanwhile, beat their Johannesburg rivals, St Stithians, 8-5 in the second semifinal to set up a thrilling finale between the table-topping teams.

Getting off to a good start was important in the title decider and it was Bishops who seized the early initiative. With only a minute on the clock, Thomas Truter opened the scoring for the Cape side. But Ross Rovelli pulled one back for St John’s.

Just before half-time, Bishops upped their game to score twice through their skipper, Ross Stewart, and the dangerous Timothy Young. Then, early in the second half, Young made it a double. St John’s hit back with a goal through Nicholas Searle, which kept their title hopes alive.

Those hopes were quickly dashed by Young, however, He completed his hattrick, before some resolute defending and great shot-stopping by goalkeeper Jordan de Sousa sealed the win for Bishops.

In the third/fourth play-off, St Stithians defeated Rondebosch Boys’ High 5-2 to take home the bronze medal.

Monday’s results included Selborne College finishing strongly with a 7-1 win over St Benedict’s, while Clifton College defeated Grey High School.

Grey High, Grey College, and Parktown Boys’ High all finished without a win to their names, although both of the Greys managed draws.

DAY 3 | RESULTS 

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Avuyile Sawula

Avuyile Sawula is a multimedia sports journalist, broadcaster, and writer. He possesses a journalism qualification from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology. During his time in the media industry, he has worked for various online media publications covering a variety of sporting codes. He also has a broadcasting background having worked as a news journalist at one of Cape Town’s commercial radio stations. His reporting beats include hockey, rugby, water polo, and cricket. Apart from writing, he has a knack for creating sports content, and video editing.

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