St Stithians – The winners of the St Anne’s Water Polo tournament
St Stithians Girls College from Gauteng have been crowned winners of the inaugural St Anne’s Water Polo tournament after defeating Roedean School (9-5) in the final in Durban on Monday.
“Saints” as they’re famously known came into the tournament as one of the favourites and despite being paired up in a competitive group which featured the likes of Kingsmead, St Anne’s, St Mary’s Kloof, and St John’s, the Gauteng side prevailed by playing some entertaining but smart Water Polo throughout the long weekend.
During the group stages, Saints were dominant and looked un-playable in the pool.
They thumped every team they came across in the pool stages, starting with a three-point win against hosts St Anne’s (8-5) on Friday.
On day two, the visitors just got better. Their two statement wins of (14-0) against St Mary’s Kloof and (21-1) against St John’s put a marker on the side as the team to beat going forward.
To top it off, the visitors also thumped Kingsmead by 10 goals to one.
After a dominant display in the first two days, Saints put themselves in a good position going forward and their record meant that their journey to the final was a simple straight one. They had to win one more time against Durban Girls College to make it.
The side did exactly that, getting one past the Durban girls (6-5) to book themselves a date with Reddam House Constantia in the semi-finals. The semi-final clash was closely fought with both sides coming at each other in the first two chukkas.
Saints once again showed their class, outscoring Reddam to claim a (11-9) win and secure a spot in the final against Roedean, who also were impressive in their journey to the last round.
The final was always going to be a tough one between the two best sides in tournament. Saints, just as they did in most of their matches started on the front foot scoring early, but Roedean didn’t lie down.
Roedean went on to score two goals and led (2-1) after the first chukka.
St Stithians came back firing in the second chukka and regained the lead. The Gauteng side then extended their lead, scoring three more goals while Roedean kept applying pressure, scoring two of their own to see Saints leading (5-4).
The last two chukkas were a case of match management, something Saints managed to do the whole weekend. They added two more goals to their tally to reach seven, and despite Roedean’s fight and determination with their late two goals, the damage had already been done and St Stithians prevailed.
In other matches on the final day, Reddam House Constantia defeated Herschel to finish in third spot, while wins for Durban Girls College, St Mary’s Waverly, and the KZN Invitational side saw them finish inside the top 10.
Results:
Day 1:
KZN Invitational 8, Maris Stella 3; St Anne’s 15, St Mary’s Kloof 1; St Anne’s u16 4, Durban Girls College 14; Rodean 6, Reddam House Bedfordview 4; Kingsmead 16, St John’s 0; Herschel 20, St Mary’s Waverly 6; TWC 12, Danville 10; St Anne’s 5, St Stithians 8; Crawford 17, KZN Invitational 4; St Dominics 3, Reddam House Bedford View 2; St Anne’s u16 9, Beaulieu 4; Reddam House Constantia 16, Thomas More College 2.
Day 2:
Durban Girls College 19, Beaulieu 4; Roedean 22, Danville 0; St Stithians 14, St Mary’s Kloof 0; Crawford 16, Maris Stella 0; Reddam House Constantia 16, St Anne’s u16 2; St Dominic’s 20, TWC 1; Herschel 17, KZN Invitational 2; St Anne’s 6, Kingsmead 4; Beaulieu 6, Thomas More College 7; Reddam House Bedford View 19, Danville 0; St Stithians 21, St John’s 1; St Mary’s Waverley 10, Maris Stella 4; Reddam House Constantia 5 (2), Durban Girls College 5 (1); Roedean 7, St Dominic’s 4; Kingsmead 10, St Mary’s Kloof 1; Herschel 10, Crawford 8; Reddam House Bedford View 17, TWC 2; St Mary’s Waverly 8, KZN Invitational 6; St Anne’s 10, St John’s 0; St Anne’s u16 6, Thomas More College 5; Reddam House Constantia 21, Beaulieu 1; St Dominic’s 21, Danville 1; Herschel 18, Maris Stella 1; St Stithians 10, Kingsmead 1; Roedean 15, TWC 0; Durban Girls College 14, Thomas More College 0; St Mary’s Kloof 16, St John’s 1; Crawford 9, St Mary’s Waverly 4.
Day 3:
St Anne’s 9, Reddam House Bedford View; St Mary’s Kloof 10, Danville 1; Crawford 14, St Anne’s 4; Durban Girls College 9, St Mary’s Waverly 3; KZN Invitational 10, Beaulieu 3; Kingsmead 4, St Dominic’s 3; Thomas More College 5, Maris Stella 2; TWC 14, St John’s 3; Herschel 15, St Anne’s 5; Roedean 7, Crawford 4; St Stithians 6, Durban Girls College 5; Maris Stella 9, Danville 2; Beaulieu 11, St John’s 1; Thomas More College 4, St Mary’s Kloof 2; Reddam House Constantia 8, Kingsmead 3; Reddam House Bedford View 6, St Mary’s 5; St Dominic’s 8, St Anne’s u16 2; KZN Invitational 14, TWC 0; Durban Girls College 10, Kingsmead 2; Crawford 12, St Anne’s 7; St Stithians 6, Durban Girls College 5.
Day 4:
Roedean 6, Herschel 5; St Sitihians 11, Reddam House Constantia 9; Danville 13, St John’s 3; St Dominics 8, Reddam House Bedford View 4; Maris Stella 8 (14), Beaulieu (8) 13; St Anne’s 8, Kingsmead 3; St Mary’s Kloof 11, TWC 2; KZN Invitational 8, Thomas More College 2; St Mary’s Waverly 11, St Anne’s u16 5; Durban Girls College 9, Crawford 7; Reddam House Constantia 8, Herschel 6; St Stithians 9, Roedean 5.
