Top guns in the ascendancy at Grey High Water Polo Tournament
The hosts, Grey High School, and their Eastern Cape rivals, St Andrew’s College, maintained their unbeaten runs on day two of the Grey High School Water Polo Tournament in Gqeberha on Friday.
After an absorbing opening day, both upped the ante, played some smart ‘polo, and pulled clear from the chasing pack.
St Andrew’s had just one fixture on the day against a tough Woodridge College side in which coach Grant Mackenzie‘s boys were pushed to their limits. They responded with a resilient showing to secure a hard-fought 6-4 victory.
Senior players. Tiago Williams, Murray Copeland, Adam Ball, and Liam Nurse all had good run-outs to lead the Makhanda school to another win. Skipper and goalkeeper, Jacques Du Toit, came through in the clutch numerous times, pulling off good saves to keep his side in front.
While Woodridge lost against St Andrew’s, they picked up points later in the day, beating Hudson Park 11-4.
Pearson High was also on the money against Hudson Park, with their victory coming by a 9-4 margin. That left them in second place in their group after Friday’s action, based on goal difference.
While Hudson suffered two defeats, they also bagged their first win at the tournament after edging the Grey Invitational side 12-9.
In Pool B, it’s a battle between Reddam House Constantia and Glenwood House for second place after both went down 8-10 to Grey on day two, which left the home side sitting comfortably atop the pool.
Coach Ridge Snelling‘s troops didn’t have it easy and had to dig deep in both matches, but they came through with the desired wins.
Dane Paterson, who leads the top goal scorer chart with 13 goals, was influential in both outings along with Christian Horne, Caleb Levey, James De Lange, and shot stopper Gavin Peinke.
Reddam picked up two wins over Stirling High and Paarl Boys’ High, while Glenwood House held off Stirling 8-6.
Their talisman, Luca Whitehead, was on the scoresheet. He’s a key driver in his side’s quest for glory.
Day three’s action kicks off with a Pool A clash between Pearson High and St Andrew’s.
After the completion of the group stage matches, the competition heads into the quarterfinals. The day concludes with the two semifinals.
Day 2 Results
Pool A
Woodridge College 11-4 Hudson Park
Hudson Park 5-9 Pearson High
St Andrew’s College 6-4 Woodridge College
Hudson Park 12-9 Grey Invitational
Pool B
Stirling High 0-11 Reddam Constantia
Grey High 10-8 Glenwood House
Paarl Boys’ High 5-10 Reddam Constantia
Glenwood House 8-6 Stirling High
Reddam House 8-10 Grey High
Day 3 Fixtures
08:00 – Pearson High vs St Andrew’s
09:00 – Grey High vs Stirling High
10:00 – Glenwood House vs Paarl Boys’ High
11:00 – Woodridge vs Grey Invitational
14:00 – QF 1
15:00 – QF 2
16:00 – QF 3
17:00 – QF 4
18:00 – Semifinal 1
19:00 – Semifinal 2
