Upsets highlight opening day at SACS Water Polo Tournament
There were some shock results and a bucketload of goals scored on Saturday, day one of the SACS Water Polo Tournament, in Cape Town.
The prestigious tournament features 20 of the best boys’ water polo-playing schools from across the country competing in a jam-packed schedule of 20-minute matches.
The event runs through until Monday. All of the matches are being held at the SACS Aquatic Centre and streamed LIVE on the SuperSport Schools App.
The Breakdown
Pool A
In a blistering start to the tournament, only four sides remain unbeaten after the opening day’s play.
In Pool A, Rondebosch Boys’ High picked up three wins and a 4-4 draw, which came against St John’s College in their opener.
After sharing the points in that outing, they upped the tempo and outplayed Grey High School 8-1 before shrugging off St Andrew’s College 5-3 and Northwood 5-2 later in the day.
That put ‘Bosch in pole position overnight, with Jeppe High School for Boys, Hilton College, and Wynberg Boys’ High completing the top four.
Jeppe also had an impressive run and picked up some eye-opening wins, which included shocking St Stithians College 6-4 in their opener before holding St John’s to a thrilling 4-4 draw.
The boys from Kensington went on a scoring spree against St Benedict’s College, putting 10 past their opponents, but suffered a loss to Hilton College.
Speaking of Hilton, the KwaZulu-Natal side was far from its usual best but they will be aiming to bounce back on day two.
Like Jeppe, they picked up two wins, a draw, and a loss, which they suffered at the hands of Wynberg Boys’ High.
The Paul Martin-coached side kicks off Pool A proceedings on day two with a crucial game against St John’s, who, they recently beat in the final of the Clifton Water Polo Tournament.
St Benedict’s will be hunting their first win while Grey High and Northwood will be aiming to move up the table.
Pool B
Pool B was always going to be interesting with several top guns eager to make a statement.
The hosts, SACS, produced a flawless start and won all four of their matches, beating Parktown Boys’ High 15-0, St Alban’s College 6-4, Pretoria Boys High (PBHS) 4-3, and Grey College 4-3.
They were joined on the “unbeaten train” by Paul Roos Gimnasium (PRG) and St David’s Marist Inanda.
PRG has found the going tough in recent tournaments, but they appeared to have turned a new leaf at the SACS Aquatic Centre.
Coach Vaughn Marlow’s boys picked up victories against PBHS, Parktown Boys, and Clifton College. Their biggest triumph on the day, however, was a 3-1 victory over the defending champions, Bishops Diocesan College.
St David’s ended the day in third place, with Bishops completing the top four.
Selborne College, St Alban’s and Clifton, are all tied on three points after four matches, while PBHS and Parktown will go in search of their first victories on day two.
The first three matches of Sunday will be Pool B fixtures, with PRG tackling St Alban’s before the hosts take on Selborne. St David’s will tackle PBHS in a Gauteng derby.
RESULTS
Day 1
Pool A
Rondebosch 4-4 St John’s College
Hilton 5-1 Grey High
St Andrew’s College 5-1 St Benedict’s
Wynberg 3-4 Northwood
St John’s College 4-4 Jeppe
Rondebosch 8-1 Grey High
Wynberg 6-3 St Benedict’s
St Andrew’s College 3-3 Northwood
Hilton 6-6 St Stithians
St John’s College 5-4 Grey High
St Andrew’s College 3-5 Rondebosch
St Stithians 5-3 Northwood
Hilton 4-5 Wynberg
Jeppe 10-2 St Benedict’s
St Andrew’s College 5-4 St John’s
St Stithians 4-4 Wynberg
St Benedict’s 3-6 Grey High
Rondebosch 5-2 Northwood
Pool B
Jeppe 6-4 St Stithians
Bishops 12-3 Grey College
Clifton 4-4 Selborne College
SACS 15-0 Parktown
St David’s Marist 4-4 St Alban’s
Pretoria Boys High 1-3 Paul Roos
Bishops 5-1 Selborne College
St David’s 10-0 Grey College
SACS 6-4 St Alban’s
Parktown 0-13 Paul Roos
Clifton 4-2 Pretoria Boys High
Grey College 5-4 St Alban’s
Bishops 1-3 Paul Roos
SACS 4-3 Pretoria Boys
St David’s Marist 6-1 Clifton
Selborne 12-1 Parktown
Clifton 0-2 Paul Roos
Hilton 6-4 Jeppe
SACS 4-3 Grey College
St David’s Marist 3-1 Selborne
St Alban’s 8-2 Parktown
Bishops 9-3 Pretoria Boys High
Fixtures
Day 2 – Sunday, 5 October
07:10 – St Alban’s vs Paul Roos
07:30 – SACS vs Selborne College
07:50 – St David’s Marist vs Pretoria Boys High
08:10 – Hilton vs St John’s College
08:30 – St Stithians vs Rondebosch
08:50 – St Benedict’s vs Northwood
09:10 – St Andrew’s College vs Wynberg
09:30 – Grey College vs Parktown
09:50 – Jeppe vs Grey High
10:10 – Hilton vs Rondebosch
10:30 – Bishops vs Clifton
10:50 – Selborne College vs St Alban’s
11:10 – St Andrew’s College vs St Stithians
11:30 – Jeppe vs Northwood
11:50 – Grey College vs Paul Roos
12:10 – SACS vs Clifton
12:30 – St John’s vs St Benedict’s
12:50 – Wynberg vs Grey High
13:10 – St Davids vs Bishops
13:30 – Pretoria Boys vs Parktown
13:50 – Hilton vs St Andrew’s College
14:10 – St John’s College vs Northwood
14:30 – Selborne College vs Paul Roos
14:50 – Rondebosch vs St Benedict’s
15:10 – Wynberg vs Jeppe
15:30 – SACS vs St David’s Marist
15:50 – Clifton vs St Alban’s
16:10 – Pretoria Boys vs Grey College
16:30 – St Andrew’s College vs Grey High
16:50 – Hilton vs Northwood
17:10 – Bishops vs Parktown
17:30 – St Stithians vs St Benedict’s
17:50 – SACS vs Paul Roos
18:10 – Rondebosch vs Jeppe
18:30 – Clifton vs Grey College
18:50 – Pretoria Boys vs Selborne College
19:10 – Bishops vs St Alban’s
19:30 – Wynberg vs St John’s College
19:50 – St Stithians vs Grey High
20:10 – St David’s vs Parktown
Day 3 – Monday, 6 October
06:50 – Hilton vs St Benedict’s
07:10 – Grey High vs Northwood
07:30 – Selborne College vs Grey College
07:50 – Pretoria Boys vs St Alban’s
08:10 – St Andrew’s College vs Jeppe
08:30 – St Stithians vs St John’s College
08:50 – St David’s Marist vs Paul Roos
09:10 – Clifton vs Parktown
09:30 – Rondebosch vs Wynberg
09:50 – SACS vs Bishops
10:40 – 3rd Pool A vs 2nd Pool B (Quarterfinal 1)
11:00 – 2nd Pool A vs 3rd Pool B (Quarterfinal 2)
11:20 – 1st Pool A vs 4th Pool B (Quarterfinal 3)
11:40 – 4th Pool A vs 1st Pool B (Quarterfinal 4)
12:30 – Semifinal 1
13:00 – Semifinal 2
14:00 – Bronze medal playoff
14:00 – Final
