Western Province boys crowned champs after nail-biting shootout
Sometimes finals disappoint and sometimes they thrill. The showdown between Western Province A and Central Gauteng A in the boys’ u19 title decider at the Schools Water Polo South Africa Inter-Provincial Tournament in Gqeberha on Wednesday was very much a case of the latter, and then it was dialled up to 11.
It was a catch-your-breath, thrill-a-minute battle between two skilful, hard-nosed, never-say-die opponents, with neither prepared to give an inch in the Grey High School pool. It delivered on drama in bucketloads.
In the early going, Central Gauteng net-minder Ben Scher, who was sensational in his side’s semi-final win over KwaZulu-Natal A the previous day, looked as if he would do the same to the Capetonians, pulling off a string of sensational stops to help his side nose ahead.
The teams went blow-for-blow, but with one chukka to play, it was 8-6 in favour of Central Gauteng, the defending champions. But Province kept at their opponents and managed to reduce the deficit to a single goal when the boys from the Johannesburg region suffered an exclusion.
Still, though, Central Gauteng clung with all their might to the lead. With only 30 seconds remaining, Province coach Jabz Sibiya called a timeout. What does a coach tell his side to do in such a situation? Sibiya shared: “We took a page out of the Croatian handbook. We sent all seven up for a seven-on-six. We told them that the hole is going to come either in the middle or on the left, and the hole showed itself and we scored!”
When the ball crossed the line, only 14 seconds remained in the game. So, the contest went to a penalty shootout.
Scher, in the Central Gauteng goal, made a stop first up, but De Sousa responded for Western Province by rejecting the opposition’s second-round effort. After the five players selected for the shootout had taken their penalties, it was 4-4. The final then moved to a sudden death format. The first to score and save would win.
The game wasn’t decided quickly. Scher, who had almost seemed to be a mind-reader at times, was suddenly being sent the wrong way, and De Sousa, all six-foot-nine of him, couldn’t keep the Central Gauteng boys from scoring.
Eventually, with Western Province 8-7 up from the spot. De Sousa pulled off the match-winning save, and it was over. Behind his goal, the Province supporters erupted. Central Gauteng’s wholehearted challenge had finally been ended.
After taking the victors’ customary swim, coach Sibiya laughed happily, saying his charges’ victory had taken three years off his life span.
“It was extremely stressful. The guys have done it before,” he said about the shootout. “We knew it would come down to a showdown of the goalkeepers because they are really talented. At the end of the day, Jordy [de Sousa] managed to get that last save.
It was a gutsy victory. For all the skill and marvellous teamwork, what impressed most about both sides was their heart. Their all-out work rate was phenomenal and the manner in which both sets of players dealt with the pressure was extraordinary. As it ratcheted up, it seemed that one of the teams would surely crack under the strain, but they never did. They lapped it up and took the game back to the opposition.
Sibiya said Western Province’s experience of finals helped their cause immensely: “If you look at the split of players that we have in our side, there are some Paul Roos guys, there are some SACS guys, who have been in finals together, and against each other, over the years. Some Rondebosch guys, too, who have been in finals, also.
“It is something that we are used to, and I think that it was out of habit how the boys really stuck to their game. They showed character, and because they had been through it before it was something that they showed right through the game.”
He also recognised that Central Gauteng A had brought plenty to an engrossing contest: “Central Gauteng are coached by a legend, ‘Nacho’ [Jon-Marc de Carvalho], who I really look up to. When I was in school playing, he was coaching,” Sibiya said.
“Credit to them, they have worked hard. They’re a very skilful side. We knew it was going to take a lot to beat them, and they were beating us in some moments of that game. Big credit to them. It came down to the wire, and it worked out for us.”
The key to the Western Province victory was dealing with Central Gauteng’s physical and aggressive defence. “We knew they were going to give us a tight press. We knew they were going to back their centre-backs, Greg Pryce and Karabo Mamaregane. We had to match them with our captain, Noah Bigara, and I guess he was winning that argument in the first chapter of the game,” Sibiya said.
“We also knew that we hadn’t been that successful on our tight press, so we went with our tried and tested 4-2 zone, which comes from the heart of the Western Cape. It gives us a transition the other way, and it’s in the DNA of Western Province polo, which is counterattacking polo.”
The bronze medal went the way of KwaZulu-Natal A, who beat KwaZulu-Natal B 17-5 in the playoff for third, with Ollie Ditz going off for six goals for the victors. Mitchell Slade and Rhys Hall weighed in with hattricks, too, while Marnu Koekemoer led the B side with two goals.
Buffalo City ended on a high by edging out Western Province B for fifth place in a penalty shootout after a low-scoring clash had ended 5-5. Province were stymied from the spot, failing to score once, as the team from East London took it 3-0.
The Northern Tigers showed marked improvement over the course of the tournament, but they didn’t have enough to halt Nelson Mandela Bay in their last outing, going down 4-7, which left the hosts in seventh.
Zimbabwe ended their tournament with a defeat against Central Gauteng B, who ran out convincing 15-5 winners to place ninth.
Final Standings
Western Province A
Central Gauteng A
KwaZulu-Natal A
KwaZulu-Natal B
Buffalo City
Western Province B
Nelson Mandela Bay
Northern Tigers
Central Gauteng B
Zimbabwe
Eastern Gauteng
Results
9th/10th: Zimbabwe 5-15 Central Gauteng B
Zimbabwe – Garrick Duff (2), Michael Chaniwa (2), Samuel Edwards
Central Gauteng B – Jack Wilkins (6), Brogan McEwan (2), Zico Williams (2), Max Turanjanin, Ross Stuart, Samuel Ferreira, Mark Hudson, Braedon Hollingworth
7th/8th: Northern Tigers 4-7 Nelson Mandela Bay
Northern Tigers – Ruben Steyn, Jack Toich, Alexander Kelbrick, Joshua Verster
Nelson Mandela Bay – Tawfiq Akomolafe (2), Salmaan Abrahams, Nicholas Franklin, Daniel de Lange, Luke Moffett, Jon Hobson
5th/6th: Western Province B 5 (0) – Buffalo City 5 (3)
Western Province B – Mac Lecuona (2), Cosmo Enthoven, Ziggy Reimer, Aden Da Costa
Buffalo City – Keiron Roux (2), Sandon Grotjohn, Philip Wagner, Daniel Breetzke
3rd/4th: KwaZulu-Natal A 17-5 KwaZulu-Natal B
KwaZulu-Natal A – Ollie Ditz (6), Rhys Hall (3), Mitchell Slade (3), Jamie Spence (2), Matthew Hayes (2), Warwick Field
KwaZulu-Natal B – Marnu Koekemoer (2), Ethan Lyne, Blake Kruger, Jack Slater
1st/2nd: Western Province A 8 (8) – Central Gauteng A 8 (7)
Western Province A – Maximilian Mossop (2), Ethan Klerck (2), Ben Reiback, Conor Melling-Williams, Noah Bigara, Thomas Wiltshire
Central Gauteng A – Nicholas Pearce (3), Tristan Grimett, Karabo Mamaregane, Marc Smith, Taeg Mosehla
