Bishops ended their SACS Water Polo Tournament campaign with a whopping 12 victories and no defeats after getting the better of Hilton College in Saturday’s final in Cape Town.
Coach Jabulani Sibiya’s players delivered a well-calculated and mature performance to beat the KwaZulu-Natal school 5-3 at the SACS Aquatic Centre.
Bishops had dominated proceedings leading up to the final, completing their Pool B assignments with a perfect record of nine wins from nine outings. Hilton, meanwhile, racked up seven victories and two draws to top Pool A.
In the quarterfinals, St Stithians gave Bishops a good workout before the Capetonians triumphed 8-5. In an all-Cape Town semifinal, Bishops then beat SACS 3-1.
Hilton got the better of their KZN rivals, Northwood, in the quarterfinal, powering to an emphatic 7-2 win. Then in the semifinals, coach Paul Martin’s side knocked out defending champions St John’s College by a 5-2 margin.
With the title on the line, Bishops went behind early to a goal by Liam Casey after Timothy Young was excluded.
However, when Young returned to the pool, he scored his side’s first goal to level the scores.
Bishops then found their mojo, with Harry Ford converting a blinder to give his side the lead for the first time. Minutes later, coach Sibiya’s boys led 3-1 after Matt Fenn joined in on the scoring action by converting a five-metre penalty, won by Ryan Dales.
Hilton created three chances before the break but couldn’t make them count. Still, they would’ve trailed by more if it weren’t for some brilliant saves by goalkeeper Lwango Ntantala.
Needing two goals to get back into the game, Hilton had to start the second half brightly, and they did.
Bradley Van Loggerenberg, who had a quiet final by his standards, scored early to make it 2-3, but Bishops controlled the tempo of the game after conceding that goal and capitalised on some crucial moments.
Fenn made it a brace with a beautiful solo effort before Ford increased the lead to three goals at 5-2. Hilton had the last say when Benjamin Keeton scored a consolation goal, but the title belonged to Bishops.
With the win, they lifted the SACS Water Polo Tournament for only the second time, with their previous win coming in 2024.
Hilton, despite winning the Clifton Water Polo Tournament a week ago, will have to wait a while longer to capture their maiden SACS Water Polo Tournament.
Other matches:
In other matches on the final day, SACS edged out last year’s champions, St John’s College, 5-4 to win the bronze medal.
Rondebosch, Northwood, Wynberg, and St Stithians College completed the top eight, while Parktown Boys’ High and Grey College left Cape Town winless.
RESULTS
DAY THREE
Pool A
St Andrew’s College 1-4 Grey High
St Benedict’s 5-7 St Stithians
St David’s 4-4 Hilton College
St Alban’s 2-1 Grey College
SACS 1-1 Wynberg
Pool B
Selborne 4-1 Paul Roos
Northwood 4-2 Jeppe
St John’s 10-3 Parktown
Clifton 4-4 Pretoria Boys’ High
Bishops 4-3 Rondebosch
Quarterfinals
St John’s College 6-5 Wynberg Boys’ High
SACS 4-2 Rondebosch
Hilton College 7-2 Northwood
Bishops 8-5 St Stithians College
Semifinals
Hilton College 5-2 St John’s College
Bishops 3-1 SACS
Bronze medal match
SACS 5-4 St John’s College
Final
Bishops 5-3 Hilton College
