While Clifton College and St John’s College cruised to top spot in their pools on Friday at the Clifton Water Polo Tournament in Durban, SACS won a crucial clash against the defending champions, Hilton College, to finish top of Pool D, while Kearsney College won Pool B, where the biggest upset of the day occurred.
It was pulled off by Clifton 2, a mix of U16 and U17 players. Earlier in the day, they had been well beaten by Kearsney, who claimed a comfortable 15-5 win.
The home side then faced Michaelhouse, 5-3 winners over Paul Roos Gimnasium in their first game on Friday, and threw a spanner in the works by edging out the Balgowan boys 5-4.
Talented but young, Clifton 2 hadn’t played up to the level of their talent in their first two outings, but their potential was demonstrated in their shock victory over a good Michaelhouse team.
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Clifton’s senior side dominated Pool A, delivering a dominant performance in a vital 12-6 win over Reddam House Constantia, who, unfortunately, lost Adam Brown to a hand injury. He had challenged Clifton throughout the contest with his accurate shooting, and his loss changed the complexion of the contest.
Coach Pierre le Roux was pleased with the hosts’ showing as they built up the rhythm they had been unable to chase while their matric players wrote trial exams.
In an outstanding team performance, Jamie Nicolau stood out for his superb performance in the hole.
Later, Clifton sealed the top spot with an emphatic 11-3 victory over Selborne, who also suffered a 6-8 defeat to Durban High School (DHS). It was a tough setback for the East London side, who had beaten Reddam House 13-9 on the opening day.
Reddam, meanwhile, bounced back with a solid 17-7 win over DHS.
After their 10-goal win over Clifton 2, Kearsney completed an unbeaten run in Pool B with a hard-fought 16-13 win over Paul Roos (PRG). Then, Clifton 2 stunned Michaelhouse, who had looked very well organised in a workmanlike win over PRG.
St John’s faced unexpectedly tough resistance from Maritzburg College early in their clash, and led only 5-4 before the Johannesburg side found its rhythm and charged clear to a big 18-7 victory.
Later, St John’s beat Westville Boys’ High 14-5. They were, alongside Clifton, the most dominant side of the group stage.
In a crucial and hugely entertaining clash, Affies outlasted Westville 9-8.
Drew Hollingsworth gave the Griffins a late lead, which looked as if it might have won the game for the KZN locals, but Affies’ Gunther Taute, also in the no. 8 cap, quickly levelled. Then, with less than 30 seconds remaining, Joshua Bergh fired in the winner.
Later, a 12-7 win for Affies over Maritzburg College ensured they finished second behind St John’s, setting them up for a showdown with the Pool D winners, SACS, on Saturday morning.
In the most competitive of the groups, SACS beat Northwood 9-7 on Friday morning, then edged out Hilton 6-5 in the afternoon.
That was a vital victory because it meant Hilton would have to face St John’s in the playoffs on Saturday in a repeat of the 2025 final, which Hilton won 10-8 to become the first winner from KZN since Clifton won in 2019.
SACS will, instead, take on Affies, who went down 7-12 against St John’s on Thursday.
In other Pool D matches, Hilton beat King Edward VII (KES) 15-9, while KES edged out Northwood 11-10.
That was tough on the Knights, who lost all three group games, twice by one goal and once by two goals.
RESULTS
Pool A
Clifton 12-6 Reddam House Constantia
DHS 8-6 Selborne
Clifton 11-3 Selborne
Reddam 17-7 DHS
Pool B
Kearsney 15-5 Clifton 2
Michaelhouse 5-3 Paul Roos
Kearsney 16-13 Paul Roos
Clifton 2 5-4 Michaelhouse
Pool C
St John’s 18-7 Maritzburg College
Affies 9-8 Westville
St John’s 14-5 Westville
Affies 12-7 Maritzburg College
Pool D
SACS 9-7 Northwood
Hilton 15-9 KES
SACS 6-5 Hilton
KES 11-10 Northwood
FIXTURES
Saturday, 19 September
07:30 – DPHS vs Highbury (Prep)
Playoffs
Game 26: 08:00 – 1st A vs 2nd B, QF 1
Game 27: 08:50 – 1st B vs 2nd A, QF 2
Game 28: 09:40 – 1st C vs 2nd D, QF 3
Game 29: 10:30 – 1st D vs 2nd C, QF 4
Game 30: 11:30 – 3rd A vs 4th B
Game 31: 12:20 – 3rd B vs 4th A
Game 32: 13:10 – 3rd C vs 4th D
Game 33: 14:00 – 3rd D vs 4th C
Game 35: 15:40 – Loser 25 vs Loser 26
16:30 – Chelsea vs DPHS (Prep)
Game 36: 17:20 – Winner 26 vs Winner 27, SF1
Game 37: 18:10 – Winner 28 vs Winner 29, SF2
19:00/19:30 – Parents Social
Sunday, 20 September
Game 38: 07:00 – Winner 30 vs Winner 31
Game 39: 07:50 – Winner 32 vs Winner 33
Game 40: 08:40 – Loser 30 vs Loser 31
Game 41: 09:30 – Loser 32 vs Loser 33
Game 42: 10:20 – Winner 38 vs Winner 39 (9th/10th)
Game 43: 11:10 – Loser 38 vs Loser 39 (11th/12th)
Game 44: 12:00 – Winner 40 vs Winner 41 (13th/14th)
Game 45: 12:50 – Loser 40 vs Loser 41 (15th/16th)
Game 46: 13:40 – Winner 34 vs Winner 35 (5th/6th)
Game 47: 14:30 – Loser 34 vs Loser 35 (7th/8th)
Game 48: 15:20 – Loser 36 vs Loser 37 (3rd/4th)
Game 49: 16:10 – Winner 36 vs winner 37 (1st/2nd)
