The annual St Andrew’s Shield Watepolo Tournament took place at the St Andrew's and DSG pools during the weekend.
The annual St Andrew’s Shield Watepolo Tournament took place at the St Andrew's and DSG pools during the weekend.
Sixteen teams took part, including two highly rated teams from outside the Eastern Cape – Clifton, from Durban, and Reddam House, from Cape Town. The tournament was split into the Shield competition for the top eight sides, and the Plate competition for the other eight sides.
The St Andrew's 2nd and 3rd teams competed in the Plate competition, with the 3rd team winning three of their five matches and finishing 5th overall, ahead of the 1st teams of Hudson Park, Port Rex and Graeme. The 2nd Team won four out of six matches, losing in the semi-finals of the Plate competition to the eventual winners, Grey 2nd team, and finishing fourth overall.
Grey 2nd team beat Alexander Road in the Plate final, with Woodridge beating St Andrew’s 2nd team for third place. “The Shield competition was keenly contested, with all eight sides showing they had the potential to win the tournament,” said tournament organiser and St Andrew's coach, Graham Creese.
The St Andrew's 1st team won their opening pool game against Selborne 12–4, and Kingswood made it a double for the Grahamstown sides with a thrilling 5–4 win over Selborne later in the day. The game between St Andrew's and Clifton was keenly contested, but St Andrew's was unable to convert their opportunities and lost 4–1. In the final game in Pool A, St Andrew's beat Kingswood 8–3 in front of a large crowd to qualify for the quarter-finals in second place in their pool, behind Clifton.
Kingswood also qualified in third place. Pool B was topped by Reddam House, ahead of Grey PE and Pearson. St Andrew's produced a vintage performance in the quarter-finals to run away 9–1 winners against Pearson and set up a semi-final against Reddam. In the other quarter-final, Kingswood put up a brave fight before losing 5–2 to Grey PE.
The semi-finals produced some top-quality water polo, with St Andrew's fighting back from 3–1 down in the final chukka to draw 3–3 with Reddam. An exceptional goal from Reddam in extra time eventually knocked St Andrew's out 4–3. In the other semi-final, Grey produced a fine performance to outlast Clifton 4–2. In the third-place playoff, St Andrew's proved their mettle to beat Clifton 4–3 in another thrilling encounter.
In the final, played in front of a large crowd, Reddam just managed to hold off Grey in a tight match, winning 3–2, to take home the St Andrew’s Shield for the first time. The tournament side selected at the conclusion of the tournament included three players from Reddam, two from Grey, one from Pearson, two from Clifton, and three from St Andrew’s: Michael Houghton, Stuart Stopforth and Rupert Kieser.
Kingswood was awarded the Spirit of the Game trophy for their fine contribution to this year’s tournament. “Wonderful weather, big crowds, and some highly competitive and top-quality water polo made this year’s St Andrew’s Shield tournament a great success. Congratulation to the winners, Reddam, and to all the sides that contributed to the success of the tournament,” said Creese.
