173 1st Team Water Polo After the successes of 2018, the 2019 team had great expectations for the year. These expectations were realised with 4 out of 5 wins in our local games. As a result, we achieved our best 1st term local results since 2013. Although inconsistency remained a challenge, games like the high-scoring win against Westville Boys’ High showed that we could dominate even the strongest opposition. Pretoria Boys High School Festival At this festival we faced all the top Gauteng schools, so we knew we were in for a tough time. We only won one game, against King Edward School, who we have not beaten in many years. The team showed that when they focus and work together, they can compete against any team and as a result we won or drew almost half of the chukkas we played. Our team never lost our enthusiasm, no matter what the score. Winter league Although our first game of the 3rd term was a 2nd loss to Hilton College, it was an improvement on the 1st term result. This set us on a run of five wins followed by losses to Westville Boys’ High School and Clifton College when we were without some of our top players. Clifton Tournament With several senior players either carrying injuries or unavailable due to academic commitments, we were a little short on fitness and personnel to seriously challenge for the playoffs. We started well, but a frustrating loss to Pearson Institute meant we had to play an extra game and face Clifton in the quarter final. Although losing the game, the team played well which gave confidence to the players. We went on to beat Pearson in a rematch and finished in a credible 6th position overall. Top 10 tournament We won our first two pool games and then met Clifton College. We played a fantastic standard of water polo but lost 4-5 in an extremely tight affair. The way we played gave us belief. We went into a quarter final against Maritzburg College and won to set up a semi-final against an unbeaten Hilton College team. We were irresistible in the first half and closed out in a thrilling game to qualify for our first final in many years – against Clifton College. We managed to produce an astonishing performance. We not only matched them play for play, but also led with 14 seconds on the clock! In a game where Clifton WATER POLO 1ST TEAM Back row: Brent Gibson, Menzi Mhlungu, Tyson Andrews, Brett van Noordwyk, Kade Arnot Middle row: Luke du Toit, Oscar Burgess Barker, William Young, Wesley Marshall, Marnus du Toit, Connor Nilsen Front row: Luc Le Clézio, Josh Muller (Captain), Mr Chris Reardon (Coach), Oliver Carmody, Oliver Kenny Water Polo
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