Durban's Clifton beats top teams to win waterpolo title

DURBAN school Clifton overturned a loss to Grey High in the pool phase to claim the St Andrew's Shield waterpolo title in Grahamstown at the weekend.

A total of 22 teams competed in the event, including highly rated teams from outside the province such as Clifton School, St David's Marist and Crawford College from Johannesburg, 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 remaining 14 sides.

Clifton have been unbeaten this year and were the team to beat, which is what Grey managed to do in a titanic contest. The PE boys won 7-6 to top their pool.

In the other pool, St Andrew's drew their opening game against an impressive Pearson team 7-7, producing a thrilling comeback after trailing 7-4 with three minutes remaining.

They beat St David's 10-3 in their second game, and in their final pool game produced an outstanding performance to beat champions Reddam 7-4.

In the quarterfinals, Reddam beat Pearson on penalties after the match was drawn 5-5, and Clifton overpowered Crawford 18-4 to set up a mouthwatering encounter with St Andrew's in the semifinals.

The semifinals produced top quality waterpolo, with Grey defeating Reddam 7-2 and Clifton coming through an outstanding encounter against St Andrew's, winning 8-5.

Clifton showed their quality in the final, controlling the game and shutting down the dangerous Grey attack, eventually winning 4-0, and the St Andrew's Shield for the first time.

The Plate competition was closely contested, with Hudson Park beating Grey seconds 5-2 in the final.

ýIn the Vides tournament in East London last week, St Andrew's again ruled the roost, claiming the title for the second straight year and the third time overall.

In a tight final against Grey High, the Grahamstown school won 7-6.

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COMPETING in the Buffalo and Selborne Sprints Regatta, St Andrew's rowers produced some fine results.

In the Selborne Sprints, the U15s continued their dominance and two quads made it to the A final, with the A quads winning against a strong KES crew. They also took victory in the doubles sculls. In the octuples, St Andrew's were shaded by under half a second by KES.

The Opens saw victory in the second pairs with an outstanding sprint. The first pair finishing third, and the third and fourth fours continued their rivalry with Selborne, finishing second and fourth.

The first eight rowed a fantastic sprint with a photo finish needed to judge the first five places. St Andrew's took second place between St Benedict's and St John's.

The club finished second in the overall competition.

In the Buffalo Regatta, St Andrew's claimed nine podium finishes in the 11 events entered.