{"id":33055,"date":"2024-01-20T19:23:45","date_gmt":"2024-01-20T17:23:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=33055"},"modified":"2024-01-20T19:23:45","modified_gmt":"2024-01-20T17:23:45","slug":"domination-from-kearsney-and-dhs-on-opening-weekend-in-the-pool","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=33055","title":{"rendered":"Domination from Kearsney and DHS on opening weekend in the pool"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_33077\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-33077\" style=\"width: 400px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-33077\" src=\"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/clifton-ollie-ditz-240124-400x259.jpg\" alt=\"Clifton College's 2024 water polo captain, Ollie Ditz.\" width=\"400\" height=\"259\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-33077\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Clifton College&#8217;s 2024 water polo captain, Ollie Ditz.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>There were wins for <strong>Kearsney College<\/strong>, <strong>Durban High School (DHS)<\/strong>, <strong>Westville Boys&#8217; High<\/strong>, <strong>Hilton College<\/strong>, and <strong>Clifton College<\/strong> in the year&#8217;s first weekend of water polo action in <strong>KwaZulu-Natal <\/strong>on Saturday.<\/p>\n<p>Kearsney and DHS were the big winners, scoring over 20 goals each, and in the process thumping <strong>Glenwood High<\/strong> and <strong>St Charles<\/strong> College respectively.<\/p>\n<p>The weekend&#8217;s action began at Kearsney where the hosts were brutal against a promising Glenwood side, and that showed when they rushed into a 5-0 lead in no time at all in the first chukka, with their first goal coming before 20 seconds had been played.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Blake Kruger<\/strong>\u00a0and <strong>Thomas Aylward<\/strong> were both sublime in front of goal and came out firing in the second quarter to double their team&#8217;s tally to 10, while Glenwood was kept in the match courtesy of a hattrick by <strong>Matthew Botha<\/strong>, and a solitary goal by <strong>Blake Gardener<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Heading into the third chukka, the home side led 10-4, but they quickly changed the complexion of the match.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Nick Rodda&#8217;s<\/strong> side hammered home a mammoth 10 goals, while conceding only one, to take a 20-6 lead into the final quarter.<\/p>\n<p>They kept that momentum going in the last chukka, closing down most of Glenwood&#8217;s attacking opportunities while clinically slotting their chances.<\/p>\n<p>In an effort to keep Glenwood at bay, the hosts rotated their goalkeepers and introduced <strong>Elihle Hadebe<\/strong>, who represented KZN u19B last year, for the final two chukkas, and he conceded only three goals, while their attack, led by <strong>Aylward<\/strong>, <strong>Kruger<\/strong>, and <strong>Luca Sandri,<\/strong> kept finding a way through the Glenwood defence, leading Kearsney to a very comfortable 29-7 win.<\/p>\n<p>Try as they might in the final two quarters, Glenwood was overpowered and outplayed.<\/p>\n<p>There were five hat-trick scorers in the Kearsney team: <strong>James Pohl<\/strong>, <strong>Thomas Francke<\/strong>, <strong>Thomas Aylward<\/strong>, <strong>Luca Sandri<\/strong>, and <strong>Blake Kruger<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Around The Province<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In Pietermaritzburg, <strong>Durban High School<\/strong> overran St Charles, who are taking a step up in competition before the unveiling of a state-of-the-art indoor aquatic centre in the near future, which will surely lead to a huge uptick in their fortunes. On Saturday, though, DHS raced to an emphatic 20-1 triumph.<\/p>\n<p>The visitors dominated crucial aspects of the contest and kept growing the goal-scoring gap as the chukkas went by.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Marnu Koekemoer<\/strong>, <strong>Adrian Truter<\/strong>, <strong>Kirk Wilson<\/strong>, <strong>Ruan Basson<\/strong>, and <strong>Ryan Spooner<\/strong> all enjoyed stellar games as the Horseflies side got their season off to a winning start.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dylan Cronje<\/strong>&#8216;s men will take a solid boost of confidence with them as they prepare to battle an in-form Kearsney team next week.<\/p>\n<p>Westville will also be satisfied with the way they started the new year, scoring a 12-6 win over Maritzburg College in Pietermaritzburg. <strong>Rhys Hall<\/strong> scored half of his team&#8217;s goals, while a double by <strong>Jared Byleveldt<\/strong> and solitary goals by <strong>Calvin Stanley<\/strong>, <strong>Calvin Deyzel<\/strong>, <strong>Drew Hollingsworth<\/strong>, and <strong>Max Scully<\/strong> secured the win.<\/p>\n<p>Hilton College got the better of <strong>Northwood<\/strong>, thumping the boys from the north of Durban by 10 goals in a 16-6 win.<\/p>\n<p>Paul Martin\u2019s Clifton College hosted <strong>Michaelhouse<\/strong> in Durban in front of an enthusiastic crowd at the <strong>Clifton Aquatic Centre<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Michaelhouse shocked the hosts with an early score, but Clifton, playing with assurance, netted five of their own without reply. From there, it was almost a case of one-for-one as the match ended 11-5 in favour of Clifton.<\/p>\n<p>They&#8217;ve given up a lot of experience from their outstanding 2023 side, but Clifton still returns KZN u19A players, <strong>Ollie Ditz<\/strong> and <strong>Ross Strauss<\/strong>, and <strong>Ethan Lyne<\/strong>, the 2024 Head Boy, who represented KZN u19B. Goalkeeper Strauss, in particular, pulled off some remarkable saves in the early going of their win.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Results<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Kearsney 29-7 Glenwood<br \/>\nDurban High School 23-1 St Charles<br \/>\nHilton 16-6 Northwood<br \/>\nWestville 12-6 Maritzburg College<br \/>\nClifton 11-5 Michaelhouse<\/p>\n<p><strong>Scorers<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Kearsney (29)<\/strong>: James Pohl (3), Thomas Francke (3), Thomas Aylward (6), Levi Thom (2), Luca Sandri (5), Ryan Sim, Robert Smith (2), Oliver Ludwig, Blake Kruger (6). <strong>Glenwood (7)<\/strong>: \u00a0Matthew Botha (3), Blake Gardener (2), Kyron De Kok (2).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Westville (12)<\/strong>: Jared Byleveldt (2), Rhys Hall (6), Calvin Stanley, Calvin Deyzel, Drew Hollingsworth, Max Scully. <strong>Maritzburg College (5)<\/strong>: Mumford (3), Jansen, Robinson, Goddard.<\/p>\n<p><strong>DHS (23):<\/strong> Adrian Truter (4), Kirk Wilson (2), Ruan Basson (5), Jack Bowen, Blake Davidson, Riccardo Girrodo (3), Chris Dennysen, Zion Smith, Marnu Koekemoer (5), Ryan Spooner (2). <strong>St Charles (1)<\/strong>: Connor Segar.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Michaelhouse<\/strong> <strong>(5)<\/strong>: Reece Rezac, Bryn Retzlaff, Keegan Elliot, Oliver Guy, Nicholas Smithers. <strong>Clifton (11): (Scorers not provided).<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Hilton (16)<\/strong>: Meyer Malherbe (3), Tristan Uys (2), Garrick Phillips (2), Mitchell Wilson (2), Andrew Schnell (2), Mich Garreau (2), Thomas Taylor (2), Retief Malherbe. <strong>Northwood (6):<\/strong> (<strong>Scorers not provided<\/strong>).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There were wins for Kearsney College, Durban High School (DHS), Westville Boys&#8217; High, Hilton College, and Clifton College in the year&#8217;s first weekend of water polo action in KwaZulu-Natal on Saturday. Kearsney and DHS were the big winners, scoring over 20 goals each, and in the process thumping Glenwood High and St Charles College respectively. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":33077,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33055"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33055\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}