{"id":83899,"date":"2025-09-28T18:09:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-28T16:09:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=83899"},"modified":"2025-09-28T18:09:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-28T16:09:11","slug":"hilton-college-holds-off-st-johns-in-clifton-water-polo-tournament-final","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/?p=83899","title":{"rendered":"Hilton College holds off St John&#8217;s in Clifton Water Polo Tournament final"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_83901\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-83901\" style=\"width: 400px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-83901\" src=\"https:\/\/ssschoolsplus.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/water-polo-hilton-thomas-taylor-280925-400x274.jpg\" alt=\"Thomas Taylor was a key performer for Hilton College in the school's unbeaten run to the Clifton Water Polo Tournament title. Photo: Brad Morgan.\" width=\"400\" height=\"274\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-83901\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Thomas Taylor was a key performer for Hilton College in the school&#8217;s unbeaten run to the Clifton Water Polo Tournament title. Photo: Brad Morgan.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Hilton College<\/strong> lifted the <strong>Clifton Water Polo Tournament<\/strong> title on Sunday afternoon after a hard-fought 10-8 victory over <strong>St John&#8217;s College<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>The victory marked a successful return to the <strong>Clifton Aquatic Centre<\/strong> for Hilton coach <strong>Paul Martin<\/strong>, who had previously headed up Clifton&#8217;s water polo programme for a decade.<\/p>\n<p>In the title game, the Midlands&#8217; school opened the scoring after three minutes when their talisman, <strong>Tristan Uys<\/strong>, let rip with a pinpoint missile from long range, into the left-hand corner. He, then, made it 2-0 with a five-metre penalty, confidently converted with a bounce shot into the right corner.<\/p>\n<p>When St John&#8217;s faced <strong>Clifton College<\/strong> in the semi-finals, their heavy press eventually told after they went two goals down, but, against Hilton, they faced a team with some hugely experienced players, who dealt more convincingly with the pressure.<\/p>\n<p>However, St John&#8217;s, as they did in the semi-finals, levelled at 2-2. With less than two minutes to play in the opening chukka, they outflanked Hilton on the left to open their account through <strong>Fu-Nam Chen<\/strong>. Then, just before the end of the six minutes, one of their dangermen, <strong>Christopher Chapman<\/strong> released a rocket to tie the contest.<\/p>\n<p>Hilton, though, responded almost immediately, winning a penalty, which Uys converted to complete his hat-trick. Their swift replies were a feature of the final.<\/p>\n<p>Then, with only seconds remaining in the quarter, St John&#8217;s earned a penalty, too, but goalkeeper <strong>Trent Chubb<\/strong> stoned the shot to ensure Hilton led after the first chukka.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Waterpolo Final - Hilton College vs St John&amp;apos;s College - Clifton Water Polo Tournament - 28 Sept 2025\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/f0Lpwjr8WmM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Early in the second chukka, St John&#8217;s levelled, with Chapman scoring from a similar position to where he fired in their second.\u00a0Once again, though, it was Tristan Uys who inspired a response from Hilton, winning a penalty and slotting it to put his team in front again.<\/p>\n<p>St John&#8217;s was a man up just before the end of the chukka, but Hilton stood firm, with goalkeeper Chubb stopping a shot from the left to end the danger.<\/p>\n<p>Early in the second half, <strong>Andrew Schnell<\/strong>, a standout lock for the Hilton 1st XV, extended his side&#8217;s advantage to two goals by confidently lobbing the goalkeeper. Soon after that, Hilton&#8217;s lead was up to 6-3 when <strong>Bradley van Loggerenberg<\/strong> struck from close range.<\/p>\n<p>St John&#8217;s needed to score next, and they did, with <strong>Nicholas Searle<\/strong> converting a penalty.\u00a0The Johannesburg school, then, counterattacked with a three-on-two opportunity, but they were stymied by the goalkeeper, who pulled off a superb stop with his left hand.<\/p>\n<p>Hilton quickly moved the ball up the pool and it was the excellent Tristan Uys who made St John&#8217;s pay, slotting his fifth goal with a spectacular helicopter shot to make it 7-4.<\/p>\n<p>Uys, though, blotted his copybook when he picked up a red card shortly after that. St John&#8217;s, maybe, had been handed an opportunity to get back into the game, and <strong>Simon Mussett<\/strong> released an accurate shot into the far corner to get his team to within two.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Waterpolo 3rd &amp; 4th - Clifton College vs Kearsney - Clifton Water Polo Tournament - 28 Sept 2025\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/SH_PwkD8pVY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>St John&#8217;s could have pulled to within a goal when Nicholas Searle took a penalty, but his shot hit the inside of the right post and stayed out.<\/p>\n<p>Hilton, after regaining possession, quickly got the ball down the pool to <strong>Mitchel Garreau<\/strong>. Through on the &#8216;keeper in a one-on-one, he was fouled. Garreau took on the responsibility of the penalty shot, beating the &#8216;keeper to the netminder&#8217;s right to make it 8-5 after three chukkas.<\/p>\n<p>When Chapman was kicked out early in the fourth chukka, Hilton coach, Paul Martin, immediately called a timeout and summoned his team to plot a decisive goal-scoring move. St John&#8217;s, though, turned over possession and moved the ball forward quickly, resulting in them winning a penalty.<\/p>\n<p>Simon Mussett took advantage of the chance and buried the ball in the back of the net to make it 8-6 to Hilton. Almost immediately, though, Hilton won a penalty shot at the other end of the Clifton Aquatic Centre pool and Mitchel Garreau increased the Hilton advantage to three goals once more.<\/p>\n<p>No question about it, St John&#8217;s needed to score next. Good ball movement created space for Nicholas Searle, and he finished from close range with just less than two minutes remaining.<\/p>\n<p>Once again, though, Hilton quickly answered, with Garreau beating the &#8216;keeper at the right-hand post to make it 10-7.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Luke Shipway<\/strong> replied for St John&#8217;s in no time at all, firing across the goalie and into the far corner to ensure there would be a tense finish.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Waterpolo 5th &amp; 6th - SACS vs Selborne College - Clifton Water Polo Tournament - 28 Sept 2025\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/8Nj4XJWyYOg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The Johannesburg boys attacked and put Hilton under pressure, but <strong>Garrick Phillips<\/strong> pulled off a critical turnover to end the danger.\u00a0Again, St John&#8217;s attacked, but <strong>Thomas Taylor<\/strong> blocked a shot on goal to keep coach <strong>Jon-Marc de Carvalho<\/strong>&#8216;s boys at bay.<\/p>\n<p>The final minute brought a number of turnovers by both defences before time expired, leaving Hilton College the winners by 10 goals to eight.<\/p>\n<p>Their ability to quickly respond to their oppositions&#8217; goals was their superpower throughout the event, and their offence had a sharper edge than they any other side&#8217;s attack.<\/p>\n<p>Third place went to Clifton College, who got their noses in front against <strong>Kearsney College<\/strong> early and they stayed just out of reach of their KZN rivals, who kept threatening to overhaul them, to claim a 9-7 win.<\/p>\n<p>It was an encouraging showing from a team without a single grade 12 player in the lineup and, with enviable depth in the junior ranks, the Durban school is poised to be a serious contender in the coming seasons in big tournaments everywhere.<\/p>\n<p>For Kearsney, an experienced side, it was, perhaps, a bit of a disappointing tournament, only because a team of their quality would have had their sights set on the title.<\/p>\n<p><strong>SACS<\/strong>, who had been somewhat inconsistent throughout the event, had <strong>Selborne<\/strong>&#8216;s number in the fifth-place playoff, cruising to a 9-3 win.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Michaelhouse<\/strong> ended seventh after an 11-7 win over <strong>Reddam House Constantia<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, <strong>Durban High School (DHS)<\/strong>, who had finished fourth in the very tough Pool C, showed that their group stage opponents had got off lightly by ending ninth with an emphatic 9-4 win over <strong>Westville Boys&#8217; High<\/strong>, who had finished above them in their group where they edged out DHS 9-8.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Affies<\/strong>, who had ended second in Pool B, ultimately finished 11th after a comfortable 12-5 victory over <strong>Paul Roos<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Northwood<\/strong> placed 13th following a 14-6 defeat of <strong>Maritzburg College<\/strong>, and <strong>King Edward VII (KES)<\/strong> picked up their first win in their last outing, romping to a 17-3 win over <strong>Grey College<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>RESULTS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>15\/16: KES 17-3 Grey College<br \/>\n13\/14: Northwood 14-6 Maritzburg College<br \/>\n11\/12: Affies 12-5 Paul Roos Gimnasium<br \/>\n9\/10: Durban High School 9-4 Westville Boys&#8217; High<br \/>\n7\/8: Michaelhouse 11-7 Reddam House Constantia<br \/>\n5\/6: SACS 9-3 Selborne College<br \/>\n3\/4: Clifton College 9-7 Kearsney College<br \/>\n1\/2: Hilton College 10-8 St John&#8217;s College<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hilton College lifted the Clifton Water Polo Tournament title on Sunday afternoon after a hard-fought 10-8 victory over St John&#8217;s College. The victory marked a successful return to the Clifton Aquatic Centre for Hilton coach Paul Martin, who had previously headed up Clifton&#8217;s water polo programme for a decade. In the title game, the Midlands&#8217; [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":83901,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83899","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\/83899","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\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=83899"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83899\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/83901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=83899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=83899"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.ssschoolsplus.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=83899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}