Champs too cool for pool
St Andrew’s reigned supreme at the 43rd annual Vides water polo tournament as the team from Grahamstown defended their title in an electrifying penalty shootout against Reddam from Cape Town in East London at the weekend.
The match finished level at 4-4 after fulltime, but the champions held their nerve to claim their fourth Vides title in the past six years.
They overcame a tough field in which Paul Roos and Grey High were tipped as the favourites but ended up battling it out for the bronze, with Grey emerging victorious 7-2.
“It was a great tournament, we had a fantastic three days of water polo,” tournament organiser Mike Cousins said.
“Everything went smoothly at Selborne and Hudson and then we had a wonderful final to end it all off.
“St Andrew’s are deserved winners. I think the top four teams who made the semis were the best teams in the tournament and then, in the final, St Andrew’s just managed the bigger moments better than Reddam.”
In the final it was a good start from Reddam that saw them leading 2-1 at the end of the first chukka, thanks to goals from Jack Bremer and Riccardo Pizzimbone, while St Andrew’s replied through Joshua Cowen.
The second chukka was then all St Andrew’s’, but they struggled to break through the Reddam defence, and missed out on several opportunities.
Just as it looked like they would go into halftime trailing, Matthew Hillary slotted in the equaliser with 30 seconds remaining, making up for missing a sitter a minute earlier.
The third chukka was an even affair, with both teams’ solid defence forcing each other to shoot from long range.
Reddam’s Thomas Ackerman eventually found himself open in the hole to slam the ball past the St Andrew’s keeper with a minute and 25 seconds left in the chukka.
Reddam thus went into the final chukka with a 3-2 lead, but a frantic minute-and-a-half period halfway through the final stanza saw St Andrew’s pull level through Joel Vides, Reddam go back in the lead through Ackerman’s second, and St Andrew’s equalise again through Hillary’s second.
This sent the game to penalties and it was St Andrew’s who held their nerve as they scored all three shots, while a save from St Andrew’s keeper Nicholas Sutherland against Reddam’s Bremer proved to be the difference.
“We are thrilled to come away with the Vides title again,” St Andrew’s coach Graeme Lucas-Bull said.
“It is a testament to these boys’ mental strength, their captaincy and their hard work leading up to this tournament.
“I think it comes down to a bit of grit from the boys.
“Although they are young, six of them have over 100 caps for the first team, the captains have almost 300 caps between them, so it is an enormous achievement for these young men.
“It was a bit tighter than we would have hoped. I think we created enough opportunities but I think with a young side the occasion got to them a bit.
“This is a very special tournament for the team to win and as a coach I have been here four times and won it three times, so it is very special for me too.”
In other results, Grey College from Bloemfontein enjoyed a great tournament and rounded it out by edging St Albans 5-4 to finish sixth.
Hosts Selborne had to settle for seventh after they were just beaten by St Andrew’s 8-7 in the quarterfinals, then pipped 5-4 by Grey Bloem in the positional playoffs.
This set them up with a local clash against Stirling, which they won 6-5 to end their tournament on a high.
● The St Andrew’s U14 team excelled in the Pitcairn tournament in Cape Town, reaching the final.
However, Rondebosch proved too strong in the decider, winning 5-1. ● The St Andrew’s second team attended the annual Oakhill Chukka Festival in Knysna and put up fine performances in all their games.
Due to his outstanding work in the goals, along with his fantastic distribution, Oliver Rose was nominated as the team’s most valuable player, and Grant Leach and William Hall were the leading goalscorers for the team with 11 each.