Manchester Comets waited for the final day of the women's Division 3 programme at Manchester Aquatics Centre to record their first win - 12-11 against Southampton.

Southampton were 6-5 up in the third period but then fell apart as Manchester hit back to build a 12-7 advantage, including two goals each for Harriet Dickens (Photo: Trevor Hyde), Fran Collings and Victoria Hawkins. Rachael Mell scored three for Southampton.
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It was easy for Cheltenham in their final match. Youngsters led the way as they hammered Liverpool Water Beatles 21-2, with 16-year-old Priya Kennedy scoring eight and Charlotte Martin, aged 15, five. Exeter finished top of the table but had to battle to resist a Rotherham Metro rally before winning 10-9. At one point, Exeter led 7-1.

In the final match of the Division 3 programme, Liverpool Water Beatles claimed their first win - 9-4 against Manchester Comets. Hannah Pyper, who has only just celebrated her 13th birthday, scored twice. Penguin Emperors finished in third place thanks to a 9-7 victory over Watford.

Watford’s girls will need to requalify for next season via the play-off tournament, despite putting up a brave performance in women’s Division 3 at Manchester Aquatics Centre.

Their day began well enough as Farida Elsayed’s hat-trick helped earn an 8-4 victory over Liverpool Water Beatles. It meant Watford had to win their second game of the day, against Rotherham Metro, to retain a chance of making the top five – meaning a step-up to Championship 2.

But Rotherham were just too strong, leading all the way and reaching 14-9 before a Watford rally occurred too late, making the final score 14-12. Emily Crossley (7), Vicky Bowen (4) and Lucy Hobman (3) scored the goals for Rotherham, while 16-year-old Catalina Granger contributed five for Watford, including four in the final period. In their first game, Rotherham beat Manchester Comets 16-9.

Cheltenham’s 100 per cent record was demolished by Exeter, whose 10-5 win put the Devon side – newcomers to BWPL this season – on top of the table. Both teams were already guaranteed progress to Championship 2. Exeter were in control after racing into a 5-0 first quarter lead, including three goals from Jai Powell.
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Penguin Emperors made sure of their Championship 2 spot, Alice Woods scoring four in a 10-6 victory over Southampton. Watford will be joined by Liverpool Water Beatles and Manchester Comets in the qualification tournament.

Photo (Trevor Hyde): Audrey Tata, of Penguin Emperors.

It’s not unique for a player to score 12 goals in a match – but to end up on the losing side?

The unfortunate hot-shot was none other than GB 2012 Olympic star Rob Parker, whose heroics on behalf of Cheltenham Spartans couldn’t prevent his team losing 17-16 to City of Birmingham in men’s Division 3 at Manchester Aquatics Centre.

For Birmingham, it was a vital result, raising them into the top five in the table, which is the qualification target for teams moving to Championship 2 in the second half of the season. Birmingham held an early lead but found themselves trailing 12-9 to Parker-power Spartans midway through the third period.

Birmingham battled their way back to 13-13, then into a 17-15 lead – which was just enough to make the difference in the end. Birmingham’s chief marksmen were Nathan Wilkes (6), Drazen Videc (5) and Ben Cartwright (4). 

Castleford also improved their hopes of a top five slot as Matt Lawtey netted four in a 7-5 defeat of Manchester Hawks. The division’s leading scorer, Penguin’s Giampaolo de Rosa, collected six more in an 18-12 victory over Croydon; then Otter made it six wins from six by defeating Southampton 13-9.

Photo (Trevor Hyde): Drazen Videc.

Charlie Brogan had a fair excuse for not attending British Swimming's Athlete of the Year awards at the weekend - he was busy helping Cheltenham bag five points from three matches in men's Division 1 at Haberdashers.

The burly 17-year-old earned the male award, while the female winner was 19-year-old Lily Turner (Photo: Trevor Hyde), the Otter player currently based at the University of California.

Also absent from the awards was the Coach of the Year - Solihull's Phil Powell, currently touring the world on a well-earned sabbatical. Phil led Solihull to the British League title in 2017 and has also coached the England and GB under-17 teams. 

Invicta pushed champions City of Manchester all the way in men's Division 1 at Haberdashers before suffering a 9-6 defeat - a result that means they are struggling to make the Super 5s for another year.

Polytechnic, beaten 10-7 by Lancaster in another key qualification game, are now definitely heading for Championship 1. Sutton & Cheam, despite a battling 9-9 draw with Sheffield, may well join them. For Invicta, the situation is clear - they need points from clashes with Cheltenham and Poly on the final weekend to have any chance of upsetting the odds.

The day produced another series of exciting matches. Sutton were 9-6 down against Sheffield before grabbing a point at 9-9 thanks to a speculative backhander from Ryan Symington, a Chris Evans goal, then a man-up equaliser from Ali Wakeling with 1.39 remaining.

Lancaster's Super 5s prospects depended to a significant extent on their fixture with Poly, which they won 10-7. Tom Curwen's six goals made the difference.

Invicta stormed into a 4-1 lead against Manchester, who then fought back to 4-4 at the end of the second, then 7-6 after three. Dan Paddon (Photo: Trevor Hyde) and Andrea de Caro claimed the late goals that ensured the points for the champions

A superb weekend of high quality games ended with Cheltenham and Solihull drawing 10-10. Cheltenham edged 10-9 ahead in the last quarter thanks to two super goals - one a lob, then a sharp, angled shot from distance - from Alejandro Sanchez before Pawel Wielogoiski levelled from a man-up.

In men's 4 at Matlock, Hucknall beat York City 12-10 to complete an outstanding first half of the season with a 100 per cent record.

With Super 5s places up for grabs, men's Division 1 produced a series of cliffhanger games at Haberdashers' School today. The drama developed like this:

56 seconds from the end of Invicta v Sutton & Cheam, Nick Jackson's backhander grabbed a point for Invicta in a 9-9 draw. Invicta trailed 4-1 early on but they gradually fought back to take the lead for the first time at 8-7 midway through the last period. Stephen Bayles' seventh goal, plus another from Chris Evans, edged Sutton 9-8 ahead before the Jackson strike.

54 seconds from the final whistle, Cheltenham defeated Sheffield 11-10 with a winner from Alejandro Sanchez - his sixth of a thrilling match. The game went from 1-1 to 2-2, to 3-3 . . . and all the way through goal by goal to 10-10. It was that close! Joel Abbott's goals - he finished with six - had kept Sheffield afloat earlier in the game.

57 seconds remained when Sean King's (Photo: Trevor Hyde) goal gave Invicta, in their second game of the day, a 9-8 victory over Lancaster. Key period of the game came when, in space of less than two minutes, Invicta hit back from 5-2 to 5-5 - and would have gone to 6-5 but for a penalty save by Lancaster keeper Marc Robinson. John Pratt scored a couple of superb solo goals for Lancaster late on, but Invicta claimed the points. 

Cheltenham and Polytechnic were locked at 10-10 at the start of the final period, then goals by Will Middleton (2) and Joe Berry swept Cheltenham to a 13-10 win.

Earlier in the day, champions Manchester beat Polytechnic 10-8, building a commanding 9-5 lead by the start of the final period. Solihull defeated Sutton 12-6.

Tom Endy's fifth goal just 32 seconds from the end gave Hucknall a thrilling 15-14 victory over Tyldesley in men's Division 4 at Matlock today. The win gave Hucknall maximum points from six matches.

Jacob Graham starred for Bridgefield, scoring six in a 13-8 defeat of the British Army. Bridgefield followed up with a 21-11 win against Cambridge, guaranteeing their move up to Championship 3 alongside Hucknall, Rotherham Metro, York and Tyldesley. The Army, Cambridge and Coventry drop to Championship 4.

Is your club planning to apply for membership of the British League in the 2020/21 season? This is a reminder that the deadline for applications is not too far away - 31 December (see League Rule 4.3.1).
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We now have provisional dates and venues for the women’s and men’s qualification tournaments.  Women – 28/29 March 2020, Northampton School for Boys. Men – 4/5 April, Walsall Gala Baths.

On a dramatic final day of men’s Division 5 matches at Walsall, Invicta Marlins – by the narrowest of margins – ended up as one of the three teams to miss out on Championship 4 places in the New Year.

It all came down to the very last game involving Newport and Leeds. Marlins needed Leeds to win as it would have left Marlins and Newport level on seven points in fifth and sixth places – but with Marlins taking precedence on the basis of a single-goal victory when those teams met earlier in the season!

In the event, Newport saved their bacon by beating Leeds. But it was only by 10-9 and courtesy of a winning goal from Isaac Bowen just a minute from the end. In the later stages, Leeds had raised Invicta’s hopes by fighting back from 7-4 down to level at 9-9.

So it’s Invicta, Chelmsford and Watford Saxons who will drop out in the second half of the season, with the option of applying for readmission in 2020/21 via the qualification tournament.

Invicta Marlins were well beaten in their final game – 14-7 by Sheffield Dolphins, who join Caledonia Storm, Newport, Chester and Leeds in Championship 4.