​Sheffield’s successes – winning against champions City of Manchester and Polytechnic - on the final weekend of men’s Division 1 matches at Coventry proved all in vain as they missed out on progress to the Super 5s.

A 9-6 victory today (1 December) over Polytechnic briefly enabled Sheffield to leapfrog into third place. But that was as good as it got. There was brief hope for Sheffield as Cheltenham, needing a win to clinch their Super 5s slot, trailed 6-5 to Sutton & Cheam in the third period. But there was no containing Cheltenham after that – goals by George Davies (3), Alistair Bruce (2), Louie McKie, Jake Polster and Matt Witcomb (Photo: Trevor Hyde) swept them to a 13-7 win.

Sheffield’s only hope then was that Welsh Wanderers would come unstuck against Penguin in the final game of the day. That was never likely as Dan Laxton (7) and Ceri Griffiths (6) led the Welsh to a storming 20-9 victory. The final Griffiths goal was extra special – the result of an “assist” from his 61-year-old Dad Jon, a Wanderers stalwart of many years’ standing who enjoyed a one-off appearance late on.

It all meant that Wanderers finished third behind Manchester and Polytechnic, with Penguin, Cheltenham and Sheffield below them, all on 12 points. Sheffield took sixth place, having lost to Cheltenham and Penguin early in the season.
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Sheffield go to Championship 1 in the second phase of the season along with Sutton & Cheam and Watford and the top five teams in Division 2 – Worthing, Sedgefield, Portobello, Invicta and Caledonia.

​Expect the unexpected . . . surprise results were certainly on the menu at the evening session of day one matches in men’s Division 1 at Coventry.

How’s this for a first win of the season, Watford defeating Penguin 14-13 after a real seesaw battle which reached 12-12 midway through the final period. Then, crucially, Watford struck twice – through Walter Vecchiarini and Sam Carling – to make it 14-12 with little more than two minutes to go. Andre Savic responded with a man-up conversion 54 seconds from the end, but Watford held on to secure the points.

There was more drama to come as Sheffield beat Manchester 15-13, breaking clear late on with quick-fire goals by Chris Armstrong (2) - (Photo: Trevor Hyde) - and Jordan Elliot (2) to take the score from 10-10 to 14-11.

The day rounded off with Cheltenham beating Welsh Wanderers 13-10, including three goals from Alistair Bruce and two apiece from George Davies and Harrison Walsh.

Net result of all the excitement is that Polytechnic, Manchester and Penguin are already guaranteed progress to the Super 5s in the second half of the season, with tomorrow’s matches deciding the remaining places.

Cheltenham, chasing points to secure qualification for the men’s Super 5s, stunned City of Manchester by taking an early 5-0 lead in Division 1 at Coventry today – only for a dramatic rally in the final period to snatch a 10-9 victory for the champions.

Goals by Louie McKie, George Davies, George Glover, Tom Hunt and Alistair Bruce gave Cheltenham their commanding start and they were still 8-6 ahead at the start of the fourth quarter.

It wasn’t until 1.36 from the end that Rory Inman’s goal put Manchester ahead for the first time at 9-8. Dan Paddon made it 10-8 with 54 seconds remaining; Tom Hunt’s reply for Cheltenham followed quickly, but too late to salvage a draw.

Polytechnic also left it late to defeat Sutton & Cheam 11-9. After trailing for much of the game, Sutton edged into an 8-7 lead with a goal by Ashley Castle (Photo: Trevor Hyde) near the end of the third period. Strikes by Calum de Jager (2) and Kimon Haralambous took Poly clear in the last.

Three goals in the last minute and half by Jo Jenkins-Delf ensured a 15-10 win for Welsh Wanderers against Sheffield after the sides were locked at 8-8 in the third quarter.

Invicta grabbed the final day victory at Gloucester that they needed to ensure progress from men’s Division 2 to Championship 1, but only after a superb battle with Exeter, who went down 18-16.

So close was the match that the Devon side actually led four times. In the end, however, it was the finishing of Invicta’s captain and 2012 Olympian Jack Waller (pictured) that made the difference. He scored nine, none better than the brilliant back-hander that levelled the match at 15-15 just six seconds from the end of the third period.

The game went to 16-16 in the final quarter before Dan Hanlon edged Invicta ahead, followed by a stunning long shot from Will Liddle that beat the outstretched right hand of excellent Exeter goalkeeper Toby Hogg just 29 seconds from the finish.

The five teams qualifying for Championship 1 from Division 2 are Worthing, who completed an unbeaten campaign with an 18-5 victory over City of Bristol, Sedgefield, Portobello, Invicta and Caledonia, whose 13-10 win over Lancaster in their final game at East Manchester pushed Bristol into sixth place.

Bristol, Exeter and Lancaster will be in Championship 2 along with Southampton (who beat Croydon 12-10 to maintain a splendid 100 per cent record in Division 3), Hucknall, Manchester Hawks, Cheltenham Spartans and Bridgefield.
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Sixth-placed Croydon miss phase two but are guaranteed a return to Division 3 next season. Rotherham Metro and Otter, the bottom two, also drop out but have the option of returning next season via the qualification tournament.  

Derby matches produced the tightest of finishes as teams in men’s Division 2 battled at pools 200 miles apart for top five places and the reward of progress to Championship 1 in the New Year.

In the clash of two West Country rivals at Gloucester, City of Bristol gained their second narrow win of the day – 16-15 against Exeter. The sides were locked at 10-10 in the third period at which point Bristol edged ahead 14-10 with goals by Nathan Brown (2), Steffan Williams and Noah Knights-Hume. The lead stretched to 16-13 before Kameron Powell’s two goals for Exeter narrowed the gap – too late to rob Bristol of the points.

East Manchester staged the all-Scottish clash in which Portobello beat Caledonia 11-10. Caledonia trailed for much of the game but narrowed the gap to a single goal when Jason Dickson scored from a man-up chance 2.51 from the end.
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In Division 3, Southampton beat Otter 9-7 to retain their 100 per cent record; Hucknall moved up to second place with their second win of the day - 15-11 against Bridgefield, including five goals by Archer Sauer. 

After the great escape achieved by Worthing women last weekend (taking maximum points from three games to snatch the key fifth qualification spot in Division 2), the club’s men’s team continued their all-conquering season at Gloucester today.

With Vyautas Liubertas, Ben Curtis, Joao Martins (Photo: Trevor Hyde)  and George Wood all scoring three, Worthing beat Exeter 18-9 to make it six wins out of six in Division 2. They will be in Championship 1 in the New Year along with Portobello, who eased to an 11-1 victory over Lancaster at East Manchester – including hat-tricks by Ben Scott, Alessandro de Gaetano and Emil Vin - and Sedgefield, 12-9 winners against Caledonia.

Who else will make the top five? The remaining places will be very much up for grabs as the weekend unfolds, especially after City of Bristol pulled off a dramatic 12-11 win over Invicta. Invicta looked to be heading for victory when they hit back from 10-7 down to lead 11-10 in the final period thanks to goals by Conrad Rhodes (2), Jack Waller – his seventh of the game – and James Blything. Bristol levelled with 1.20 to go through Nathan Brown; then it was Noah Knights-Hume who hit the man-up winner just 26 seconds from the end.
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Southampton maintained their dominance of men’s Division 3, Jacob Graham scoring seven in an 11-8 success against Cheltenham Spartans.  

Penalty shoot-outs, introduced this season in BWPL, were to have a massive impact in deciding where teams would find themselves in the second half of the season.

Drama 1: Otter, needing a win in today’s final match at Bolton to secure a top five spot in Division 1, seemed comfortably on target when they led Liverpool Lizards 10-7 after three periods. But somehow Liverpool contrived to edge the last quarter 3-0, levelling the game at 10-10 – with Liverpool triumphing in the shoot-out 16-15.

The impact? Otter could only finish level on points with Hucknall, who took preference in the table having won when these sides met earlier in the campaign. And so it was Hucknall, along with undefeated City of Manchester, Liverpool, Sheffield Sharks and Cheltenham – winners of a tight final game with Tyldesley, 10-8 – who head to the Super 5s, with Otter, Tyldesley and Coventry in Championship 1.

Drama 2: Liverpool Liver Birds began the final weekend of Division 2 in fourth place. They ended up losing twice and, with teams all around them picking up points, slumping to seventh – which will mean dropping out altogether in phase two and looking at the qualification tournament next April as a possible passage back in. All of which was unfortunate as they finished level on points with Rotherham Metro, who took sixth spot and so are guaranteed a return to League action next season.

Once again, it was the dreaded penalty shoot-outs which signalled Liverpool’s downfall. When the Liver Birds met Rotherham at the very start of the season in September, the game was drawn – then Rotherham won through in the shoot-out, 16-15. In the end, that was enough to earn today's lifeline for the Yorkshire team.

The five Championship 1 qualifiers from Division 2 are Kirkintilloch & Kilsyth, who rounded off their undefeated phase one programme with a superb 20-10 victory over Watford, plus Exeter, Penguin Emperors and Worthing.

What a weekend it was for Worthing! Having arrived with a single point from four matches, they picked up another nine points from games staged after a late reorganisation of venues at London Aquatics Centre and Northampton.

The struggle to avoid the bottom three places in women's Division 2 was the main focus on day one of hastily-arranged matches at the London Aquatics Centre today. And it was teams who began the weekend in danger of slipping down who produced some stunning results. 

The first match set the tone as Worthing, with no previous wins this season, defeated Watford, who were already guaranteed a top five placing together with progress to Championship 1 in phase two of the season. Worthing trailed 7-4 at the start of the third period but, led by five-goal Lillie-Rose Standen, recovered to score seven in the rest of that quarter - enough to ensure a 13-9 victory.

Next up were Exeter, who, with Josephine Lamont-Trickett scoring six, pulled off a vital 18-9 victory over Penguin Emperors.

That left Liverpool Liver Birds needing points, a tough ask against undefeated leaders Kirkintilloch & Kilsyth. They played superbly early on, leading 5-4 after two periods. But the Scots got their act toghether after that. They dominated the second half of the game and triumphed 18-9, including goals by Eugenia Arbus (6) and Joanna Rayner (5).

Along with Worthing, Rotherham Metro, beaten 14-8 in the final game of the day by Watford, took three points after claiming walk-overs due to non-fulfilments by Manchester Comets.

At Bolton, the meeting of two previously undefeated teams in women's Division 1 proved a one-sided affair. Champions City of Manchester raced into an 8-1 lead against Sheffield Sharks by the halfway stage, with Rosie Huck scoring five of her six goals, and went on to win 14-7. Consolation for Sharks is that they are already guaranteed progression to the Super 5s.
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Cheltenham stepped up their bid for a Super 5s slot, beating Hucknall 14-7. There were four goals apiece for Elizabeth Ross and Vicki Hawkins. 

Photo: On the town . . . members of the Rotherham team enjoying a visit to the spectacular London Aquatics Centre, the base for swimming and water polo at the 2012 Olympics.

Some players never lose it . . . as Penguin proved when they won silver medals in the annual Swiss Masters tournament in Montreux.

The competition, involving teams from Germany, Hungary, Spain, Malta, France and the host country, began with Penguin finishing runners-up in their group stage, which took them to the semi-finals where they edged past Budapest Starfish, last year’s tournament winners, in quite a feisty affair.

So it was on to the final where Penguin were up against another Hungarian team, Sventes, who proved just too strong.

Still, any victory abroad over an Hungarian team is always something to celebrate, which Penguin certainly did – “a thoroughly enjoyable time away and a fantastic opportunity to play the game we love in such a fantastic location,” according to club captain Mark Bullerwell.

Penguin line-up, above – Front: Mark Bullerwell, Nick Beard, goalkeeper Sinan Naipoglu, Jerome Read, Miguel Ortiz, Justin Shute, Peter Csorgo, Chris Evans. Back: coach Andy Holt, Wayne Davis, Matty Irish, Piers Martin.
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Sadly, success in Switzerland coincided with news of the death of the great Penguin stalwart Lewis Bloomfield, former president and treasurer of the club and an ever-present first team member in the 1960s. He passed away following a short illness just after his 90th birthday.

The British League is about to break new ground – by staging a first-ever event at the London Aquatics Centre, iconic home of the 2012 Olympics!

In truth, it’s not something we planned months ago. Neither, it is acknowledged, will it happen without the teams involved being put to some inconvenience. But here are the facts:

The third and final weekend of matches in women’s Division 2 is scheduled to take place at Haberdashers School on 16/17 November. But it can’t happen – because the machinery operating the pool’s movable floor system has a problem and needs to be repaired.

The League committee met today and discussed at length various options. Moving to another weekend altogether wasn’t practical, especially as the teams – from as far afield as Exeter and Kirkintilloch & Kilsyth – already have travel and accommodation bookings.

Finding an alternative pool capable of accommodating at short notice a full weekend programme proved impossible. The Committee also dismissed the option of using a pitch much reduced in size at Habs.

So it was agreed that the six-match Saturday programme would take place at the LAC training pool  – with the remaining four matches on Sunday transferring to Northampton Boys’ School.
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League Chairman David Andrews said: “We recognise, of course, that this isn’t an ideal arrangement but we hope our clubs will understand that we have done our best to find a suitable compromise. We will be sending information to all concerned explaining the logistics of the weekend – including revised match times and car parking at the Olympic Park.”