Penguin stay top after the latest round of men’s Championship 2 matches – but it was only in the very last second that they rescued a point in a dramatic 10-10 draw with Worthing at Marlborough College!

After a heavy defeat at the hands of Otter on day one, Worthing were a transformed team, racing into a 3-0 lead early on with goals by George Wood, Alexandru Georgescu and Ilias Tzeraisi. They were 5-3 to the good after two periods and 7-6 after three. And it wasn’t until Lorenzo Cacciola (Photo: Trevor Hyde) scored a breakaway goal two minutes into the last quarter that Penguin led for the first time at 8-7.

A thrilling match went to 8-8, 9-9 and then 10-9 in favour of Worthing. And there were just 12 seconds remaining when Worthing suffered an exclusion and Penguin called a time-out – summoning goalkeeper Elliot McHugh to join a seven-man attack which ended with James Salt equalising with a single, precious second remaining on the clock.

Manchester Hawks are in second place a point behind Penguin after staging a late fightback to beat Durham Palatinates 13-11 at Bolton. Durham were ahead for much of the game and it needed a Lewis Daly man-up goal at the end of the third period to put the Hawks ahead for the first time at 11-10. Daly and 15-year-old Harry Bentham ensured victory with further goals in the last period.

Otter, 17-7 winners against Bristol, and Birmingham, who beat Castleford 15-8, are among teams aiming for top three places and promotion to Division 2 next season when the Championship 2 finale takes place at Haberdashers on 7/8 March.
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Cheltenham Spartans already have one hand on the Championship 3 trophy after resisting a strong challenge from Croydon to win 15-13 at Marlborough College. It was the Spartans’ fifth victory in a dominant campaign, leaving them four points clear of a clutch of teams for whom top three places will be the target when the season finishes at Haberdashers on 14/15 March.

Croydon were very much in contention throughout, trailing only 11-10 after three quarters before Cheltenham took charge. Outstanding for Spartans was first-teamer Michael Thomas (Photo: Trevor Hyde), whose four goals were just as significant as his outstanding work in defence.

At Bolton, Rotherham Metro completed a hat-trick of weekend wins, beating Bridgefield 13-10, including a five-goal haul for Oliver Vodden. York City trailed Tyldesley 9-7 midway through the third period but goals by Liam Fletcher, Joe Rippon, Chris Burns and Nick Boaz set up a 14-11 victory.
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Men's Championship 2 and 3 matches took place today at the Jason Kenny Centre, Bolton, and, much further south, at Marlborough College, where London teams prospered in the early matches.

Championship 2 leaders Penguin collected their fourth win, hammering City of Bristol 18-8, who were in touch until the last quarter, which saw Penguin dominate 8-1. James Salt (5) and Giampaolo de Rosa (4) were the chief marksmen.

In Championship 3, Otter raced clear in the early stages against Worthing and eventually triumphed 18-2, including contributions from Jules Palayer (4), Alex Zachariades (3), Nicholas Corjon (3) and Tim Chambers (3). Then Csaba Rekasi's (Photo: Trevor Hyde) sixth goal 24 seconds from the end earned Croydon a 10-9 victory over Southampton.

Cheltenham Spartans won twice - 14-9 against Southampton, then 14-11 against a spirited young Hucknall team, for whom Ben Naish scored three and goalkeeper Kieran Poland made several strong saves. But, with ex-international Rob Parker in their ranks, the Spartans always had just too much experience. Parker scored six, following his six in the Southampton match.

At Bolton, Manchester Hawks' 21-9 defeat of Castleford in Championship 2 featured 11 different scorers. Birmingham beat Durham Palatinates 12-11, grabbing the winner through Drazen Videc with 36 seconds remaining. In Championship 3, Rotherham Metro claimed maximum points from wins against York 18-9 and Tyldesley 15-11.

The withdrawal of a current BWPL men’s team at the end of this season has thrown a welcome lifeline to Invicta Marlins. Rather than needing to battle for re-entry in 2020/21 via the qualification tournament, they will go straight back into Division 5 next September.

With Chelmsford already having withdrawn from the League, the only “bottom three” men’s team required to re-qualify are Watford Saxons – who face three new applicants, Grantham, Sedgefield and Warley in a one-day event at Walsall, 4 April.

Fixtures for Walsall – and for the seven-team women’s qualifier at Northampton, 28/29 March – are now available on the fixtures pages.  

Liverpool Lizards and Otter ended all square at 8-8 in the women's Super 5s at Ponds Forge, Sheffield, much of the drama being confined to a nerve-racking final two minutes.

With 1.41 to go, Izzy Dean scored following a Liverpool exclusion to put the London side 7-6 ahead. Milly Wordley immediately replied for Liverpool; then, with 35 seconds remaining, Molly Boniface-Ashton edged Liverpool ahead at 8-7. Otter rallied again - and levelled the match when Peggy Etiebet scored just ten seconds from the end.

In the other women's Super 5s fixture, Annie Clapperton claimed another seven goals as Manchester defeated Sheffield Sharks 14-4. Notable for Sheffield was a rare strike by ex-international Linzi Gaymond - at 58, presumably the oldest player to score a Super 5s goal!

In the men's Super 5s, ex-Olympian Jack Waller achieved the rare feat of scoring ten as Invicta hammered Lancaster 23-10. It was all too easy for Manchester, who strolled to a 26-5 victory over a Solihull team disrupted by injuries.

Caledonia maintained their 100 per cent record in women's Championship 1 with a 11-7 defeat of Birmingham, including four goals from Nicola Tate. Lowri Skyrme netted seven for Welsh Wanderers, 12-10 winners against Mid Sussex Marlins.

Photo (Trevor Hyde): Liverpool's Molly Boniface-Ashton makes sure Katy Cutler, of Otter, makes no further progress.

The referees' academy continues to play a vital role in the League, helping to develop some of the country's most promising young officials.

During the weekend of matches at Ponds Forge, Sheffield, the current group attended a BWPL-sponsored seminar which included match videos and was led by former international referee Andy Allen, assisted by current international referee Damien Taylor and Rhys Tamlyn - all three are members of the BWPL Delegate Group, which is chaired by Jeff Parker.

The Delegate Group will be recruiting new faces to form next season's academy.

​Photo (Trevor Hyde): L-R: Damien Taylor, Andy Allen, Michael Cousins, Matt Graves, Sam Muir, Alex Johnstone, Rhys Tamlyn.

"We never give up!" That will be the motto of City of Bristol girls from now on after their stunning 16-13 victory over Mid Sussex Marlins in women's Championship 1 at Ponds Forge, Sheffield.

A three-goal winning margin sounds comfortable enough - except for the fact that, at the start of the second period, MSM were racing clear with a 7-0 lead! Then Bristol stirred, quickly cutting the deficit to 9-7 and eventually taking the lead for the first time at 10-9 in the third. After that, it was comparatively straightforward, both Heather Tomlinson and Diana Teggi finishing with five goals. 

There were dramatic last minute finishes in two Super 5s matches.

Liverpool Lizards beat Coventry 10-9, levelling at 9-9 3.48 from the end with a Katie Hesketh goal, followed by Lauren Tasker's winner with just 48 seconds remaining. 

In the men's competition, Solihull lost goalkeeper James Alton early on to a hand injury against Lancaster and switched Krishan Kaushal to the no 1 cap. His contribution included saving a penalty - subsequently to prove invaluable as his team snatched an 11-10 victory. Twenty-six seconds remained when Ryan Padbury took advantage of the new corner rule to put the ball in play, cut infield and set up the winner for Matt Madden.  

Photos (Trevor Hyde): Above - Anna Motley, of Sheffield Stingrays, tries a backhander under pressure from Caledonia's Alison Tate at Ponds Forge today. The Scots won the Championship 1 game 12-6. Below -  Joel Abbott attempts a shot for Sheffield against Invicta in the final Super 5s game of day one. Sheffield won 13-11.

City of Manchester continued to set a hot pace in the men's and women's Super 5s at Ponds Forge, Sheffield, today.

Sheffield, double winners at Aldershot on the first weekend of competition, were totally outplayed in the men's competition. Within a minute and a half of the start of the second quarter, Manchester were 10-1 up - and they maintained the pressure all the way through, eventually triumphing 21-7. Andrea de Caro and Dan Paddon were the lead scorers, with five apiece.

Manchester's girls were almost as dominant, leading Coventry 9-1 after two periods on the way to a 13-4 victory. Coventry rallied in the third quarter, which they actually won 2-1 - despite having two penalties saved by Jade Smith. Maya Srinivasan made some good saves for Coventry in the later stages, but Manchester always had control. Annie Clapperton, the division's top scorer, claimed another five.

Sheffield Sharks edged a 6-5 win against Otter. The London side recovered from 4-2 down to level at 5-5 at the start of the last quarter; almost immediately, Amelia Peters' fourth goal proved the winner.

In women's Championship 1, Honour Grimes scored four for Tyldesley in a 13-6 defeat of Welsh Wanderers. Birmingham were 9-6 in arrears against Hucknall but salvaged a point at 9-9 as Erin Jones, Emma Buckroyd and Sancha Tonks scored. 

Photos (Trevor Hyde): Action today from Ponds Forge, showing Manchester men (above) defending against Sheffield; and goalkeeper Annie Holt and the Tyldesley under pressure against Sheffield Stingrays in women's Championship 1.

Trevor Pledger, well known for his lifelong water polo involvement as player, coach and administrator, has been nominated by the BWPL committee as the League’s new president.

He will succeed Pippa Jones, who hands over the reins at the annual meeting in Birmingham on 10 May after completing seven years’ outstanding service.

Trevor, originally a national standard breaststroke swimmer, was introduced to water polo by Alf Jordan at the Chelmsford club. At Kings School, Grantham, he came under the expert guidance of coach Jim Caulfield; then, after playing throughout his time studying at Birmingham University and Leeds Polytechnic, Trevor moved into coaching while teaching at the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle.

From 1986, he taught at Bolton School, his coaching partnership with Mike Glover – through the school and, later, City of Manchester – producing so many fine players.

Trevor succeeded Trevor Hyde as English Schools’ water polo co-ordinator and subsequently became ESSA President.
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Now retired from teaching, Trevor has been a play zone official at the London Olympics, European and Commonwealth Championships, as well as becoming a BWPL delegate. He spends much of his time in Malta where he is a member of the Exiles club, helping facilitate a number of successful schools and club tours.
Photo: Karl Kramer Photography
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The British League committee have approved membership applications for next season from no fewer than SEVEN teams – guaranteeing some fierce competition when the women’s and men’s qualifying tournaments take place.

Among the women, there are three completely new entries – Durham Palatinates, St Andrew’s University (Scotland) and Solihull. They will take part in a qualifier at Northampton, 28/29 March, together with Sunderland (aiming to re-enter after missing out in last year’s qualifying tournament). 

The men’s qualifier takes place at Walsall on 4/5 April. Sedgefield, from the North-East, are the only complete newcomer to BWPL competition. They join two teams with plenty of national league experience in the past, Grantham and Warley. Chelmsford, who would also have been involved as one of the bottom three in Division 5, have withdrawn from the League.
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