Worthing withstood a late City of Bristol rally to claim a 6-5 victory in men’s Championship 2 at Watford.

Toby Underwood’s three goals helped Worthing build a 6-3 lead. Bristol had the better of the final period, scoring through Stuart Fennell and Nathan Brown, but just failing to grab a point.
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Manchester Hawks‘ 21-6 defeat of Hucknall featured 11 different scorers, led by Harry Dunkerley (4), Rory Inman (3) and Adam Lecomber (3). Guy Broadhurst hit five in Portobello’s 16-7 win against Castleford. Cheltenham Spartans beat Otter 16-14 and were the only team not to lose a game during the opening weekend.

Photo (Trevor Hyde): Worthing's Zach Kingett (blue cap) battles for possession with Henry Davis, of Bristol.

Durham Palatinates and Southampton completed the first weekend of men’s Championship 3 matches with triple wins.

Durham had to work hard against Rotherham Metro who led 9-8 midway through the third period before goals by Tom Yates (2), Blake Grove and Max Bethel took the students home at 14-12.

Southampton scored four times without reply in the second quarter to take charge of their match against the British Army. They won 11-5, including four goals from Charles Roberts and a Jean-Christophe Heib hat-trick.

Photo (Trevor Hyde): Charles Roberts leads a Southampton attack against the Army.

Manchester Hawks staged a strong finish to edge out Portobello 12-11 in men’s Championship 2 at East Manchester.

The teams were tied at 9-9 towards the end of the third period, but Hawks then scored three times without reply – through Adam Lecomber, James Blenkinsop and Harry Dunkerley – to take charge. Portobello rallied again and replied through Ed Grundy and Guy Broadhurst, but too late to avoid a 12-11 defeat.

After winning their first game, Otter came unstuck at Watford against City of Bristol, who rattled in eight goals in the final period in a 17-10 win. Top marksmen for Bristol were Will Thompson and Tom Whiting, both with four. Cheltenham Spartans fought back to draw 9-9 with Worthing, Rob Parker and Taylor Walsh scoring the only goals of the final period.

Durham Palatinates and Southampton both registered two wins in men’s Championship 3. In their only match, Rotherham Metro outplayed Birmingham 20-7, including five goals each for Ben Alderson and Neil Swainson.

Photo (Trevor Hyde): Joao Martins in action for Worthing at Watford today.

After failing to gain a point in men’s Division 2 during the first phase of the season, Otter bounced back with an exciting late 10-9 victory over Worthing at the start of the Championship 2 programme at Watford today.

Worthing actually started the final period with a 9-7 lead. But two quick goals by Nathan Perren levelled it and it was Omiros Pantazis who claimed the Otter winner a minute from the end.

In contrast, Hucknall, having dropped just one point in men’s Division 3 in the first phase, were well beaten 17-10 by Portobello at East Manchester.
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In men’s Division 3, the Army recovered from 5-1 down to level at 6-6 against Croydon only for Tom Andrews (Photo: Trevor Hyde) to win it at 8-6 for Croydon with two goals – the second just one second from the final whistle. Chinyere Owotor scored four in Durham Palatinates’ 11-6 victory over Birmingham.

Photo, below (Trevor Hyde): Foul . . . Otter's George Mavropoulos tackles Ben Curtis, of Worthing.

Cheltenham’s winning start to the women’s Championship 2 campaign ended when they were edged out 11-10 by Otter Lutra at Walsall today.

Otter’s all-junior team led 5-1 at one stage but Cheltenham gradually fought back and the game reached 10-10 in the final quarter. More than four minutes remained when Sarah Ellis-Keeler scored what proved to be the decisive goal.

Penguin Emperors made it three wins from three games but were pushed all the way by Sheffield Stingrays before winning 7-5. A hat-trick from Rachel Bull took Penguin clear after the sides were locked at 4-4 after two periods.
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Birmingham snatched a point against Southampton when Emma Marshall converted a penalty awarded just nine seconds from the end to make the score 9-9. Welsh Wanderers’ 11-8 defeat of Watford featured seven goals from Rose Griffiths.

Juniors excelled for Watford Saxons in their 7-4 victory over York in men’s Championship 4 at Haberdashers.

Goalkeeper Daniel Moos, aged 16, made several strong saves. And it was a fine solo goal at the start of the final period by another 16-year-old, Josh Barrett, that effectively killed off the York challenge. Barrett shrugged off a couple of would-be tackles before firing home from close range.

After winning twice on day one, Coventry went down 11-9 to Caledonia Storm, who dominated the early stages to lead 6-2. Coventry were the better side later on but missed a number of chances.

Sedgefield, who beat Sheffield Dolphins 8-2, and Watford were the only teams to take maximum points from their weekend games.

Photos (Trevor Hyde): Above - Caelen Milne, of Caledonia Storm, tackles Matt Williams, of Watford Saxons at Haberdashers. Saxons won the game 15-10. 

Below - Good tackle . . . Bridgefield's Jacob Graham (Blue 11) tangles with James Blything, of Invicta Marlins. Graham scored five in Bridgefield's 14-9 victory, giving his side five points from three games over the weekend.

Penguin Emperors scored six in the final period through Catherine du Toit (3), Tilda Williams (2) and Madeline Roberts  to claim a 10-7 victory over Welsh Wanderers in women's Championship 2 at Walsall today.

Day one proved something of a strolll for Cheltenham, who hammered Birmingham 21-1 and followed up with a 16-2 defeat of Welsh Wanderers. Charlotte Martin scored five against Birmingham and Sofia Fountain contributed four in each match.

After the disappointment of losing their first match - 10-5 against Coventry - York City grabbed a point in a dramatic finish to their later clash with Bridgefield in men's Championship 4 at Haberdashers today.

York trailed 6-3 towards the end of the third period. But sharp shooting by Chris Burns, who finished with four goals, gradually hauled York back into the game. Eventually, Nick Boaz's third strike levelled it at 8-8 - with just 20 seconds remaining.

Earlier, Bridgefield trailed 5-3 to Sheffield Dolphins in their first game, only to counter spectacularly in the second period, which they won 7-nil. Eventually, they took both points with a 13-7 win, featuring four goals from Jacob Graham and an Alex Saunders hat-trick.

Connor Keeble (Photo: Trevor Hyde) was unstoppable for Sedgefield, bagging seven in a 14-6 defeat of Invicta Marlins. Watford Saxons relied on goals in the final period from Sam Parry (2), George Sadler and Josh Barrett to edge clear of Caledonia Storm 15-10.

And finally . . . the women’s qualifying tournament is to be held at Walsall, on 2/3 April.

Originally, the event was planned on that same weekend at Northampton. Briefly, it was moved to Liverpool on 8/9 April, which would have benefited the majority of teams from a travel point of view.

Only then was it realised that the date clashed with the Grand National at Aintree, as well as the small matter of Everton’s home match against Manchester United – which meant that booking hotels in the city would be either hugely expensive or impossible.
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So Walsall, 2/3 April, it will be. Apologies if this further rearrangement creates inconvenience for anyone. Teams involved will be St Andrews University, Liverpool Water Beatles, Manchester Comets, Kirkintilloch & Kilsyth, Solihull and Sunderland.

​No fewer than 13 teams – easily a record - will be bidding for places in the British League when the 2022/23 women’s and men’s qualification tournaments take place in April.
 
There are six in the women’s competition, which has been moved from Northampton, 2/3 April, to Liverpool Aquatics Centre, 9/10 April – St Andrews University, Liverpool Water Beatles, Manchester Comets (these were the three bottom-placed teams in Division 3 this season), and Kirkintilloch & Kilsyth, Solihull and Sunderland (all involved in the most recent qualifying tournament but without making the top three).
 
The men’s tournament at Haberdashers on 2/3 April will feature four clubs completely new to BWPL – Avondale, Colchester, Northampton and Radcliffe – plus Bedford, who are aiming to return to the League five years after ending 28 seasons of continuous involvement in the former men’s National League as well as BWPL. Completing the line-up will be Cambridge and Chester, the two lowest-placed teams in Division 5 this season.
 
The top three at each qualifying event progress to Division 3 (women) or Division 5 (men) at the start of the 2022/23 season.