The three teams that missed out on qualification for the women's Super 5s all made winning starts to the Championship 1 campaign at Newport International Village pool today.

Three goals each from Hannah Edwards and Alison Tate earned Caledonia an 11-6 success against Otter Lutra. There were also three goals apiece for Hucknall's India Wilkinson and Amelia Peters in a 10-6 defeat of Tyldesley.

Tegan Stanbach was on target with four as Leeds Sharks easily overcame Penguin Emperors 9-1.

​Picture (Trevor Hyde): High-flying Michaela Smith, of English Roses, does her best to rob Molly Boniface-Ashton, of Liverpool Liver Birds! All to no avail . . . because Molly still scored.

The British League is proud to announce today (17 January) that it is to host a men's international between England and Scotland to help boost the teams' preparations for the Commonwealth Games in Malta next September.

​The revival of possibly the oldest international fixture in the history of the sport will take place at Ponds Forge, Sheffield, on Sunday, 11 February (3.15pm) at the conclusion of a busy weekend of League action involving the men's and women's Super 5s and women's Championship 1.

​BWPL chairman David Andrews said today: "This is a really exciting new venture for the League. We are delighted to have the opportunity to support both countries and, of course, to help facilitate the return of senior men's internationals to this country after a lengthy break."

It's good to hear that Portobello's Keith Anderson is back home in Edinburgh and on the road to recovery after dislocating a shoulder in Saturday's Championship 2 match against Welsh Wanderers at Liverpool and then undergoing an operation.

​Fortunately, immediate help was at hand when the accident happened - in the form of Wanderers' player Charlie Hinder, who is a GP in Somerset.

​Dr Hinder left the match to assist Keith and played no further part in the water, leaving Wanderers to continue without one of their most senior players - and in a match which eventually they lost by a single goal. "The attitude of the Wanderers' team - and Charlie in particular - was a credit to them all and to the sport," said delegate Jeff Parker.

Coventry pushed Manchester all the way before going down 10-6 in the women's Super 5s at Liverpool today.

​The Midlanders actually went into the final period with a 6-5 lead. But it was all Manchester in the final stages as they scored five times - a hat-trick from Stephanie Whittaker, plus strikes from Isobel Howe (one of her four goals) and Hannah Rudman.

​Cecily Turner claimed four for Otter in their 13-7 victory over Sheffield. There were also two goals apiece for Robyn Greenslade, Katie Cutler, Brooke Tafazolli (Photo: Trevor Hyde) and Peggy Etiebet. 

Exeter were involved in two nerve-racking last quarter dramas, resulting in a win and a defeat in men's Championship 1 at Haberdashers today.

The Devon side trailed 9-7 to Sutton & Cheam after three periods. But what a turn-around took place in the last, Exeter hammering four goals by Tom Hutchens (2), Darren Heagarty (Picture: Trevor Hyde) and Balint Benke without a response from their opponents to clinch a dramatic 11-9 win.

​The script changed completely against Invicta. Four goals by Heagarty swept Exeter into an 8-5 lead as late as half way through the last period. Then, perhaps, fatigue from their earlier heroics caught up with the Devon team. Invicta took charge, scoring four times through Pat Baker, Paul Cheetham, Jack Waller and Callum Bailey to edge home 9-8.

​Earlier, Bailey and Waller both contributed four in Invicta's 17-9 defeat of Watford. Of the four sides that played in the opening weekend, only Invicta completed their matches with an unbeaten record.

London side Penguin were the only team to emerge from the opening weekend of men's Championship 2 action with a 100 per cent record. And they did it in style, amassing 49 goals from three victories - the latest, a runaway 16-6 success against Worthing.

​Having squeezed through 11-10 against Welsh Wanderers on day one, Portobello lost out in another nail-biting match. Castleford, led by four-goal Declan Thompson, won 8-7, always retaining a narrow advantage after taking a 3-0 lead early on.

Liverpool Lizards began their bid for another British League Super 5s title with a 16-11 victory over City of Coventry at Liverpool.

​Coventry pushed them hard in the early part of the match, Claire Walmsley claiming a hat-trick to put the Midlanders 6-5 ahead after two periods. After that, Liverpool had the better of the exchanges, although they needed a three-goal rush in the last two minutes to make sure of the points. Liverpool scorers included Lauren Tasker, Katie Hesketh and Kathryn Fowler, all with four.

​Later, Liverpool were held to an 8-8 draw by Otter - a team against whom they suffered a rare loss in phase one of the season. Otter went 6-2 up before Katie Hesketh, who finished with five goals, led a Liverpool rally.

​Isobel Howe netted four as City of Manchester began their campaign with a 13-9 victory over Leeds Sharks. 

Worthing scored three times in the last two minutes to snatch a 9-9 draw against Croydon Amphibians in men's Championship 2 at Haberdashers today.

​Croydon led 6-3 at the halfway stage and still retained a three-goal advantage at 9-6 early in the final period. Then exclusions proved costly for Croydon as Joao Martins and Ben Curtis cut the lead to 9-8 and Martins struck again with a minute remaining on the clock. 

Penguin had no difficulty easing through their first match, beating Southampton 16-9, including five goals from Claudio Bagnoli and four from Drago Ungureanu. Later, Ungureanu helped himself to seven in a 17-10 win against Croydon.

​At Liverpool, also in men's Championship 2, Joe Jenkins-Delf (4), Lewis Gilmour (3) and Dan Laxton (3) were among the scorers in Welsh Wanderers' 17-10 defeat of Castleford.

​Portobello beat Cambridge 13-11, scoring five times in a decisive third period after the sides were locked at 5-5 after two.

​Men's Championship 1 got off to an exciting start as Invicta and Sutton & Cheam shared the points in a 9-9 draw at Haberdashers. Invicta were never ahead until they went to 8-7, then 9-8, in the final quarter. Toby Hook's third goal then provided a Sutton equaliser.

Caledonia Storm completed an impressive three wins on the opening weekend of the men's Championship 4 season at Grantham.

After beating Sheffield Dolphins 14-3 and edging out York City 11-9 on day one, they defeated Leeds 13-6, including another four goals from Ben Parsons.

At Newport, Tyldesley picked up a second win - 14-11 against Watford Saxons. Neil Williams and Addison Brown scored four apiece. Matt Hannah (6) and Ben Greenhill (5) led a Coventry goal spree against Invicta Marlins, who went down 20-11.

Isobel Bates settled for a modest six goals in Mid Sussex Marlins' second victory of the weekend in women's Championship 2 at Grantham - 19-5 against Manchester Comets. She amassed nine the previous day against Sheffield Stingrays.

Birmingham also won for a second time - 10-3 against the Stingrays.

At Newport, City of Bristol beat Welsh Wanderers 10-5 to become the only team in the division to win three matches during the weekend.