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.