It took Penguin a long time to pull clear of a battling Exeter side in men's Championship 1 at Haberdashers today.

In the end, Penguin won 12-8, but Exeter will recall to their frustration a key spell earlier in the game when a goal by Reuben Powell cut Penguin's lead to 5-4 - only for Exeter to fail to score immediately afterwards with two Penguin players excluded. Then they were awarded a penalty - which was blasted over the Penguin crossbar.

Despite the excellence of Exeter goalkeeper Toby Hogg, Penguin soon powered into an 8-5 lead after three periods and then 11-6, before a belated response from the Devon side.

Watford beat City of Bristol 13-12, recovering from 12-10 down in the final period to win with goals by Josh Brown (2) and Matt Williams.

Championship 1 continued to produce a run of tight finishes as Portobello beat Sheffield 11-10 at East Manchester thanks to a man-up goal from Luca Pollock 1.12 from the end. Caledonia defeated Lancaster 17-9.

Sedgefield hammered Croydon 21-11 to complete a hat-trick of wins in Championship 2, putting them clear at the top of the table. Ben Alderson scored six. 

Photo (Trevor Hyde): Penguin's Tilemachos Pissas shoots for Penguin against Exeter, with James Coleman in defence.
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In a game or fluctuating fortunes and a cliffhanger finish, Watford beat Exeter 14-13 in men's Championship 1 at Haberdashers today. The winning goal was scored in the very last second by Zac Corcoran.

Exeter went from 4-1 down to lead 7-4 in the second period only for Watford to hit back and take an 11-8 advantage after three. Watford looked to have secured the points when goals by Andy Holt and Corcoran made it 13-11 with only 1.32 to go.

Even then, there was time for Exeter to level at 13-13 thanks to two goals by Kameron Powell. Then, in a final attack, Watford fired against the woodwork, only for Corcoran to push the rebound over the line. Watford will have been grateful to goalkeeper Karan Basu for some fine saves - notably, a superb penalty stop earlier in the match.

Later, Watford were involved in another dramatic match against Penguin, which ended in a 12-12 draw. Josh Barrett was the Watford hero, having the strength late in the final minute to turn his defender and earn a penalty - which he then converted for a final equaliser.

At East Manchester, Sheffield completed two wins in Championship 1 - 16-12 against Caledonia, then 14-6 against Lancaster. 

In men's Championship 2, Worthing enjoyed two emphatic victories at Haberdashers - against Southampton (18-8) and Otter (17-4). Sedgefield also won twice at East Manchester, stealing a late 12-11 victory over Manchester Hawks, then beating Invicta 17-10. 

Photo (Trevor Hyde): Zac Corcoran lines up a shot against Exeter keeper Toby Hogg.

It’s been a hectic time for members of Great Britain’s women’s water polo squad since their inspired performances at the European Championships earned progress to the World Championships in Qatar next month.

The gap between the close of the European event and flying out to Doha on 1 February was just 19 days. So there was much to deal with after returning from Eindhoven – not least, in some cases, a matter of starting a new working week by asking the boss for unscheduled leave!

Katie Brown (nee Hesketh) and Brooke Tafazolli, GB team mates but rivals on BWPL weekends on behalf of Liverpool and Manchester, are two of the four squad members with full-time jobs – Katie, aged 29, is a Birmingham University lecturer and 28-year-old Brooke a solicitor with the legal firm Tinklin Springall.

Happily, both will now be heading for Doha, hugely appreciative of the backing of supportive employers – and the fact that British Swimming moved quickly in immediately giving the trip the green light.

GB’s success – back on the sport’s world stage for the first time in more than a decade – has been a cause for much celebration. “The amount of messages of congratulations that we received has been unreal – from outside as well as within the sport,” says Katie. “All the junior girls at my club were watching the games and getting in touch.”

Several members of the GB squad are currently based professionally with overseas clubs. As far as Katie and Brooke are concerned, they’re proud to have built their international careers based on experience in BWPL.
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“Thanks to Eindhoven, GB are now guaranteed entry to the next European Championships in two years’ time without the need to qualify,” said Brooke. “That’s a great incentive for us to keep training. And, importantly, it gives the country’s best young players something to aim for.”

Photo: Katie (left) and Brooke in celebratory mood after the triumph in Eindhoven.

After their great win over City of Manchester in the men's Super 5s on day one at Aldershot, Welsh Wanderers were brought down to earth today as Sutton & Cheam deservedly won a hard fought match 12-10.

Sutton led 7-5 after two quarters but, perhaps crucially, Wanderers missed a penalty that would have brought them back into contention at the start of the third. 
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This sparked Sutton's experienced team into a dominant spell, goals by Ashley Castle (2), Ryan Symington and Stephen Bayles stretching the lead to to 11-7, a deficit that Wanderers couldn't seriously challenge in the final period.  

Polytechnic cruised to a 19-7 win against Cheltenham - a margin that looked unlikely early in the second period when Cheltenham were competing and trailing only 4-3. A wonderful goal by Caleb Simpson, firing a long shot into the far corner from a difficult angle, brought Poly to life. Their lead was 9-4 after two periods; they dominated the third, adding eight more goals while conceding one.

City of Manchester were too strong for Sheffield Sharks in the women's Super 5s, also at Aldershot, winning 16-7. Otter lost for the second time - 14-11 to Coventry.

In women's Championship 1 at Bolton, Cheltenham beat Rotherham Metro 14-11 to complete a perfect weekend of three wins. India Wilkinson scored seven as Hucknall defeated Exeter 16-5 while Honor Grimes hit nine - and Amelia Crompton six - in Tyldesley's 16-12 defeat of Penguin Emperors.

Welsh Wanderers struck an early blow in the battle for the BWPL men's Super 5s title with a stunning 12-11 victory over City of Manchester at Aldershot today.

The teams were locked at 9-9 after three periods and it was Manchester who stretched ahead at the start of the last. Dan Paddon scored first; then Harry Dunkerley broke up a Wanderers attack and swam the length of the pool to make it 11-9.

Wanderers' recovery was inspired by Dan Laxton. He converted a man-up chance, and then smashed in a penalty after Lewis Gilmour had been pulled back while facing goal. With 56 seconds left, Laxton struck yet again - a brilliant snap shot under heavy pressure five metres out - which took his match tally to seven. Even then, there was time for Manchester to set up the chance of an equaliser - which they missed. 

In their second match, Manchester were pushed all the way by Cheltenham before Jordan Elliot's late goal - a simple push over the line after the ball rebounded from the goal - gave Manchester the points at 13-12.

Reigning champions Polytechnic beat Sutton & Cheam 8-4, a game which both goalkeepers - John Lewis (Poly) and Matt Holland excelled.

In the women's Super 5s, also at Aldershot, Liverpool Liver Birds fought off a late rally by Sheffield Sharks to win 13-12, including six goals by Molly Boniface-Ashton. Later, Lizards dominated the final period to beat Coventry 12-7. Lucy Blenkinshiip, Brooke Tafazolli and Harriet Dickens all scored four in City of Manchester's 18-4 drubbing of Otter.

How's this for a goalscoring feat?

In women's Championship 1 at Bolton. Cheltenham's Amelie Perkins scored TWELVE in her team's 18-8 defeat of Liverpool Liver Birds. Remarkably, she improved on that performance in Cheltenham's second game, scoring THIRTEEN as her team walloped Exeter 30-13!

A late goal by Rachel Bull - her sixth - clinched Penguin Emperors 15-14 win against Exeter. 

​The British League have agreed a revised programme for next month’s Super Fives weekend at Ponds Forge, Sheffield, following the superb achievement of Great Britain women in qualifying for the World Championships in Doha next month.

The Doha adventure – clinched when GB claimed seventh place at the European Championships in Eindhoven – clashes with the Super Fives scheduled on 10/11 February.

With all Super 5s teams contributing players to the GB squad, the League committee faced a difficult decision in determining how to handle the Sheffield programme. Their solution:

▪           Super 5s matches will go ahead at Ponds Forge as planned but on a “non-points carrying” basis.

▪           As the Ponds Forge fixtures are repeated at the Super 5s finale weekend at Coventry on 23/24 March, the Coventry games will now be played as “double headers” carrying double points.

▪           The women’s Championship 1 programme will go ahead as planned at Sheffield. Unfortunately, the structure of that competition – with no double-headers – made rearrangement impractical.

BWPL chairman David Andrews said: “We spent a great deal of time discussing what is obviously a unique situation - hopefully everyone will understand the thinking behind our decisions. The bottom line, of course, was that BWPL should offer its full support and encouragement to our magnificent GB women’s team.”

GB qualified for their first World Championship since 2013 by defeating Croatia to take seventh place at Eindhoven. In Doha, they are drawn in the same group as Canada, South Africa and Italy.