Cheltenham followed up their 12-7 defeat of Invicta with another impressive men's Super 5s performance at Ponds Forge, Sheffield, today - a 14-5 victory over Lancaster.

Once again, Cheltenham's fast start was to prove decisive. Goals by Tom Hunt (2), Rudi Poster (Photo: Trevor Hyde) and Giulio Sartorello put them 4-0 up in no time at all - and the lead stretched to 6-2 by the middle section of the second period. Hunt finished with five goals and Polster four.

Later, Manchester made it four wins from four matches as they beat Solihull 12-8. A feature of the game was the power shooting of Manchester from the arc, notably bringing goals from Isaac Wass, Spilios Kaloudis and Joel Leighton.

City of Manchester beat Invicta 8-4 in the meeting of the previously undefeated men's Super 5s teams at Ponds Forge today.
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There was nothing between the sides for the first two quarters, which ended all square at 3-3. Both goalkeepers - Ben Alcorn and Dylan Green - made top saves while Invicta were boosted by two terrific long-range goals from Callum Bailey.

A Joe O'Regan goal was the only score of a competitive third quarter. But after that, it was all Manchester who, in quick succession, made sure of the points with man-up goals from Andrea da Caro (2) and Joel Leighton.

Four goals in a dominant opening quarter by Jordan Elliot put Solihull on the way to a 20-7 victory over Lancaster. 

Cheltenham stormed into a 3-0 lead - then 6-1 - against Invicta, an advantage that proved vital as a fiercely contested match developed. Eventually, Cheltenham triumphed 12-7, including four goals from young Tom Hunt. 

Photo (Trevor Hyde): Manchester's Joe O'Regan (blue cap) is challenged by Dan Atkinson, of Invicta.

Champions Otter grabbed a women's Super 5s point against City of Manchester at Ponds Forge today when Katie Cutler scored from close range with just 33 seconds remaining.

Both teams were slow to settle in the early stages, Manchester goalkeeper Jade Smith making a couple of excellent saves to thwart the Otter attack. Manchester led 2-1 in the second quarter thanks to long-range goals from Isobel Howe and Hannah Rudman but Otter hit back to take a 3-2 advantage - and improved this to 5-3 near the end of the third period.

Manchester countered once again and they were ahead at 6-5 with less than four minutes left following goals from Howe, Stephanie Whittaker and Emmie-Rose Eastwood. That's how it stayed until a Manchester exclusion offered another chance to Otter, Cutler scoring after a shot rebounded from the goal frame.

Later, Otter strengthened their position at the top of the table with a 12-6 victory over Liverpool Lizards, including four goals from Lily Turner. Coventry outplayed Caledonia 18-4, with Vick Hawkins contributing seven of their goals.

In women's Championship 1, Sheffield Sharks hammered Tyldesley 17-7, including four goals from Bernice Cowton. Leeds Sharks' 14-9 defeat of Liverpool Liver Birds featured five goals by Tegan Stanbach.

Photo (Trevor Hyde): Otter's Lily Turner battling with Emma Bartett, of Manchester, at Ponds Forge today.

BWPL is enhancing its green credentials by providing officials with reusable hot drinks mugs and water bottles - every item branded with the famous League logo. 

Gone are the wasteful days when it was necessary to provide drinks in plastic bottles - a hefty outlay over a full season. Within a couple of years, it's expected that the savings will more than pay for themselves. We're also offering teams an opportunity to buy the mugs and bottles - at £5 and £3 respectively. These will be on sale next weekend at the men's Championship 3 event at Lancaster and men's Championship 2 at Gloucester.

Otter Lutra dropped their first point in women's Championship 2 at Walsall - a 4-4 draw with Penguin Emperors - but they are still guaranteed progress to Division 2 at the start of next season.

Also through are Welsh Wanderers, 13-3 winners against Sheffield Stingrays, and English Roses, who beat Rotherham Metro 10-5.

Otter and Wanderers are level at the top on nine points. The two sides meet in a potential title decider when the Championship 2 programme ends at Northampton on 2/3 March.

Photo (Trevor Hyde): Former GB goalkeeper Jenny Braddock (white cap) is better known as a goal-scorer these days! She contributed five in English Roses' 10-4 defeat of Penguin Emperors.

The qualification tournaments for British League membership in the 2019/20 season will be the most fiercely contested so far when they take place on 6/7 April at Northampton (women) and Walsall (men). Altogether, six potential new teams are taking part. Line-up:

Women: Cheltenham, Manchester Comets, Sunderland (these teams finished in the bottom three places in Division 3 in the first half of the current campaign), plus new applicants Exeter, Nova Centurion and Watford. The top three will start next season in Division 3.

Men: Bedford and Chelmsford (bottom in this season’s seven-team Division 5), plus applicants City of Chester, City of Newport and Northampton. The top three progress to Division 5.

See fixtures page for qualification tournament schedules.

Among the “new” faces, it’s particularly encouraging to note that water polo is on the rise again in clubs with long-established national league pedigrees. City of Newport, for example, are direct descendants of Maindee Olympic, men’s National League champions in 1982, 1983 and 1984. Both Nova Centurion and Chester competed for many years in the men’s competition, with Nova playing in the top division for 14 seasons between 1985 and 1998.