Penguin and Watford remain neck and neck at the top of men’s Championship 1 after completing their latest wins at Bolton today.

Dennis Linde scored seven as Penguin defeated Caledonia 19-11. The Scots were never in contention after falling 13-3 in arrears after two periods. Other main scorers for Penguin were James Salt (4) and Abie Duffy (3).

Watford led from the start against Portobello, eventually triumphing 12-4, including a hat-trick by Zac Corcoran. Meanwhile, at Eton College, Lancaster won for the first time - 21-14 against Exeter - with both Scott Sharpe and Graham Harrington netting six.

Photo (Trevor Hyde): Lancaster's Brett Takemoto prepares to shoot against Exeter goalie Toby Hogg.

There was a dramatic finish to the Eton weekend when Sheffield snatched a very late 18-17 victory over City of Bristol. Sheffield led all the way through - scores after the first three periods were 7-2, 10-7 and 15-11 - and they seemed to cruising at 17-12 with five minutes remaining in the final quarter. Then Bristol exploded into life, scoring through Alex Brussow, Nathan Brown (2), Stuart Fennell and Steffan Williams to level at 17-17 with 19 seconds remaining. But Sheffield had the last word - a penalty was converted by Corran Bradley just two seconds from the end. 
​
Sedgefield go the final weekend of men's Championship 2 matches with a three-point lead after beating Hucknall 16-7, including a six-goal contribution by John Pratt. Manchester Hawks chalked up their second win of the weekend – 16-6 against Otter.

Penguin and Watford maintained unbeaten records in men’s Championship 1 with key victories at Bolton today.

James Salt scored five as the London side beat Portobello 13-6. Watford also defeated Scottish opposition but left it late to clinch a 12-11 success against Caledonia.

Caledonia led 10-9 after three periods, but then two goals by Finlay Parnell and a Tom Kelly strike put Watford in charge before James Miller scored a man-up goal for Caledonia near the end.
​
Sheffield, yet to play either Penguin or Watford, easily defeated Exeter 21-9 at the new Eton College pool.

​City of Bristol took maximum points from their two games - a 16-10 defeat of Lancaster, then an 18-17 victory over Exeter. 

In men's Championship 2, Sedgefield extended their 100 per cent record with a 20-10 victory over Otter.

Photos - Above (by Trevor Hyde), Dan Atkinson scores one of his eight goals for Sheffield against Exeter. Below: A view of the new Eton College pool, which BWPL are using for the first time.

The scene is set for a fascinating completion of the women’s Championship 1 campaign at Grantham on 2/3 March.

Already, thanks to their recent successes at Sheffield, the top three are confirmed – Hucknall, Cheltenham and Tyldesley. But which of that trio (all guaranteed Division 1 places next season against the current Super 5s teams) will claim top spot?

That’s what the finale weekend will decide. And, conveniently, it just so happens that fixtures at Grantham feature crunch clashes involving all three! 

​On the first day, Cheltenham face Tyldesley while the Sunday schedule includes Tyldesley against Liverpool Liver Birds, plus a game that could be hugely significant – Cheltenham v Hucknall. Hucknall’s Saturday match is against the Liver Birds. For details of all games at Grantham, see the Fixtures page. 

Another men's Super 5s match . . . another Polytechnic drama! After losing 21-20 in the last minute to Welsh Wanderers on day one at Ponds Forge, the champions left it literally to the last second today to claim a 14-14 draw in a pulsating clash with City of Manchester. 

Poly should perhaps have won it. They led 7-4 and 9-5 at various times but could never quite break clear of a dogged Manchester team, who were level at 10-10 near the end of the third period when Jordan Elliot converted a man-up chance.

Both teams had missed numerous opportunities throughout the game. It all added to the tension as Poly edged into a 12-10 lead in the final period. On 3.42, the Poly advantage stretched to 13-11, courtesy of a fine goal by Poly left-hander Tim Rezelman. 

Manchester weren't finished. Eleftherios Chelioudakis scored - one of his six goals - followed by James Blenkinship, to level it at 13-13 on 2.46. Then, for the first time in the match, Manchester were ahead - skipper Dan Paddon (Photo: Trevor Hyde) fired in on 2.09 to put his side 14-13 up.

And that seemed to be that - until one last Poly surge ended with Rezelman netting again with just one second remaining on the clock. A dramatic end to a great spectacle!

Sutton & Cheam led 5-2 after the first period against Cheltenham, trailed 14-11 in the later stages and finally recovered to win 16-15 thanks to a late goal by Caleb Hughes.

At the top of the table in women's Championship 1, Hucknall and Cheltenham retained their unbeaten records. Jaiden Miller scored four in Hucknall's 12-8 defeat of Penguin Emperors while Sarah Craig's three goals in the final period took Cheltenham to an 11-9 win over Manchester Comets. 

Hucknall and Cheltenham stand joint top of women's Championship 1 - both with four wins - after the latest matches at Ponds Forge, Sheffield. 

It was an easy day for Hucknall, who chalked up two big wins - 18-5 against Tyldesley and 20-5 against Rotherham Metro. Helena Batey led the scoring with a total of 12.

Cheltenham kept up the pressure with a thumping 24-15 win against Penguin Emperors. Amelie Perkins and Bella Balzaretti spearheaded the Cheltenham blitz with five goals apiece. 
​
Other games in the division were much closer. Exeter won for the first time - 12-11 against Liverpool Liver Birds - holding off a late Liverpool rally in which they came close snatching a point as Carys Hardy scored twice. Tyldesley beat Manchester Comets 14-12, Amelia Crompton and Honor Grimes both netting five.

​Forty-one goals! Champions Polytechnic and Welsh Wanderers served up a dazzling display of awesome shooting in a brilliant finale to day one of the men's Super 5s at Ponds Forge, Sheffield, today.

Wanderers won it - 21-20! But it could have gone either way. The first half alone produced 25 goals, Poly edging into a 13-12 lead when, with three seconds remaining of the second period, skipper Kimon Haralambous expertly turned his defender and scored with a powerhouse left-hander into the corner.

Inevitably, perhaps, the intensity of the scoring dipped slightly in the third quarter, but it still saw Poly build a 17-15 lead. Surely the Welsh couldn't rally again? But they did. They levelled at 18-18 - a man-up conversion by Jo Jenkins-Delf - and again at 19-19 thanks to a Dan Laxton strike. At 1.21, Wanderers were ahead at 20-19 - Lewis Gilmour scored - only for Haralambous to equalise yet again with 50 seconds remaining. 

Maybe a draw would have been a fair outcome. But a cracking game had more drama to come. Thirty-three seconds remained when Matt Griffiths claimed the Welsh winner, his sixth goal of the day. Jenkins-Delf and Gilmour both finished with four goals; Poly's hotshot was Caleb Simpson - how often would you score eight and finish on the losing team!
​
Earlier, Wanderers went down 14-12 to Cheltenham, who claimed their first win of the Super 5s campaign. Goals by George Davies (2), Adam Legge and Alistair Bruce in the final period settled a close match. Manchester hammered Sutton & Cheam 19-3, scoring their first 13 goals without a reply from the London team. 

​BWPL referees Connor Jukes (pictured) and Jonny Richards have been appointed to European Aquatics list of officials for the first time. Congratulations to them both!
​
Their promotion takes the number of GB referees to five. Already listed are Max Gerasimov, Mike Jukes and Damien Taylor.  

British League interest in the World Championships in Doha will not be confined to progress of the GB women’s team, who fly out to Qatar today (1 February).

In the men’s competition, Liam Neill, a key member of the Polytechnic team that achieved a BWPL League and Champions Cup double last season, will be playing for South Africa – as he did at the Olympics in Tokyo two years ago.
​
Neill won the BWPL top goal scorer award last season, netting 28 in the Super 5s. His selection for the World Championships occurs in a very special year for Poly - it’s the club’s 150th anniversary.