The second period proved highly significant for City of Manchester men as they defeated Polytechnic 12-10 to win the BWPL Champions Cup at Coventry today.

At the start of the quarter, Poly recovered from 6-4 down to level at 6-6 . But then Manchester hit a purple patch, scoring four in double-quick time through Conor Lynch, Harry Dunkerley, Eleftheios Chelioudakis and Dan Padden to build a 10-6 lead. 
​
It was a deficit from which Poly were never able to recover, despite rallying strongly in the final stages.
​
Earlier, Welsh Wanderers took third place, defeating Sutton & Cheam 16-7.

City of Manchester achieved the mission of becoming women's double champions for the first time when they followed up their Super 5s success with an 11-3 defeat of Liverpool Lizards in the final of the Champions Cup at Coventry today.

The match was a repeat of the final two years ago, which Liverpool won. It was a different story this time, however, as Manchester dominated from the start, scoring seven times before Liverpool managed a reply. 
Manchester scorers were Izzy Howe (4), Lucy Blenkinship (2), Rosie Huck (2), Liv Henderson, Brooke Tafazolli and Jade Smith. 

The trophy and medals were presented to Manchester by League President Trevor Pledger and Richard Blackshaw, Swim England's Head of Performance.

Reigning champions Polytechnic needed a sudden-death penalty shoot-out drama to beat Welsh Wanderers at Coventry today and set up a men's Champions Cup gold medal clash with City of Manchester.

Poly were never ahead at any point in the four periods of the game. Wanderers had a two-goal lead no less than four times - including an 8-6 advantage when Jo Jenkins-Delf scored from distance early in the last quarter.

A goal by Justin Tubbergh brought Poly up to 8-7 early in the final period. Had Wanderers managed to convert a man-up chance shortly afterwards, they might well have won through. But the London side survived that scare and pulled up to 8-8 through Chris Icely - leaving a penalty shoot-out to separate the sides.

Both teams had one of their five shots saved, taking a thrilling match to 12-12. At 13-13, the Welsh shot again - and missed - leaving Liam Neill to slot the winner at 14-13.

​​Manchester qualified for the final by defeating Sutton & Cheam 11-7.

Photo: Tim Rezelman scores a penalty for Poly against Wanderers in the second period.

A year ago, Otter beat City of Manchester to become the second winners of the BWPL women's Champions Cup. The teams met again this time on day one - with a very different outcome.

Manchester dominated from the start and eventually triumphed 16-4. Harriet Dickens scored four and Izzy Howe three.

Tomorrow, Manchester will take on familiar opposition in Liverpool Lizards in the match to decide this season's gold medallists. Liverpool won their first round match against Coventry, 14-12. 

Photo: Otter's Peggy Etiebet (blue cap) battles with Brooke Tafazolli at Coventry today.

Another all-action BWPL season reaches its spectacular conclusion with the staging of the Champions Cup at Coventry next weekend (11/12 May), when City of Manchester women will be bidding for their first League and Champions Cup double while Polytechnic defend the men’s crown.
 
For Welsh Wanderers, their debut in the men’s competition is something to relish. It’s recognition of the predominantly young team’s remarkable achievement of rising from third in Championship 1 at the end of 2022/23 to this season’s peak of finishing immediately behind Manchester and Poly in both Division 1 and the Super 5s.
 
The success is very much a triumph for Wanderers’ coaching group - former first team regular Nigel Davies (Photo: Trevor Hyde) along with two senior members still playing influential playing roles, Dan Laxton and goalkeeper Tim Marshall (Photo below: Trevor Hyde).
 
Says Tim: “We have a fantastic group of young players who have come through together since about 2014. This is backed by a committee and volunteers - especially, former player and coach Jon Griffiths - who run the club in the background, allowing the three of us to concentrate on the water polo side.”
 
Tim originally retired as a player in 2014 to start coaching, with Dan in support as captain. Nigel stopped playing after the 2014/15 season and, after taking a year off, joined the coaching team, his appointment as chief coach allowing Tim to return to playing in 2016. “We didn’t really sit down and make a long-term plan for getting back to Division 1, but it was always our aim,” Tim continued. “We always had a feeling that the group coming through were going to be good.
 
“Nigel has worked really hard. He runs a brilliant session every week. It’s well attended and includes a lot of game play at a really high intensity so we can take our high-energy style into British League games. All the players spend a lot of time training outside, which means we focus in our sessions on polo rather than having to get fit. 
 
“Dan has obviously scored a lot of goals for us over the years, but he brings so much to the team in terms of overall gameplay and knowledge. He’s great at motivating us and doesn’t let anyone lower their standards in training.”