Home territory proved no help to Liverpool Lizards as the former British League women's champions suffered their second defeat of the latest Division 1 weekend - 12-4 to City of Manchester, for whom Stephanie Whittaker scored five.

But of course all it not lost for the Lizards. A single point from the remaining phase one matches should be sufficient to clinch a place in the Super 5s, earning a welcome fresh start in the New Year.

The same applies to current champions Otter, beaten 13-11 by City of Coventry in a match the London side led at 4-2 and 6-5 before conceding defeat late on. There were Coventry hat-tricks by Rhianne Oscroft and Kimberly Watson.

Coventry and Manchester now head for the final weekend of competition at the new BWPL venue of Manchester's Jason Kenny Centre (1/2 December) with perfect records from five matches. They meet on the final day.

Sheffield Sharks won for the first time - 15-12 against Hucknall. It was by no means straightforward. Hucknall led 6-3 midway through the second period and, briefly, were only 11-10 adrift at the start of the last. Bernice Cowton (4) and Danielle Elliot (4) provided the bulk of the Sheffield goals. Caledonia beat Leeds Sharks 10-8 to notch a second win, with Hannah Edwards' five goals providing the highlight.

There was no shortage of excitement on day two of women's Division 2 at Marlborough College, where three of the four matches produced a one-goal victory - and, finally, Mid Sussex Marlins lost the chance to top the table following a 10-6 defeat by a young City of Bristol team.

All this leaves the battle for top five places - and a step-up to Championship 1 - wide open. 

Bristol benefited from a lively start in which they built a 4-1 advantage, soon increased to 6-2. Ella-Louise Jones was again outstanding for the winners, netting six, including a perfectly-executed push-shot goal.

Liverpool Liver Birds, new leaders of the division, needed goals in the final quarter from Gina Lay and Emily Bowater to snatch a 10-9 win against English Roses while Tyldesley withstood a late rally from City of Birmingham, also for a 10-9 victory. The London derby was settled 34 seconds from the end when Lindsey Williams' goal gave Otter Lutra the points against Penguin Emperors at 11-10.

City of Coventry beat Liverpool Lizards 17-11 at Liverpool today to retain a 100 per cent record in women's Division 1 after four matches.

Coventry's success - and the Lizards' first defeat of the season - was mainly due to the firepower of Kimberly Watson and Ruby Versfeld, who both helped themselves to seven goals.

City of Manchester joined Coventry on eight points with two easy victories - 20-4 against Sheffield Sharks and 16-4 against Caledonia.

Hucknall picked up their first points with an 11-6 victory over Leeds Sharks. There were five goals apiece for Hucknall's Katelyn Fairchild and Julie Swieca.

At Marlborough College, three late goals by Olivia Henderson (2) and Isobel Bates gave Mid Sussex Marlins an 11-8 win against English Roses. These two sides now share the lead in Division 2.

​City of Bristol fought back from 7-2 down to 7-7 against Division 2 opponents Tyldesley, including a quick hat-trick from Ella-Louise Jones, but Grace Morley, with five goals, steadied the ship for Tyldesley and set up a 14-8 win for her team. Liverpool Liver Birds recovered from 4-1 down to beat Penguin Emperors 8-7.

Photo (Trevor Hyde): Bristol's Lilymay Girvin scores today against Tyldesley, despite the defensive efforts of Megan Price.

Bridgefield ended Tyldesley's 100 per cent record in men's Division 4 with a resounding 13-8 win. Although Tyldesley scored first, Bridgefield controlled the match, leading 6-3 at the halfway stage, then 10-4 in the fourth period. Alex Saunders (4), Lee Cadwallader (3) and Daniel Farini (3) were their main scorers.

With all teams still to play two more games, Bridgefield, Tyldesley, Rotherham Metro and City of Birmingham already know they will move on to Championship 3 in phase two of the season. York City are best placed to claim the fifth vacancy.

Birmingham walloped Coventry 15-3, scoring eight times without reply in the first quarter. Rotherham were given a sterner test by Hucknall, who led 4-0 before losing their way and conceding a 7-5 defeat.

Photo (Trevor Hyde): Dan Hunt, whose three goals set Rotherham on the road to victory against Hucknall.  

Croydon Amphibians' winning run in men's Division 3 came to an end at the fifth hurdle when they were beaten 5-4 by Southampton at Marlborough College today.

Southampton stormed 5-1 ahead by the middle of the second quarter with goals by Cianan Mann (3), Jackson Mullins and Charles Roberts. After that, it was a case of Croydon chipping away at the lead; they cut the deficit to a single goal with an Andrew McAllister man-up goal in the final period but couldn't snatch a point.

Worthing, who beat Southampton 5-4 on day one, picked up their second win - 10-4 against Cheltenham Spartans - while Manchester Hawks eased through 12-5 against Cambridge.

Men's Division 3 and 4 matches were being staged 150 miles apart this weekend - at Grantham, for more northerly-based teams, and Marlborough in the South.

The first game at Marlborough saw Southampton, who won their three matches on the opening weekend, knocked off the top of the table by Worthing, who won 5-4. including two goals each for Joe Hazeldine and Joao Martins. The second quarter, which Worthing won 3-0, proved crucial. 

Croydon Amphibians maintained the only Division 3 100 per cent record, narrowly beating Cheltenham Spartans 9-8. Cheltenham led 4-2 and 6-5 at different stages, but Croydon always hit back and led 8-7 until Max Gerasimov scored a Spartans equaliser with 2.44 to go. Just 36 seconds remained when Kevin Steele struck the winner for Croydon.

Yet another close match saw Cambridge beat Castleford 14-13, Nick Ludford leading the way for the winners with six goals. Ben Ray netted four in Manchester Hawks' 14-6 victory over Otter.

In men's Division 4, Rotherham Metro beat Birmingham 8-5, breaking clear with goals by Sam Swainson (2), Dan Hunt and Georgios Chatzopoulos after the teams reached the third quarter tied at 4-4. Hucknall defeated Coventry 14-9, including four goals each for 15-year-old Ben Naish and Tom Endy. 

Later, Tyldesley made it four out of four wins at the top. Addison Brown (6) and Neil Williams (3) were chief scorers in a 13-9 win over York City. Bridgefield maintained their push for a top five spot, beating Caledonia Storm 10-7.

Photo (Trevor Hyde): Worthing's Joao Martins in action earlier this season.

It was good to see so many club representatives and officials at gatherings in Ponds Forge, Sheffield, last weekend, prompted by concerns about the current state of British water polo (see Water Polo Crisis! on this website news page, 4 October).

As a result, David Andrews, BWPL Chairman, has sent a further letter to British Swimming and Swim England, stating: "The (previous) note did not seek to represent a personal view or indeed the view of the BWPL management group, but simply highlighted the concerns the sport had communicated to us. 

"From your responses there is clearly work going on behind the scenes which will hopefully result in tangible progress by the end of October.

"As you can imagine, we have been inundated with comment from our membership (remember, this comprises some 2000 players, coaches and officials) and from many others involved in the sport. The consensus view is that the end of October represents a good point to re-assess the situation in the light of progress made by then.

"The sport remains nervous about its future as was made abundantly clear by our discussions with clubs, players and officials during our most recent showpiece event at Ponds Forge, in Sheffield."

Who will qualify for the men's Super 5s this season? That's a question no one can confidently predict after a brilliant weekend of Division 1 action at Ponds Forge.

The programme opened with Invicta beating Manchester. Then Invicta lost to Durham Palatinates - before Manchester brushed off the cobwebs of day one to hammer reigning champions Solihull 10-3.

With Lancaster defeating Sheffield 11-5 in the final game of day two, it meant that Cheltenham finished the weekend as the only club with two victories - and no team went home without at least a point.

From the start against Solihull, Manchester were clearly determined to make amends for their performance against Invicta. Their defence was superb - notably goalkeeper Dylan Green - and their counterattacking and shooting from distance decisive. Solihull trailed 5-2 at half-time and rarely offered a threat after that as Spilios Kaloudis and Dan Paddon added goals in the third period and Andrea Decaro, Joel Leighton and Joe O'Regan in the last.

Photo (Trevor Hyde): Dylan Green prepares to make one of his many top saves for Manchester against Solihull.

After their terrific win against Manchester on day one at Ponds Forge, Invicta came down to earth with a bump today (14 October) - beaten 9-4 by Durham Palatinates, who claimed their first points in men's Division 1.

The game was close until the end of the third period when a goal from ex-GB international Neil Bowers extended a single goal lead to 6-4. Further Durham goals followed in a dominant final quarter from John Pratt, Akos Sahin-Toth and Matt Calvert.

Cheltenham came from behind to beat Polytechnic 13-10. The London side were 7-5 ahead towards the end of the second period but Cheltenham dominating the third to score five times - Rob Parker (2), Jake Polster and Ali Arat (2) - to a single strike from Campbell Gregory.

In women's Division 3, Rotherham Metro made it five wins from five games as they beat Southampton 8-5. Joint leaders of men's Division 5 - both with 100 per cent records from four games - are Sheffield Dolphins and Invicta Marlins.

Photo (Trevor Hyde): Southampton goalkeeper Nina Rickards tips a Rotherham shot over the bar.

Welsh Wanderers faced a busy start to day two at Ponds Forge (14 October) - but ended with celebrations all round.

On the main pitch, Wanderers men followed up their victory against Watford yesterday with a hard-fought 11-7 success against Penguin. Meanwhile, next door on pitch two, Wanderers' girls beat Division 3 opponents Cheltenham 9-8 thanks to Nia Sanders' seventh goal - just two seconds from the final whistle!

Wanderers men have successfully rebuilt their team in the past couple of years, introducing a number of youngsters alongside experienced hands such as Dan Laxton and Charlie Hinder. The game with Penguin was a tight affair for the first three periods, the sides locked at 6-6 at one stage. But Wanderers controlled the final stages, Laxton finishing with four goals and Joe Jenkins-Delf three.

Sutton & Cheam also won for the second time in Division 2 - 14-11 against Portobello.

Photo (Trevor Hyde): Wanderers' Lloyd Pittick (White 9) battles with Dragos Ungureanu, of Penguin.