A back-hand goal 45 seconds from the end by Tamir Avital earned Polytechnic an 8-7 victory over Cheltenham in a closely-fought men's Division 1 clash at Aldershot today.

Cheltenham had battled superbly in the third quarter to level at 6-6 after trailing 6-4.

Matt Helps restored the Poly lead only for Harrison Walsh to score again for Cheltenham 1.06 from the end. A penalty shoot-out loomed until Avital, heavily marked in front of goal, somehow squeezed in the winner.

City of Manchester ended Penguin's winning run in another excellent match - 8-4. The sides reached 3-3 after two periods, then goals by Albert Jonama, Ben Grech and Conor Lynch in the third put Manchester firmly in charge.

Qualification for the Super 5s will be the key issue when the Division 1 programme reaches its finale at Coventry next month. Penguin, Polytechnic and Manchester look certain to go through while Sheffield and Welsh Wanderers remain in the picture along with Cheltenham after wins respectively against Sutton & Cheam and Watford. 

Worthing continue to dominate in men's Division 2, making it five wins from five at Bolton today with a runaway 15-6 success against Caledonia. Ben Curtis, George Wood and Sam Abbott all registered hat-tricks. Scott Sharpe hit four as Lancaster beat City of Bristol 9-8 - their first win. 

Photos - Above (Trevor Hyde), Penguin goalkeeper Elliott McHugh in action against Manchester. Below: Worthing players celebrate another winning weekend.​

There's nothing like starting the weekend with a bang! And there was much to send the pulse racing in the men's Division 1 programme at Aldershot as the joint leaders and arch rivals, Polytechnic and Penguin, clashed in the first match of the day.

The early initiative came from Poly, 3-1 up and playing well. They led 5-3 after two periods as Tim Rezelman scored with a lob from wide out and Caleb Simpson claimed the second of his five goals with a powerful shot from distance.

The third period saw Penguin storm back, charging into an 8-5 lead, including a spectacular back-handed goal from Telemachos Pissas direct from a free throw eight metres out.

Poly cut Penguin's lead to 9-8 midway through the final quarter but Penguin made sure of a 10-8 victory with a man-up strike by Charles Kingsmill 2.41 from the end. 

In another quality game, champions City of Manchester edged out Welsh Wanderers 11-10 thanks to a goal with 1.50 to go from Ben Grech. Sutton & Cheam claimed their first win - 13-9 against Watford, including four goals by Caleb Hughes - and Cheltenham beat Sheffield 12-7. 

Later, there were big wins for Penguin and Poly. Penguin beat Sutton & Cheam 19-9 and Poly were 17-2 victors over Watford.
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Worthing's domination of men's Division 2 continued as they completed two more wins at Bolton - beating Invicta 13-3 and Lancaster 9-6. See News page.

Photo (Trevor Hyde): Penguin's Sam Cocokios (blue cap) blocks a shot by Poly forward Liam Neill at Aldershot today.

Welsh Wanderers head to Aldershot this weekend for two more matches in men’s Division 1 at the start of a particularly hectic programme for many of the players.

From 1-3 November, Wanderers will be in Malta for the first round of the LEN Challenger Cup – the first Welsh team to sample European competition since the glory days of Maindee Olympic, who were triple champions of the National League, precursor of BWPL, in the early 1980s.

After Malta, ten Wanderers players - Jack Sanders, Matthew Griffiths, Joe Jenkins-Delf, Lewis Gilmour, Jack Montgomery, Lloyd Pittick, Ieuan Carter, Adam Jerrett, Ceri Griffiths and Matthew Kelly – travel directly to the Czech Republic to represent Wales in the EU Nations competition. Also in the Wales squad are two more Wanderers players not in Malta – Oli and Toby Chilcott.
 
Once that’s all done, Wanderers will be back on familiar territory at Coventry on 30 November/1 December for the finale of the BWPL men’s Division 1 schedule.
 
In Malta, Wanderers are in a group also featuring comprising Vitoria Sport Clube, of Portugal, Finland’s Cetus Espoo (Wanderers lost 25-11) and GZC Donk, of the Netherlands. The trip has been made possible thanks to generous support from several sponsors - notably Mon Motors Ltd, Jones Brothers (Henllan) Ltd, Carter Fruit & Veg and Bibado & The Tuning Room. Look out for live streaming of the games via https://euroaquaticstv.com/.

Photo: Adam Jerrett (Photo: Trevor Hyde) captains Wales, who will be coached by Mike Davies, brother of Nigel, the Wanderers’ coach.

Champions City of Manchester defeated Liverpool Lizards 11-5 at Eton College to maintain their 100 per cent record in women’s Division 1. Rosie Huck and Brooke Tafazolli both registered hat-tricks and there were two goals for Katy Cutler.

Sheffield Sharks also have maximum points, Anna Miller (Photo below: Trevor Hyde) scoring six in an 18-5 defeat of Tyldesley.

Cheltenham picked up their first win, overwhelming Coventry 22-4, but earlier missed out in a dramatic finish against Otter. Cheltenham led for much of the game but were thwarted just 47 seconds from the end when Evangeline Mills' goal brought Otter up to 9-9. It all led to a shoot-out – won by Otter, with a final score of 12-10.
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Sheffield Sharks enjoyed another comfortable win – 18-5 against Tyldesley – with Anna Miller scoring six. It was a great weekend for Hucknall and their leading scorer Daniele Croteau, who scored six in a 15-11 defeat of Coventry, and six more late in the day as Otter were beaten 11-7.

Kirkintilloch & Kilsyth remain undefeated in women’s Division 2 – but only after another dramatic final quarter at East Manchester, this time against a gallant Worthing team.

On day one, the Scots had beaten Exeter after starting the fourth period trailing by three goals. Against Worthing today, they led 14-10, then 16-12, before being stunned by three goals from Worthing’s Elsie Graves – in the space of just 47 seconds! After that, it was a matter of K&K holding on in the last couple of minutes for a 16-15 win.

K&K and Watford – who also boast a 100 per cent record after finishing day two with an 11-4 victory over Liverpool Liver Birds – go head to head when the Division 2 programme completes at Haberdashers on 17 November. Pride, as much as anything, will be at stake as, already, both are heading for Championship 1 in the second half of the season.
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Third-placed Penguin Emperors scored seven in the first quarter on the way to a 16-12 victory over Rotherham Metro.

Kirkintilloch & Kilsyth looked set for a first defeat of the women’s Division 2 campaign when they trailed 10-7 to Exeter at the start of the final period.

The game then underwent total transformation as the Scots scored six times – including two each by Isla MacDonald (pictured) and Elisa Queirolo – to grab a 13-11 win.

Later, K & K made it four wins from four, beating Penguin Empeors 19-6. Eugenia Arbus was the star of the show, scoring nine goals.

There was more late drama in Division 2 as Rotherham Metro needed a penalty shoot-out to earn a 19-18 win against Worthing. With Alex Robinson scoring eight, Rotherham had led 15-12 in the final period, only for Worthing to pull level at 15-15 with goals by Lilli-Rose Standen (2) and Larissa Partridge.  

Liverpool Liver Birds recovered from an earlier defeat against Penguin Emperors to win 6-5 against Exeter. Fleur Morris claimed the winner near the end.

In Division 1 at Eton College, City of Manchester beat Otter 8-5, taking command with goals in the second period by Nia Sanders, Rosie Huck, Abigail Colson and Mhairi Nurthen.

Daniele Croteau, Hannah Mayer and Adamantia Doureka scored three each in Hucknall’s first win of the season – 13-7 against Tyldesley. Sheffield Sharks maintained their excellent start with a 13-11 victory over Cheltenham. 

Below - Photo (Trevor Hyde): Anna Miller (White 5) shoots beneath the arm of Cheltenham goalkeeper Melissa Viljoen. 

British water polo has suffered a major loss with the death of Grantham’s Jim Caulfield, whose career included coaching England under-17 squad to fifth place in the Euro Nations competition in 2015 – a tournament that provided the building blocks for many players to become senior internationals.
 
He joined the teaching staff of King’s School, Grantham, in the early 1970s and, for more than half a century, guided the school to an unprecedented number of ESSA and ASA titles.
 
Between 1998 and 2002, King's School water polo merged with the newly formed Grantham Water Polo Club and this enabled Jim to follow his dream and set up Grantham Water Polo Academy (linked to Grantham College). In addition, he took on many regional, national and international coaching appointments.
 
BWPL President Trevor Pledger writes: “I joined the sixth form as a pupil at Kings School in 1973. Jim was a young PE teacher then and water polo was developing fast as a school sport with full colour blazers awarded for the first time in 1974.
 
With Jim as the driving force, the School became a dominant force in ESSA water polo, winning numerous age-group titles. He was one of the first to take part in the ASA coaches programme in the early 1980s and went on to coach England women at the Commonwealth Games and the ESSA under-18 boys in Malta in 2003.
 
The sport has lost a significant driving force but the players and coaches he mentored remain as a legacy to the sport.”
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A service will be held on 15 November at St Wulfrum’s Church, Grantham (1.30pm) followed by refreshments (from 3pm) at the Chequers Inn, Woolsthorpe-by-Belvoir. Jim’s son Ben and Nick ask those attending to wear a water polo shirt, rugby shirt or a touch of colour to “reflect Dad’s love of sport.”
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Photo: Jim in relaxed mood at a BWPL event a few years ago.
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The League has been engaging with Swim England as it strives to design and implement a “better water polo“ for us all to enjoy.

The initial part of this process involves the Federation seeking the views of the water polo community. To this end, a SWOT analysis questionnaire has been created which Swim England encourages all League member clubs and other interested parties to complete and return. See SWOT Analysis Form.

Please support this initiative - your chance to tell the Federation what you think about the future of the sport!

BWPL has received confirmation from Swim England of arrangements for national squad training in the second phase of the season on weekends earmarked for key League events. These are:

8/9 February (BWPL Super 5s, men and women): Training for men’s under-18 and under-20 squads. Other squads moved.

8/9 March (Men’s Championship 1 and 2 finale): Training for women’s under-18, under-20 and seniors. All male squads moved.
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5/6 April (BWPL qualification tournaments): All national squads training at Sandwell but Swim England happy to work with individual athletes to avoid a clash. 

With the three-year process of shrinking BWPL’s competitions to their current form now complete (leaving three divisions for men, two for women), the League is in a position to accept applications from potential new teams for the 2025/26 season.

A reminder that the closing date for applications is 31 December this year (see BWPL Rule 4).
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Successful applicants would be involved in qualification tournaments at the end of the current season.