They beat Sutton & Cheam 16-7 in their opening match and followed up with a 12-11 victory over City of Sheffield, the team that narrowly missed qualification for the Super 5s. Zak White's fourth goal two minutes from the end settled it, although Sheffield will rue a couple of missed chances at the death.
After coasting through the first phase of the season with a 100 per cent record, Team Northumbria continued their winning ways in Championship 1 at Lancaster today (8 November).
They beat Sutton & Cheam 16-7 in their opening match and followed up with a 12-11 victory over City of Sheffield, the team that narrowly missed qualification for the Super 5s. Zak White's fourth goal two minutes from the end settled it, although Sheffield will rue a couple of missed chances at the death. In an outstanding men's Championship 3 match at Gloucester (8 November), a goal three seconds from the end by Chris Burns gave York City a thrilling 15-14 victory over London side Otter.
The lead changed hands seven times during the game, Otter edging in front at 14-12 towards the end of the third quarter. Nick Boaz reduced the margin with a goal with five minutes left; then, after both sides had hammered shots against the goal frames, York staged one more counterattack for Burns to claim his sixth goal. Danny Rippon scored five for York and the Otter scoring was led by Nikolaos Roussos (5) and Athanasios Mourikis (4). Polytechnic won't forget their first Championship 1 game of the season in a hurry. Their train to Lancaster was delayed en route and eventually seven players had to make a dash by taxi to the pool, arriving just after the scheduled starting time.
In the circumstances, the London side did well to compete strongly with Scottish opponents Caledonia, Chris Icely leading the way for Poly with four goals. But it was Caledonia who claimed the points with an 11-8 win. Later, Caledonia chalked up a second 11-8 win, against Croydon Amphibians. A man-up goal one second from the final hooter by Robert Ashman gave Exeter a point in a dramatic 14-14 draw with Solihull in men's Championship 2 at Luton today (8 November).
Exeter had squandered a 6-2 early lead, allowing Solihull to pull up to 10-10 in the third quarter - and then grab a 14-12 lead. Exeter pulled one back and Ashman's winner arrived after a Solihull player had been excluded with 19 seconds remaining. After narrowly missing out on qualification for the Super 5s, City of Sheffield made a confident start to the Championship 1 programme at Lancaster today (8 November), beating Croydon Amphibians 14-6. In Championship 2 at Luton, Worthing hammered West London Penguin 15-4.
Cheltenham Spartans fought back from 6-2 down to draw 10-10 with University of Bristol when men's Championship 3 got under way at Gloucester today (8 November).
Andy McAllister (3), Dave Edwards (2) and Lee Barnes (2) were the main Cheltenham scorers. Charlie Harbot netted four for the University. Fixtures for all divisions in the second half of the season are now published. See fixtures pages.
Polytechnic recovered from 9-4 and then 13-7 down to snatch a thrilling 15-15 draw with City of Sheffield in men's Division One at Cardiff International Pool today (2 November).
Sheffield were 15-13 up until a minute from the end when Chris Icely's sixth goal reduced the margin. The London side then grabbed a point with a goal from Domat Safranko - with just one second remaining! Sheffield finished a point behind fifth-placed Super 5s qualifiers Bristol Central. Even a Sheffield win against Poly would not have put them through as they lost to Bristol when the sides met earlier in the campaign. Division Two also produced a nail-biting finale when Croydon Amphibians came from 7-5 down in the last quarter to defeat City of Birmingham 8-7. The Croydon hero was Alfonso Tucay who, despite being surrounded by three defenders, managed to score the winning goal - his fifth - as the final hooter sounded. Birmingham's defeat guaranteed that Welsh Wanderers would qualify for Championship 1, leaving Birmingham, Manchester Hawks and West London Penguin to be demoted to Championship 2. Liverpool Lizards completed their Division One programme with a 100 per cent record at Grantham today (2 November) - and with a striking demonstration of consistency!
Having beaten Otter 15-1 on day one, they proved far too strong for Sheffield Sharks. The winning margin? 15-1! City of Manchester defeated Leeds Sharks 12-3. In Division Two, Welsh Wanderers beat Manchester Comets 7-2 to claim the fifth qualification place in Championship 1 behind West London Penguin Emperors, Liverpool Liver Birds, Mid Sussex Marlins and Tyldesley. The Marlins led Liverpool until the late stages when two goals by Verity McCoy gave Liverpool a 7-6 win. Portobello beat Bristol Central 9-6 at Cardiff International Pool today (2 November) to secure the points they needed to qualify for the Super 5s in the second phase of the season. Defeat could have demoted them to Championship 1 for the first time.
The match was a feisty affair in which the second quarter proved decisive for Portobello, who went from 2-1 down to claim a 5-3 lead. Bristol caught up to trail 7-6 in the final period but two late goals earned a vital win for Portobello, who owed much to the shooting power of five-goal Antonella Padolecchia. Team Northumbria completed the Division Two programme with a 100 per cent record, beating West London Penguin 14-11. Tom Dean scored five for the London team. Caledonia hammered six goals without reply in the third quarter to defeat Sutton & Cheam 14-9. Alistair Campbell was on the mark with five goals for the Scots. Both these teams have already booked Championship 1 places. |
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