Solihull stormed into the men’s Super 5s by taking five points from three matches on the final weekend of men’s Division 1 action at Coventry.

They finished today in style, beating Cheltenham 15-11. However, the key result in Super 5s terms happened on day one when they edged out Invicta 13-12. It made it highly likely that Invicta would drop to Championship 1, for the first time in three years.

The issue was quickly settled on day two. Invicta faced Manchester and actually led 3-0 early on. But any chance of a shock victory disappeared as they but were gradually overpowered by the undefeated champions, who won 17-10, including another five goals for Dan Paddon (5), plus strong contributions from Cam Richards (4) and Aron Ando (3).
​
Competing in the Super 5s will be Manchester, Cheltenham, Sheffield, Solihull and Lancaster. Invicta, Welsh Wanderers and Polytechnic join the top five from Division 2 – Penguin, Caledonia, Sutton & Cheam, Exeter and Watford – in what should be an extremely competitive Championship 1.

Lancaster made their Super 5s place secure with a 19-11 victory over Welsh Wanderers, including a remarkable 13-goal haul by unstoppable Tom Curwen. 

Photos (Trevor Hyde):

​Above - Eyes shut . . . Invicta's James Spencer-Boyle gets in a shot against Solihull. Below -  Spilios Kaloudis on the attack for Manchester.

The withdrawal of St Andrews University from the final women’s Division 3 weekend at Northampton (see news item below) left Southampton with much enhanced prospects of retaining a top five place and moving forward to Championship 2 in the New Year.

They made doubly sure of safety today, beating Manchester Comets 6-4, including two goals each for Tamsyn Sciortino and Lilly Tomlins.

Penguin Emperors completed a hat-trick of wins when Rachel Bull (Photo: Trevor Hyde) netted five in an 11-7 victory over Cheltenham. Otter also collected maximum points from the Northampton weekend. The London rivals took the top two places, both with six wins and a draw from seven matches. 
​
Southampton head for Championship 2 together with Otter Lutra, Penguin Emperors, Watford and Cheltenham. Also involved will be the Division 2 bottom three - Welsh Wanderers, Sheffield Stingrays and Birmingham. St Andrews, Liverpool Water Beatles and Manchester Comets miss the second phase of the season and will need to book a place for 2022/23 via next April’s qualification tournament.

St Andrews University were reluctantly forced to pull out of women's Division 3 fixtures at Northampton today after the university barred students from travel due to the red weather warning in Scotland.

It meant they missed taking on Cheltenham and Penguin Emperors - and were left stranded in the bottom three of the table. St Andrews will now miss the second phase of the season in the New Year and will need to progress via the qualification tournament next April if they wish to take part in 2022/23.

Meanwhile, Watford lost their undefeated record to Penguin Emperors, who won 6-2. Watford had opportunities in the second half of the match but were unable to get past goalkeeper Bex Thomas.

Later, Philippa Danielson scored seven as Otter Lutra outplayed Southampton 21-10.

It’s that time of year when BWPL receives contact from clubs interesting in applying to join the League. Already, there is no shortage of potential newcomers for the 2022/23 season.

A reminder that the deadline for applications – for men and women – is 31 December. Approved applicants will then be invited to take part in qualification tournaments, which are planned on 2/3 April next year at Haberdashers and Northampton respectively.

Deadline for existing teams to withdraw from the League is 31 January.
​
For more information please contact League general secretary Chris Ducker, chris.ducker@bwpl.org. 

​Sutton & Cheam made sure of a top five place in men's Division 2 - and progress to Championship 1 - with a runaway 19-9 victory over Exeter today. Toby Hook scored nine of their goals.

The London club began the match needing at least a point to qualify. Defeat would have left them level on points with Watford and Portobello and no guarantee of survival.

In the event, the fifth spot went to Watford. They finished level on points with Portobello, but took priority by virtue of their 5-3 win against the Scots on day one at Habs.

​So teams progressing to Championship 1 will be Penguin - who withstood a strong challenge from Manchester Hawks to complete a full quota of seven wins - Caledonia, Sutton & Cheam, Exeter and Watford. Portobello, Manchester Hawks and Otter go to Championship 2.

Photos (Trevor Hyde): Above, Toby Hook. Below: Sutton's Ali Wakeling, blue cap, tackles Adrian Carrieri, of Exeter.

Castleford claimed the final place in men's Championship 2 after the most dramatic of last quarter finishes to their Division 3 clash with Croydon at Habs today.

The game decided which team would join undefeated Hucknall, Worthing, City of Bristol and Cheltenham Spartans in Championship 2 - and Croydon appeared in the box seat when they led 9-6 at the end of the third period. 

That sparked a tremendous Castleford rally in which four goals from Luke Franks and another from Matt Lawtey saw their team squeeze home 11-10.

Croydon drop to Championship 3 along with City of Birmingham and Durham Palatinates.

Photo (Trevor Hyde): Nathan Brown prepares to fire home a penalty for City of Bristol during their victory against Birmingham in men's Division 3.

Penguin continue to dominate men's Division 2, defeating London rivals Sutton & Cheam 14-9 at Winchester today. It was their sixth win in six matches and featured hat-tricks by Andrea Tulli and James Salt.

Key issue this weekend is which teams will finish in the top five and qualify for Championship 1 in the New Year. 
​
Watford boosted their hopes with a 12-8 win against bottom team Otter at Habs and then picked up a second win - 5-3 against Portobello. Back at Winchester, Manchester Hawks dominated the first two periods against Exeter, building a 12-5 lead on the way to a 17-13 victory over Exeter. Conor Lynch (4), Lewis Daly (4) and James Blenkinship (3) were the main scorers. 

​Sutton improved their top five hopes with a 12-5 victory against Manchester Hawks.

Photo (Trevor Hyde): Goalkeeper Elliot McDaniell and the Penguin defence keep out a Sutton attack at Winchester. 

City of Bristol goalkeeper Diego Lara will remember with very mixed emotions his team's matches in men's Division 3 at the new Winchester pool.

The day began spectacularly as his three penalty saves proved a major contribution to an eventual 19-15 victory over Cheltenham Spartans.

Unfortunately, things soon went from bad to worse. In making another save, he dislocated a shoulder, only managing to play on after treatment. Then, he was excluded for an illegal tackle - which, added to two penalties he conceded earlier in the match, meant he departed early to the showers.

Diego played in Bristol's second match against Hucknall, but was forced to retire and head for hospital after a repeat dislocation. Hucknall won 10-8, going clear in the final quarter as Ben Naish (3) and Matt Braun put goals past emergency keeper Craig Figes, the ex-GB Olympics captain.

At Habs, goals in the final quarter by Jamie Bond (3) and Sam Cooper took Worthing to an 11-8 victory over Division 2 opponents Castleford. The sides had finished the third period at 7-7.  

Photo (Trevor Hyde): Diego makes one of his penalty saves against Cheltenham.

It’s never too late . . . BWPL President Trevor Pledger (right) took the opportunity between matches at the East Manchester pool to make a delayed, but very important, presentation to Duncan Holmes, one of our senior table officials.

Some 18 months ago, Duncan was awarded the prestigious Dave Warriner Memorial Trophy, which recognises outstanding service to the League and to water polo in general. Then Covid wrecked an entire season – and it was only last weekend that, finally, we were able to organise a suitable ceremony.

Duncan joined the Lancaster club in 1968 and was part of the first Lancaster team to win a national title, the under-18s, in 1978. He represented Lancashire and Northern Counties at junior level, claiming national titles with both; then, as a senior, he moved to goalkeeper, playing for Lancaster throughout the club’s rise through the divisions of the former men’s National League.
 
Injury in 1995 brought a premature end to his playing career. It led to his becoming team manager as Lancaster embarked on a period of domination that earned a total of 12 National League titles and 10 British Championship victories between 1996 and 2011.
 
In 2012, he was a table official at the London Olympics.

Sheffield Sharks made sure of fifth place – and qualification for the women’s Super 5s – with a 17-8 defeat of Tyldesley at East Manchester today. The result was never in doubt once the Sharks raced into a 6-0 lead in the first seven minutes. Amelia Peters (Photo: Trevor Hyde) led the scoring with six goals.

The other qualifiers are City of Manchester, Otter, Coventry and Liverpool Lizards, with Hucknall, Tyldesley and Caledonia dropping to Championship 1.
​
Manchester finished a perfect campaign – seven matches, seven wins and a formidable tally of 144 goals – by beating Liverpool 15-9.