Blog Archives

ROSES' NARROW WIN

6/12/2014

English Roses strengthened their grip on the women's Championship 2 promotion places with a 7-6 victory over Leeds Hammerheads at Watford. They recovered from a goal down in the last quarter, with Michaela Smith and Louse Betts both notching hat-tricks.

In the other group, Birmingham took over the lead by beating Southampton 8-5 after starting the last quarter at 5-5.

POLY MISS OUT

6/12/2014

Polytechnic's 10-9 defeat by Croydon Amphibians at Lancaster today ended their hopes of a top three place, which means that Invicta, Sheffield and Team Northumbria are guaranteed Division One water polo at the start of next season.

Croydon outplayed their London rivals 5-1 in the second quarter, which proved decisive. The Croydon lead was 10-6 in the final period until Poly hit back with three goals in less than two minutes at the end.

PARKER STARS IN CHELTENHAM WIN

6/12/2014

Rob Parker, a member of the GB squad at the 2012 Olympics, scored seven times as Cheltenham defeated City of Manchester 14-10 in the men's Super 5s at Lancaster today.

Goals by Mike Bourne, Rob Rae and Charles Booth gave Manchester a 3-2 first quarter lead. But Cheltenham were always in charge after establishing a 7-5 advantage by the halfway stage. Jake Vincent and Mark Banwell both claimed hat-tricks for Cheltenham, who are making a strong bid for the League title.

In Championship 1, first quarter goals by Richard Leighton (2), Chris Howard, Chris Armstrong and Tom Kelly set up City of Sheffield's 12-9 win over Caledonia. The Scots won two of the last three periods, but couldn't recover from a slow start. Goals by Jack Waller (4) and Sean King (3) helped Invicta to a 12-6 victory over Sutton & Cheam.

NORTHUMBRIA TITLE BID

5/12/2014

Team Northumbria require three points from matches against Welsh Wanderers and Polytechnic to ensure clinching the men's Championship 1 title at Lancaster this weekend and therefore complete a remarkable rise to the top level of the British League.

It was in 2011 that Northumbria won Championship 3, followed by Championship 2 the next year. This season, they have taken Championship 1 by storm and are already guaranteed a top three place - which in turn takes the club into Division One at the start of the 2015/16 campaign.

City of Sheffield, just a point behind Northumbria, play Caledonia and Invicta at Lancaster. They, too, have qualified for Division One next year, with Invicta and Polytechnic the main challengers for the third place.

Cheltenham and Lancaster, joint leaders of the men's Super 5s, avoid each other at Lancaster. Cheltenham play Manchester and Portobello; Lancaster are up against Bristol Central and Portobello.

MEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP 4 FINALE

2/12/2014

The men's Championship 4 season reaches an exciting climax at Marlborough College on 13/14 December, when Bedford, Castleford, City of Cambridge and Ealing bid for the title as top four qualifiers.

See fixtures pages for all the details.

MHAIRI'S REFFING DEBUT

1/12/2014

Congratulations to Otter's Mhairi Nurthen, who, at 16, recently became one of the youngest referees to officiate in the British League. She was in good company, too, pairing up with Olympic referee Brian Littlejohn to take charge of two women's Championship 2 games at Basingstoke.

Meanwhile, Mhairi is one of the GB under-17 girls' squad aiming for the inaugural European Olympics Games in Baku next year. Following withdrawal of funding, the team are self-supporting and raising funds towards costs of training and attending the qualification tournament next March.

A private benefactor is prepared to match fund any monies raised by the girls' efforts. So far, they've run a raffle including memorabilia from Tom Daley and there are also cake sales at selected BWPL weekends. The squad includes players from a number of BWPL clubs: Alison Tate and Hannah Edwards (Caledonia), Fleur Kennedy (Coventry), Beth Ward (Devonport Royal), Emily Pilkington, Sophie Jackson (Leeds), Grace Rowland, Lucy Shaw, Verity McCoy (Liverpool), Annie Clapperton, Niamh and Roisin Campbell-O'Donnell (Manchester), Dani Brazier, Grace Walker, Lara Partridge (Mid Sussex Marlins), Anna Szyszko, Helena Philips, Izzy Dean, Kathy Rogers (Otter), Hayley Price (Tyldesley). Mhairi is pictured on the right with Beth Ward (left) and Sophie Jackson (centre).

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