Champions Cheltenham were held to a 9-9 draw after a dramatic final minute of their clash with Lancaster at Sunderland Aquatic Centre.

Lancaster led 7-5 after three periods but the game was deadlocked at 8-8 until Adam Legge put Cheltenham ahead with 45 seconds remaining. Cheltenham then had a player excluded and, after calling a time-out, Lancaster claimed a point with a goal 18 seconds from the end by Glen Robinson.

Cheltenham Spartans left it late to grab a 15-14 win over City of Cambridge in the top-of-the-table Division 4 clash at Watford.

City of Manchester opened the Division 1 programme at Sunderland Aquatic Centre today with a comfortable 14-9 victory over Team Northumberland.

Charles Booth and Eleftherios Chelioudalis both claimed hat-tricks for Manchester. Five-goal Zach White was the main goal threat for Northumbria.

Invicta strolled to their first win, outplaying Caledonia 15-5, including six goals from Callum Bailey and five from Jack Waller.

Bristol Central rallied from 4-1 down early on to defeat Sheffield 12-9.

Undefeated Watford made the perfect start to the weekend of men's Division 3 competition in their home pool when they won their top-of-the-table clash with City of Birmingham 14-11.

Birmingham made the better start, racing into a 5-1 lead by the beginning of the second period with goals by Ben Cartwright (2), Matt Foulds (2) and Jason Culloo.

Bob Davies, former chairman of the men's National League and a man who inspired a generation of Welsh water polo players, died suddenly on 24 October.

Bob succeeded ex-Great Britain captain Peter Pass as chairman of the National League in 1988 and held the position until 1991. He was also Welsh ASA President.

He will be remembered as the architect and driving force behind the development of Newport club Maindee Olympic, who won the NWPL title in 1982, 1983 and 1984 as well as the ASA Club Championship in 1984 and 1985. In 1984, he also arranged and organised for Maindee to host a round of the European Champions Cup at the old Empire Pool, Cardiff, featuring the mighty German team Spandau.

Bob was team manager of Wales, particularly relishing a Welsh defeat of England at Aberavon in 1972. He was also proud of triple Welsh victories in the old Seven Nations competition.

Rhys Tamlyn writes: "Bob was a straight-talking character who loved his sport and water polo in particular - he was very determined to ensure water polo was kept in the forefront of the aquatic disciplines and wasn't known to back down very often! He was also proud of his sons, Gary and Gwyn, both excellent international players and key members of the Maindee team."

The funeral takes place on Friday, 30 October, at St John the Baptist Church, Penhow (between Newport and Chepstow on the A48), 2.30pm, followed by a gathering at Dewstow Golf Club. Family flowers with donations to RGH Cardiology Fund.

The latest women's Division 3 weekend of action at Marlborough College ended with City of Birmingham and Devonport leading the way with perfect records from five matches.

The lead changed hands six times as unbeaten teams Devonport and Liverpool Water Beatles staged a women's Division 3 thriller at Marlborough College.

Eventually, it was settled in favour of the Devon club with a goal worthy of winning any game - a blistering back-hander two minutes from the end by Samantha Capparelli.

Liverpool had edged into an 8-7 lead in the final period with a goal by Molly Boniface-Ashton. But Devonport equalised with seconds thanks to Bethany Ward (pictured - by Trevor Hyde) - before Capparelli struck with just a second remaining on her team's 30 seconds of possession.

Penguin Rockhoppers picked up their first win of the season - 7-2 against Sunderland. Leeds Hammerheads and Polytechnic drew 6-6; then Iceni claimed their second point of the season in a 7-7 draw with Sunderland.

City of Birmingham retained their 100 per cent record in women's Division 3 at Marlborough College today - but only after a scare against West London Penguin Rockhoppers.

The Rockhoppers deservedly led 8-5 after three periods. But it all went wrong for them in the last as Birmingham scored five times without reply through Fleur Kennedy (2), Lauren Keight, Claire O'Sullivan and Chloe Arthur to win 10-5.

It's tight at the top, with Devonport and Liverpool Water Beatles also completed fifth straight victories. Samantha Capparilli scored five of Devonport's goals in a 12-8 defeat of Southampton; Liverpool's youngsters outplayed Iceni 14-1.

Ian Elliot, manager of the English Water Polo Management Group, is to deliver the eagerly-awaited strategy for the future of the sport at ASA headquarters, Sport Parc, Loughborough, on Sunday, 15 November. Time to be announced.

He says: "I would be delighted if members of the water polo community join me on this occasion. The presentation builds upon the fundamentals agreed in January by the ASA following the strategic review and presentation undertaken by Dr Neil Tunnicliffe."

Watford are looking forward to the visit next Friday (30 October) of Samir Barac, captain of Croatia's winning team at the last Olympics.

He will be on a mission to talk to and inspire the 100 young water polo players at the club, some of whom acted as ball retrievers during London 2012, as well visiting two schools.

Nikki Baker, the club's chairperson, said: "We're working hard to raise the profile of the sport and a visit like this is an excellent opportunity to attract more interest."