Watford stay top in women’s Division 3 but had to stage a final quarter recovery to beat Manchester Comets 13-12 in Liverpool.

A seven-goal haul by 15-year-old Charlotte Pritchard guided Comets to an 8-7 lead after two periods, 9-8 after three, then 10-8 early in the last. It was only then that Watford hit back to steal the points thanks to goals by Anna Kiss (2), Tabby Vaughan (2) and Laura Page.
​
After their draw on day one, Otter Lutra and Penguin Emperors both enjoyed comfortable wins. Otter beat Cheltenham 19-9, including five goals each for Grace Turner and Pippa Danielson. Penguin’s strong third quarter display, featuring goals by Rachel Bull (2), Maddie Roberts (2) and Cate de Toit, ensured an 11-7 success against St Andrews University. 

​Photo (Trevor Hyde): Watford's Eve Barnes.

Cambridge’s continuous 15-year run as a competing national league club ended in the most dramatic fashion at Haberdashers today. Only in the last two or three seconds of their final game in men’s Division 5 was their fate sealed.

Everything rested on their clash with Caledonia Storm. Cambridge knew that a point would be sufficient to ensure they avoided the bottom two places (and the need to reclaim League status in 2022/23 via the qualification tournament). For the Scots, only a win would ensure they avoided the drop.

All went well at the start for Cambridge - they led 3-1 after the first period and 6-3 in the third. That signalled a tremendous Caledonia revival and, by the end of that quarter, they had pulled up to 7-7 with goals by Lewis Hunter, Jack Robertson, Adam Heywood and Gregor Rodger.

Robertson (2) and David Stewart then took Storm into a 10-8 lead, cut to 10-9 when Simon Lecomber netted from a man-up 1.02 from the end. Cambridge attacked once again. Just as the final whistle was about to blow, Bruno Magalhaes lined up a potential equaliser – only to see his shot slam against a post.
​
Caledonia join undefeated Watford Saxons, Sedgefield, Invicta Marlins and Coventry in Championship 4 in phase two of the season. Cambridge and Chester drop out.

The London derby produced a dramatic finish in women’s Division 3 at Liverpool today. Penguin Emperors finished the third period with a lead of 8-4 only to see Otter Lutra’s all-junior team hit back and draw 8-8 with goals from Sarah Ellis-Keeler, Pippa Danielson, Grace Turner and – just two seconds from the end – Lucy Bulloch.

Cheltenham remain unbeaten after defeating Liverpool Water Beatles 13-6, including goals from Amelie Perkins (5), Charlotte Martin (3) and Freya Webster (3).

​Watford’s 12-5 success against Southampton featured hat-tricks for Anna Kiss and Catalina Granger (Photo: Trevor Hyde).

Chester will miss the second phase of the season after picking up a single point from two matches in men’s Division 5 at Haberdashers today. Two clubs drop from this seven-team division at the half-way point of the season. Joining Chester will be either Caledonian Storm or Cambridge, who meet tomorrow.

It was an unfortunate day for Chester. Late goals by Adam Page (2), 15-year-old Josh Pender and Josh Barrett put them 14-12 ahead against table-toppers Watford Saxons only for Saxons to snatch a 14-14 draw thanks to strikes by Tom Sabell and Liam McCarthy.

Chester then lost a crunch match 9-8 to Caledonia Storm. The Scots led 3-0 early on but Chester battled back to level at 8-8 1.46 from the end with a man-up goal from Dan Johnson. Twelve seconds later, Gregor Rodger hit the winner, also from a man-up chance.
​
Cambridge beat Coventry 9-4 with goals in the final quarter from Nick Ludford (2), Bruno Magalhaes (Photo: Trevor Hyde) and Simon Lecomber.

Penguin and Exeter guaranteed progress to men’s Championship 1 with easy wins in Division 2 at Watford today.

Four goals without reply in the opening period set Penguin on course to a 16-6 victory over the home club, maintaining their 100 per cent record from five matches. James Salt (4), Andrea Tulli (3) and Mehmet Arat (3) were the chief scorers. Exeter brushed aside struggling Otter 24-6.
​
It was a good second day for the Scottish teams. Portobello beat Sutton & Cheam 13-9, with Luca Pollock (4), Ben Scott (3) and Ed Grundy (3) leading the scoring. Caledonia’s third win of the weekend – 14-9 against Manchester Hawks – featured an outstanding display by Darren Campbell (Photo: Trevor Hyde), who scored seven.

Cheltenham Spartans’ winning run in men’s Division 3 came to a spectacular end at Watford today – beaten 19-5 by Worthing, whose top marksmen were Ben Curtis and George Wood, both with five.

Two hundred miles up country at Bolton, Hucknall completed their third win of the weekend – 14-9 against Durham Palatinates - to ensure a place in Championship 2 in the second half of the season. The teams were evenly matched until Hucknall scored six in the third period, including four by Sam Joyce (Photo: Trevor Hyde), who finished with a match tally of six.
​
Goals in the last two minutes by Reece Caunce, Mat Lawtey and Mark Lister earned Castleford a 12-8 victory in an otherwise close match against City of Birmingham. Andy McAllister (4) and Tom Andrews (3) led the way for Croydon, who beat City of Bristol 12-9.

Caledonia enjoyed a great day out at the Jason Kenny pool, Bolton, beating Portobello 16-10 in the Scottish derby and then snatching a dramatic 11-10 victory over Sutton & Cheam.

The Portobello clash was a close affair until goals by Darren Campbell, Rory Nesbitt, Dominique Zahra and Ali Campbell took Caledonia clear in the final stages.

That proved to be fairly routine compared with the Sutton match, which saw Caledonia twice trail before snatching victory with a Chris Campbell goal 1.25 from the end.

Sutton led 7-2 at one stage, then 10-7. But there was a tremendous Scottish rally in the last five minutes as Finlay Nesbitt, Ali Campbell and Dominique Zahra all scored. Then Chris Campbell fired the winner.  

The final game of the day at Watford saw a crunch meeting of Exeter and Penguin, the two sides with maximum points, each from three games. It turned into a one-sided affair as the Londoners triumphed 22-9, recovering from 3-2 down after the first period to lead 10-5 at halftime - and then piling on another nine goals in the final quarter.

Earlier, Exeter defeated Watford 16-11. Adrian Carrieri (4) and Sam Alberici (3) led the scoring. Penguin hammered Otter 22-8, including five goals from Bence Kadar.

Portobello had better luck in their second game, defeating Manchester Hawks 12-10 thanks to late goals by Yalin Gulen, Ben Scott – his fourth of the match – and Ed Grundy.
​
Photo (Trevor Hyde): Adrian Carrieri, white 10, scores one of his goals against Watford today.

Hucknall continued their confident progress in men's Division 3, making it seven points from four games with a 14-13 victory over Castleford, then an 8-3 defeat of Birmingham.

The Castleford game was a triumph for Matt Braun, who claimed a seven-goal haul. His team dominated the late stages after the sides were level at 8-8 after two periods. Matt Lawtey also netted seven for Castleford.

Croydon were 6-5 up after three periods against Worthing, but then goals by Ben Curtis (2), Sam Cooper, Jo Martins and Jamie Bond put Worthing in charge and secured a 10-8 win. Worthing lost their second match, 10-7 to Bristol, who relied on strikes from Stuart Fennell (2) and Steffan Williams to secure the points in the last quarter.
​
It was also a dominant final period that secured Birmingham’s 11-6 victory over Durham Palatinates. Simon Halstead, Alun Chesworth-Rickards, Jason Culloo and Ben Cartwright were all on target. 

Cheltenham Spartans remain the only team with a 100 per cent record after beating Croydon 16-13. Youngster George Glover (Photo: Trevor Hyde) was again the star of the show, with seven goals.

Coventry made their Super 5s progression virtually certain by completing an impressive hat-trick of wins in women’s Division 1 at the local Alan Higgs Centre. Today’s success – 16-12 against Liverpool Lizards – featured five goals by Amy Berry and four from Sophie Linney.

Champions Manchester maintained their easy progress to the Super 5s by making it four wins from four matches. Brooke Tafazolli claimed a hat-trick in the 11-6 victory over her former club Otter.
​
Sheffield Sharks beat Caledonia 15-10, with Bernice Cowton (4), Danielle Eliot (3) and Amelia Peters (3) on target. India Wilkinson (4) and Kayleigh Schultz (3) led the Hucknall scoring in a 9-7 defeat of Tyldesley.

Photo (Trevor Hyde): Anna Motley scores Sheffield Sharks' first goal against Caledonia today.

Exeter are the only undefeated team in women’s Division 2 after winning a close contest with Rotherham Metro 9-6 at Marlborough College today.
​
Liverpool Liver Birds went down 9-5 to Mid Sussex Marlins, who broke clear with goals by Caitlin Silk, Lauren Hand, Maisie Standen and Eve Tidy after the game was locked at 5-5 in the third period.