British Gas Men's Water Polo team secure first win!
7th September 2009The British Gas Men’s Water Polo team were in action over the weekend playing the first two group matches of their European campaign.
Competing in Lugano, Switzerland at the LEN European B Championships the team displayed excellent skill and determination to take the full three points against the Netherlands with an 8-7 victory in their first match.
Having played them recently at two training camps the British Gas team were confident going in and showed that their preparation had paid off as the team got off to a strong start with an early goal from Alex Parsonage.
The young British Gas team finished the first quarter with a 3-2 lead, but the Dutch hit back to level the match to 6-6 at the end of the third quarter.
Toward the end of their first match the team rallied together and with only seconds remaining on the clock scored what was to be the winning goal.
The second day of competition saw the men take on an extremely powerful and experienced team from Georgia. High expectations were met early on with another goal from Alex Parsonage.
The Georgians hit back immediately and a quick fire game saw the British Gas team down 4-3 after the first eight minutes.
Scott Carpenter found his shooting arm and pulled two goals back for the side, but again the Georgians managed to hold on to the lead and the second quarter finished 6-5.
After pulling away with three goals, the side from Georgia looked in control of the match but the British heads didn’t give up and with two seconds remaining Rob Parker scored to bring the team within one goal of Georgia.
The British Gas team currently lie in fourth place in their group.
Later today the team will take on the host nation Switzerland in what is set to be an exciting match taking place at 18.30 BST.