Manchester & Lancaster retain British Gas Water Polo title
21st February 2010City of Manchester and Lancaster have retained their national titles in what was an exciting day of competition at the British Gas Water Polo Championships in the Manchester Aquatics Centre.
The Women’s competition saw City of Manchester make it three years in a row as they overcame a close contest with unexpected finalists West London Penguins to take the title with a tight 8-7 win.
A slow first period saw only two goals make the scoreboard as Manchester found the back of the net twice with goals from GB internationals Angie Winstanley-Smith and Rebecca Kershaw.
Kershaw put Manchester further ahead at the beginning of the second period after negotiating her way past the Penguin defence, but it wasn’t until three minutes in that the West London side were able to retaliate as a goal from Frankie Snell found its way past Robyn Nicholls.
A scramble at the Manchester goal saw Penguins get their second as the ball just passed the posts and the match was soon levelled by a second from Snell. The defensive play from both teams kept the score even by the half-time whistle.
Elenor Thomson put Penguins ahead and the teams went goal-for-goal until Manchester found themselves in a player-up situation, and it was Alex Rutlidge that was able to take advantage helping Manchester retake the lead with 30 seconds left on the clock to end the third period 6-5 in Manchester’s favour.
A Winstanley-Smith shot at the beginning of the final period hit the post and allowed Penguins to briefly take control of the match but a break by Manchester saw Lisa Gibson score followed in quick succession by Winstanley-Smith netting Manchester’s eighth and her fourth goal of the match,
Penguins quickly fired back with a goal from Benko and a shot on target from Snell put the team right back in the game reducing Manchester’s lead to just one goal with two minutes remaining.
Winstanley-Smith hit the cross-bar with 30 seconds on the clock but the match ended with a close score of 8-7 to the defending champions.
Speaking afterwards Manchester team captain Chloe Wicox said: It’s the third year in a row that we’ve won the British Championships now so that’s something special. Next year we’re going to go for the League title as well as defending here.”
In the Women’s 3rd/4th Place Play-offs last year’s finalists City of Liverpool edged a 15-13 win over City of Sheffield to claim third.
2009 Men’s Champions Lancaster came into the final in great form having taken the National League title earlier this year and coming through the Championships undefeated. With high expectations they were able to take victory over outsiders Bristol Central with a fantastic 13-7 win.
Lancaster dominated the first period with top-scorer Tom Curwen finding the back of the net four times during the first eight minutes and took advantage of a man-up situation with Chris Hartley. Bristol tried to make an attack after five minutes but the Lancaster defence proved too strong and possession was turned around.
GB International team captain Craig Figes got Bristol onto the scoreboard with a shot on goal, but Lancaster countered with a goal of their own
After time ran out for Bristol to take aim at goal Lancaster shot back with a goal of their own from Curwen to end the first period 6-1.
The start of the second period saw Bristol sneak a goal in by Dan Williams but Lancaster soon broke away to regain their five goal lead with a goal from Ciaran James.
A great save by Dave Bush saw Lancaster regain possession but the team were unable to make it count as Bristol’s Matt Thresher found the back of the net. Fighting back, Curwen found his way in front of the Bristol defence, received a long pass and shot for his fifth goal making it two goals apiece for the second period with the half-time whistle blowing at 8-3 in Lancaster’s favour.
A fourth goal for Bristol within the first minute of the third got the team off to a good start but Lancaster’s James held off the defence and shot an excellent goal under pressure from Bristol.
A goal came from Bristol’s Figes before Lancaster re-established their five goal lead as Curwen got his fifth goal of the match and the team ended the third period 11-5 after a goal from Cowburn.
Bristol’s John Sissons worked well to get between the Lancaster defence and get the team’s sixth goal shortly followed by another for the side to take the total to seven.
Lancaster extended their lead to 12-7 with two minutes left on the clock and Andy Squires soon followed it up to send Lancaster a further goal ahead. With the final score ending 13-7 Lancaster retained their British Gas Championship title.
Speaking after the match Lancaster team captain Chris Hartley said: “It’s brilliant, absolutely fantastic. I think a lot of it’s down to our training and help from Alberto [Bertolotti – Lancaster coach].
The Men’s 3rd/4th Place Play-off saw a repeat of the Preliminary Round match between City of Manchester and Rotherham Metro, with Rotherham this time coming out the victors ith a close 9-8 win to take the third spot.
Looking forward, the Men’s and Women’s GB international teams now have the LEN European A Qualifiers to contest in April and Women’s captain Ros Griffiths believes that the British Gas Water Polo Championships has provided the players with excellent preparation.
“Now we’ve finished the club season we can focus on our international competitions. These Championships have been great for all of the players and we’ve been able to get back into match-preparation, experiencing the pressure that comes with big tournaments and playing with a crowd, so hopefully that will stand us in good stead when we fight for a place in the European As.”