The best teams in British water polo converged on the Manchester Aquatic Centre over the final weekend in February. The British Club Championships provide the showcase for the country’s top teams to fight it out for the right to be named number one.
The men’s prelims took place the previous weekend, where the results set up semi-finals between Bristol and Rotherham and three-in-a-row defending champions Lancaster drew Cheltenham. In the women’s semi-finals, qualifiers were taken from the top four National League finishers. The titleholders, Sheffield, were drawn against Manchester and the ladies from Liverpool against Londoners, Hammersmith Penguin.
In recent years Lancaster has been dominant, winning the men’s competition three years running. Favourites Sheffield were aiming to make it two in a row in the women’s competition.
DAY ONE: The Best
The first men’s semi-final saw a clash between the second and third-placed teams in the National League, Bristol and Rotherham, so a well-matched encounter was promised. Bristol started slowly, going into half-time 5-6 down after some fierce attacking from the Yorkshire outfit. In the second half, a skilful performance from centre-forward Adam Scholefield couldn’t compensate for a Rotherham side which was lacking in numbers and eventually ran out of steam. Bristol managed to overturn the half-time deficit to scrape a victory 10-9 to earn their place in the final.
The mighty Lancaster versus an up-and-coming Cheltenham was a ‘giant-killing’ waiting to happen. Could the emerging talents of Cheltenham cause the upset of the championship by beating the favourites? Not this time as the masters from the North West dominated the game, winning an impressive 11-3. Their solid defence and clinical finishing was the difference between the two sides and promoted them into the final to meet Bristol.
Great Britain and Bristol star Craig Figes watched the second semi-final closely. ‘Lancaster are playing very well. I can see that the difference between the two sides in the final will come down to a couple of key incidents during the game,’ he said.
Sheffield took on Manchester in the first of the women’s semi-finals. Manchester had home advantage but were taking on the title favourites. Again, as in the men’s second semi, experience won through and the champions prevailed. The title-holders, boasting five members of the England Commonwealth team, booked their final place with a 15-6 win.
The second semi-final bought together Liverpool and Hammersmith Penguin. The Merseyside ladies won through 7-2 in a physical match with few clear scoring opportunities. Hannah Wilde, Rosie Morris and Fiona McCann, recently back from the Commonwealth Championships in Perth, Australia, could now focus on performing for Liverpool in the final against Sheffield.
DAY TWO: Best of the Best
All the medals were to be decided on the final day of competition as the hopefuls returned for the climax of the championship. Even the bronze medal play-offs were of nail-biting importance, offering a European qualification spot to the winner of the first game between Manchester and Hammersmith ladies.
Coach for Manchester, Tim Dunsbee, looked as nervous as his players ahead of the start. ‘This is a great opportunity that we must take advantage of in order to keep on progressing as an elite squad,’ he said. ‘We are a young side with much to offer in the future and the European games will give players essential experience at a higher level.’
The Manchester players clearly shared Tim’s desire to win and dominated their London opposition throughout the match. They won by a clear margin of 13-6.
The Sheffield versus Liverpool final started slowly but was ignited by the first goal midway through the second quarter. It was a great goal, scored by England’s most outstanding player at the Commonwealths, Sheffield’s Fran Leighton. She drove into the heart of the defence and finished with great accuracy after one of the Liverpool players was penalised for a major foul.
What followed could have changed the game completely for Sheffield as Leighton suffered an accidental eye injury and had to retire from the game. However, the champions pulled through to lead at half time 4-1 and Fran was back in time to watch the final quarter after a short trip to Manchester Royal Infirmary.
The second half saw a Merseyside comeback to 5-4 before Nes Cowton, the Sheffield number three, struck twice in 30 seconds to reinstate authority. The game finished 7-4 in what was a physical and draining effort from both sides.
‘POSITIVE IMPACT’
Fran Leighton, watching from the balcony, summed up the Sheffield spirit: ‘We are a really tight unit. I think today our strength of character shone through and got us the win. Taking the title has a really positive impact on our younger players. It shows that the hard work in training really pays off.’
Last year’s beaten finalists Rotherham locked horns with Cheltenham in the men’s bronze medal play-off. This proved an even tussle, swinging one way and then the other.
Going into the last two minutes, Rotherham were down 6-7 but drew level with a six-metre rocket from Richard Leighton, brother to Sheffield ladies’ star Fran. A time-out from both sides couldn’t find a winner and, when Phil Stocker hit the bar with four seconds remaining, the Yorkshire side must have been thinking it wasn’t going to be their day. Fortunately for Rotherham they sealed the victory 9-8 in overtime to take home the bronze.
Arch-rivals Bristol and four-time champions Lancaster met in a much-anticipated men’s final. First and second in the National League, these teams know each other very well.
An eventful first half went to Bristol 3-4, despite their loss of two players to major fouls. Lancaster showed great character to bounce back and take the lead 6-5 going into the final quarter. This was extended to 7-5 by a fabulous back-post breakaway goal, fired home by Tom Curwin. In the end, Bristol felt hard done by with the early dismissals, which proved the difference in the later stages as Lancaster’s fresh legs off the bench paid dividends, securing their fourth title in a row with a 10-6 win.
Lancaster captain Chris Hartley commented afterwards: ‘It was one of the most physically challenging games I’ve ever played in, with little between the two sides. This nucleus of players has been together for a long time and with the likes of young Tom Curwin coming in and playing so well, we always have a strong desire and determination to win.’
‘GREAT OPPORTUNITY’
National performance director Nick Hume saw the championships as a great opportunity for the best British sides to match themselves against similar opposition in one of the country’s best water polo facilities.
It seems that what these elite players need now is the opportunity to train and play at a higher standard, especially on the international stage. An example of this was seen at the recent Commonwealth championships, where funding was provided for a relatively young set of players to gain experience of competing at world level.
Hume agreed that the national teams in place now are young enough to be peaking at London 2012. ‘Water polo players tend to peak in their mid to late twenties,’ he said. ‘So the groups we have right now are in line for the London Games. My aim is for the women’s team to vie for a medal and for the men to be competitive with the world elite.’
This will only be possible if the right funding is provided to give our young hopefuls a real shot at Olympic success. After all, wasn’t the London bid won with a vision of offering young people the opportunity to achieve?
Courtsey of Swimming Times magazine
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