27/12/2011

27/12/2011

5/12/2011

This is the final report of the 2012 national league campaign.

National League, Watford, Dec 2011

British Water Polo League.
Men's Championship 2
Watford Leisure Centre
Saturday 3rd November 2012.

The long road of the 2012 national league campaign had seen the Worthing team travel to Leeds, Grantham, and Walsall on three separate occasions but the final event was held on the one day at the comparatively local venue of the new 25 metre deep water pool in Watford.
After three seasons of national competition this represented by far and away the closest venue that we have played at and as a result we had a large number of friends and family along to support the team.
Having played 7 matches in the first phase of the competition the two matches at Watford against Birmingham and South Derbyshire would conclude the 7 game program in the second phase. Interestingly, these two matches were a repeat of the first two fixtures of the season which we played back in September in Grantham. 
These are the individual match reports:


Match 1, 12.20.
Worthing 15, Birmingham 12.
Quarter Scores: 5-5, 1-3, 6-2, 3-2.

Our first meeting with Birmingham had been a really exciting encounter which we had been unlucky to lose to goal that we conceded 4 seconds from the end. As a result we knew that this was potentially a game we could win and all of our squad were determined to try and avenge what we all felt had been an unlucky defeat.
For the first time this season we were able to play with a full squad of 13 players which gave the team the depth that we had lacked on some occasions during the previous matches.
The match started at a frenetic pace and we soon took the lead when Sam scored with a good finish but the quarter saw both teams concede goals that they probably should have avoided. With the match all square at 5-5 the second quarter started in dramatic fashion with Nathan sustaining a nasty cut above his right eye and the resulting disruption to our defensive play meant that at one point we trailed by three goals.
Matt scored just before half-time to reduce the deficit to 6-8 and we regrouped, with Nathan now patched up, for the second half.
The third quarter saw the team play probably as well as we have all season with our strong defending leading to a number of counter-attack goals and Birmingham were really struggling to cope with the quality of our play.
With a three goal lead as we started the final period we played sensibly to make sure that we took as much time out of the game as possible and Gregg scored the final goal with a remarkable finish with only 5 seconds left. 
All the squad were involved in the match and Joe became the youngest ever Worthing player (at 14) to play for the club in the national league and I'm sure that this will be the first of many appearances.
Overall we were delighted to beat a talented team who had been the divisional champions the previous season and the performance indicated that we are capable of playing to a high standard.
Scorers: Matt White 5, Sam Abbott 4, Richard Hooper 2, Gregg Candy-Wallace 1, Elan Stark 1, Ziggy Tate 1, Nathan Hart 1.
Exclusions: Elan Stark 3, Alastair Hardinge 2, Thom Hamm 1, Sam Abbott 1, Ziggy Tate 1, Nathan Hart 1. 


Match 2, 18.10
Worthing 8, South Derbyshire 11.
Quarter Scores: 4-2, 2-4, 1-3, 1-2.


The last match of the season was against a South Derbyshire team that we had beaten in first match of the campaign and we all felt that this would give us the ideal opportunity to sign off with a win.
Unfortunately this didn't turn out to be the case after we failed to capitalize on an encouraging first period which we led 4-1 at one stage.
It's hard to know why the squad seemingly ran out of energy in the remainder of the match but we never managed to play to our normal standard against an experienced and well organised opposition.
We were guilty of making far too many basic mistakes and we missed far too many chances when we really should have scored. Our "man-up" play was particularly disappointing and we knew that we really hadn't done ourselves justice in this match.
Perhaps this was a case of a "game too far" and the squad looked really tired at the end of what had been a really demanding 14 match season. 
Scorers: Elan Stark 3, Richard Hooper 2, Sam Abbott 2, Matt White 1.
Exclusions: Alastair Hardinge 2, Adam Collins 1, Richard Hooper 1, Sam Abbott 1, Elan Stark 1, Matt White 1.

Squad in Full: Wesley Connellan (g/k), Gregg Candy-Wallace, Adam Collins, Richard Hooper (capt), Thom Hamm, Sam Abbott, Elan Stark, Ziggy Tate, Nathan Hart, Joe Hazeldine, Matt White, Alastair Hardinge.
Coach: Ben Alcorn, Assistant Coach: Alastair Roberts.


So the season closed with a slightly disappointing defeat but I think that it is important that we realise just how far we have come since we entered the national league in 2009. Having won the division 4 title in our second season this was our first year in division 3 and we should be delighted with how we have played this year.
Our final finishing position of 5th in Championship 2 means that we are the 18th ranked team in the UK and we should be really proud of what we have achieved in such a short space of time.
The challenge is to now to try and continue to improve and in a short meeting with the players after the two matches it was obvious that everyone is determined to come back even stronger in 2012.
Finally, as mentioned previously, we were lucky to have a large number of supporters with the the team at Watford and all the team would like to thank everyone who came and supported us during this season. 

Kind regards,

Alastair.

22/11/2011
London Winter League
Under 16 (96 & Younger) Championship.
Tournament 2, Sunday 27th November 2011.
Whitgift School, South Croydon.

Having won both matches at the first event our under 16 team faced three tough matches at the second tournament at the familiar surroundings of the excellent deep water pool at Whitgift School.
We were fortunate that all of our squad were available for this event but we knew that matches against Beckenham, a combined Crawley/Mid Sussex Marlins squad and our old rivals from Croydon Amphibians would all be a significant challenge.
These are the individual match reports:

Match 1.
Worthing 5, Beckenham 6. (H/T 2-4)
This was an exciting match and we were desperately unlucky not to at least secure a draw.
All the team played well and Beckenham struggled to cope with our attacking play but we were guilty of missing a number of opportunities when we probably should have scored.
Defensively we were guilty of a couple of mistakes which were punished by the opposition and a number of contentious refereeing decisions didn't help.
Although we ultimately lost this match it gave a good indication that the team were very competitive and we were looking forward to the remaining two matches.
Scorers: Joe 3, Sam 1, Ben Goddard 1.
Exclusions: Ben Goddard 1, Sam 1, Karen 1.

Match 2.
Worthing 6, Crawley/Mid Sussex Marlins 2. (H/T 2-1)
After a slow start we eventually recorded a good win against a well organised and competitive opposition.
Sam had a particularly good game at centre back and he joined the attack effectively and scored 4 good goals.
Once again we missed a number of chances when we really should have scored but we were always in control and the final score was a fair reflection of our dominance.
Scorers: Sam 4, Karen 2.
Exclusion: Ben Goddard 1.

Match 3.
Worthing 4, Croydon Amphibians 2. (H/T 2-1)
A cracking match against our old south London rivals who always produce talented junior teams.
The Croydon squad are strong physically and feature a number of very talented players and had been unbeaten in all four of their previous matches.
We knew this would be a tough encounter but we made an excellent start and we soon led 2-0 with Sam scoring and Ben finding the net with an excellent 5 metre shot.
Croydon pulled a goal back before the break but we continued to play well and we soon led when Sam scored again. Croydon pulled another goal back and at 3-2 up Henry produced an excellent save (with his head) and Joe then scored on the counter attack to secure the win.
All the squad played well but special mention should be made of the two girls, Karen and Harleigh, who really battled hard particularly in defence.
Scorers: Sam 2, Joe 1, Ben Goddard 1.
Exclusions: Karen 1, Harleigh 1. 

Squad in full: Henry Jackson (g/k), Sam Wildman, Ben Goddard, Nathan Jones, Ben Curtis, Harleigh Goddard, Karen Chan, Joe Hazeldine, Ellis Bubb.


This was an excellent event and we were desperately unlucky not to win all three matches.
We look forward to playing in the next tournament which takes place back back at the same venue on January 22nd.

Regards,

Alastair.

22/11/2011
British Water Polo League.
Men's Championship 2.
19/20 November 2011
Walsall Gala Baths.

The second phase of our 2011 national league campaign continued with the second round of matches at the familiar surroundings of the Walsall Gala baths.
We knew that this second phase of the season was going to be tough but were really pleased to have finished in the top 5 of the third division which had given the team team a chance to play with teams at the bottom of division 2.
The highest ranked team from the Division 2 first phase was Tyldesey and we faced them in our first game on Saturday. On Sunday we had a fixture against Leeds who are another division two team and all of the squad were aware that these two matches against teams from the higher division would be a true test of how far we had come since our entry into the national league.
These are the individual match reports:

Match 1, Saturday 19th, 13.45.
Worthing 10, Tyldesley 20.
Quarter Scores: 3-4, 2-6, 2-5, 3-5.

This was always going to be a difficult match for the squad who were facing the highest ranked team that we have played since we joined the national league.
Tyldesley were a first division team until fairly recently and they feature a squad of talented and experienced players and particularly an ex-GB team centre forward who is widely recognised as one of the most talented players in all the divisions of the competition.
As a result we knew that we would have to be at our best if we were to have any chance of securing a victory and at the pre-match meeting we tried to develop a strategy that would deal with the oppositions obvious strengths.
Unfortunately, and after an encouraging start when we took an early two goal lead, we never played to anything like our normal standard with far too many basic errors which were easily punished.
We failed to deal with the centre forward to scored 12 of the 20 goals that we conceded but our overall play was well below the standard that we are capable of.
The squad were all disappointed and realised that we hadn't really done ourselves justice in what we knew would be a difficult match but we had done well in the first part of the season to give ourselves the chance to play against the better teams. Perhaps the most interesting statistic of the match other than the score was the exclusion foul count. Tyldesley committed 11 but we only recorded 1 and this possibly indicates that we never really played with our normal passion and commitment. 

Scorers: Richard Hooper 3, Matt White 3, Elan Stark 2, Ziggy Tate 1, Nathan Hart 1.
Exclusion: Ziggy Tate 1.

Match 2, Sunday 20th, 16.00.
Worthing 14, Leeds 11
Quarter Scores: 5-3, 4-2, 3-4, 2-2.

After the disappointment of the match on Saturday all the squad and coaches were determined to put on a better display against a young, fit and aggressive Leeds team.
We all realised that this would a very different affair to the Tyldesley match with the speed and counter attack being the major threats that we would need to deal with.
At a very short pre-match meeting a simple plan was discussed that we were sure would be successful, particularly if we could play with our normal level of commitment.
Thankfully all the squad played much better than the previous day and we soon had Leeds under pressure in both attack and defence. We were particularly successful with our aggressive defending which limited the opposition chances. Wesley had another good game in goal producing saves at important times including one spectacular stop when he surprised the opposition forward with remarkable foray from his goal line.
As the match progressed Leeds became more and more indisciplined and we forced them to commit 16 exclusion fouls, many of which were punished with our extra man play. The competitive nature of the match was indicated by the fact that we also had 11 exclusions, including 3 that Ziggy was harshly adjudged to have committed, but this proved that we had definitely competed in what was a tough encounter.
The attitude of the team, and the standard of the play, was a huge improvement than the previous day and we were delighted to have recorded a win against a team from the higher division.

Scorers: Richard Hooper 4, Matt White 4, Elan Stark 3, Nathan Hart 2, Sam Abbott 1.
Exclusions: Ziggy Tate 3, Alastair Hardinge 2, Gregg Candy-Wallace 1, Adam Collins 1, Richard Hooper 1, Thom Hamm 1, Nathan Hart 1, Matt White 1.

Squad in Full: Wesley Connellan (g/k), Gregg Candy-Wallace, Adam Collins, Richard Hooper (capt), Thom Hamm, Sam Abbott, Elan Stark, Ziggy Tate, Nathan Hart, Matt White, Alastair Hardinge.
Coach: Alastair Roberts, Assistant Coach: Ben Alcorn.

The weekend was a little bit of a roller-coaster ride with a disappointing performance on the Saturday followed by a display of character and skill on the Sunday.
We now have two matches remaining in the competition and we play both these fixtures against Birmingham and South Derbyshire at the deep water pool in Watford on Saturday 3rd December.
This will be far the closest venue that we have played at in our three seasons in the national league and we are looking forward to seeing a large number of supporters.

Regards,

Alastair. 

22/11/2011
We have played three very different games in the past few days and this is the report of last Friday's county league match.

Sussex County League.
Friday 18th November 2011
Prince Regent Pool, Brighton.
Worthing 10, Brighton B 2 (Quarter Scores: 2-0, 2-1, 4-0, 2-1)

This was a satisfactory win against a spirited Brighton team.
Played at the narrow and shallow Prince Regent pool, this always has the potential to be an awkward match but the team played well on the night to record a comfortable win.
With many of our squad unavailable for a variety of reasons, we included first choice goalkeeper Ben Alcorn as an outfield player and he went on to have a highly eventful evening.
Under 16 squad members Ben Goddard and Joe Hazeldine both played for long periods and did not look out of place in the senior team and Ben scored with a good finish on the counter attack.
We defended well for long periods and both goals that we conceded were slightly unlucky. The second took a viscous deflection off Ben Alcorn before finding the top corner.
Overall this was an entertaining win and all the squad played a part in a good all-round display.

Scorers: Matt White 3, Ben Alcorn 2, Andy Cawdery 2, Ben Goddard 1, Dominic Cranford 1, Nathan Hart 1.
Exclusions: Ben Alcorn 2, Matt White 1.
Squad in Full: Ben Alcorn, Adrian Irbe, Jon Gray, Alastair Roberts (g/k), Joe Hazeldine, Ben Goddard, Matt White, Andy Cawdery, Dominic Cranford, Nathan Hart.

Kind regards,

Alastair. 

17/11/2011
London and South-east Region Inter County Tournament.
Under 16's (1996 and Younger)
Whitgift School, South Croydon,
Sunday 13th November 2011.

Competing Counties: Sussex, Hampshire, Kent, Surrey and Middlesex.

Sussex Squad:
Franny Collings, Guy Sandys-Renton, Matilda Coke, Daniel Jefferys (All Mid-Sussex Marlins)
James O'Dell, Michael Turner, Hannah Patchett (All Crawley SC)
Henry Jackson (g/k), Sam Wildman, Joe Hazeldine, Ben Goddard (All Worthing SC)

Sussex county entered this years under 16 inter county tournament with a young team that featured 7 players in a squad of 11 who will be eligible to play again next year.
What the team lacked in experience we more than made up for with a combination of swimming speed and enthusiasm and we played four exciting and highly entertaining matches.
The individual reports are as follows:

Match 1. Sussex 2, Hampshire 4.
Quite simply, a match we should have won.
The team soon settled playing an aggressive "press" defence and we created chance after chance on the counter attack. What we failed to do was take these chances and we never made the opposition goalkeeper make saves with some very wasteful finishing.
This really could have been a different result which was acknowledged by the opposition coach but if you don't take your chances you will always be under pressure. 
It was disappointing to lose but the team hade actually played well and on a different day we could have seen a positive result.
Scorers: Ben 1, James 1.

Match 2. Sussex 7, Surrey 2.
A stunning result which was the biggest win by any competing team on the day.
Quite simply, Surrey had no answer to our tactics and we soon forced errors that we punished with some excellent finishing.
All the team played well and the final score indicated our dominance.
This performance proved that the squad was capable of playing some very good water polo and some of the goals were of an excellent standard.
Scorers: Ben 3, James 2, Joe 2.

Match 3. Sussex 3, Kent 6.
In the Hampshire match we failed to hit the target and now against Kent we came up against the outstanding goalkeeper on show.
Once again we created more than enough chances to win the match but the Kent keeper made a string of quality saves.
Defensively we played relatively well but we conceded a couple of poor goals when we had a player excluded and that ultimately cost us a chance of victory.
Scorers: Ben 2, Joe 1.

Match 4. Sussex 5, Middlesex 6.
By the time we played the final match a pattern had developed with the team creating enough chances but failing to take the opportunities.
This proved to be the case again in the final match when we really should have recorded a win.
We raced to a 4-0 lead with Fran and Joe both scoring twice and we were in total control.
Unfortunately, we started to concede goals, mainly to the strong opposition centre forward, and we failed to take a number of chances that we created.
In the end we lost to a late goal which was very hard on the squad who had again played really well.
Scorers: Joe 3, Fran 2.


Overall, this was really exciting event with all five counties at a very similar level of ability. This made for a tournament where every game was close and Hampshire eventually took the title.
The Sussex team played well and although they only won against Surrey (with an outstanding display), the three defeats could easily have gone our way on another day.
This event again indicated that the standard junior water polo in the county has risen over the past few years and I'm sure that we will have a very competitive team in this competition in 12 months time.

Finally, it was nice to see a large number of family and friends who came to support the team and I would like to thank Simon Jeffreys for keeping the match statistics.

Regards,

Alastair.

7/11/2011
London Winter League.
Under 14 Division (1998 & Younger)
Tournament 1.
Whitgift School, Sunday 6th November 2011.

This is a quick summary of the first tournament of this season's under 14 competition.
We decided to enter a team, after a fair amount of deliberation, which we knew in the majority would be made up of inexperienced players.
Eventually the squad of 11 that we selected included 8 youngsters with no experience of a "proper" match. With the talents of Ben Goddard and the experience of Ellis Bubb and Ben Curtis we at least had 3 players that would be the backbone of the team.
I understand that all the squad played well and they managed to win three matches with only one defeat which was by the narrowest margin.
The scores were as follows: 
Match 1.
Worthing 7, Watford B 1
Scorers: Ben Goddard 4, Ellis Bubb 1, Jacob Nash 1, Robert Scott 1.
Exclusions: None.

Match 2.
Worthing 2, Enfield 3
Scorers: Ben Goddard 2
Exclusions: Ben Goddard 3

Match 3. 
Worthing 8, Dover 1
Scorers: Ben Goddard 5, Ellis Bubb 1, Milo McCardle 1, Robert Scott 1
Exclusions: Ben Goddard 1

Match 4.
Worthing 4, Crawley/Mid Sussex Marlins 1
Exclusions: None

The team was coached by Norman Griffin and Laura Joseph with some assistance from Joe Hazeldine and they all deserve a vote of thanks for their efforts.

The squad in full: Louis Czaja-Rogers, Ben Curtis, Robert Scott, Daisy Hazeldine, Archy Burnell, Gemma Coulson, Elliott Moore, Milo McCardle, Jacob Nash, Ellis Bubb and Ben Goddard.

Regards,

Alastair.

6/11/2011
British Water Polo League
Men's Championship Division 2
Weekend 1,
Leeds University, 5/6 November 2011.

Having played some excellent water polo in Division 3 of this years national league campaign we secured a third place finish, and a result a place in the "Championship 2" second phase of the competition.
In this league we face matches against the other other 4 teams from the top of Division 3 (Caledonia, Exeter, Birmingham and South Derbyshire) and they are joined by the bottom 3 of division 2 (Tyldesley, Hucknall and Leeds). This is going to make for a really hard program of 7 matches which will be played over three weekends starting with these first three games at the Leeds university deep water pool.
This was always going to be a demanding trip for us with a 500+ mile round trip and a squad that had been depleted by the unavailability of a number of players. Ziggy was unfortunately unable to travel due to Illness but we took a squad of 10 to play the three tough fixtures.
These are the individual reports:

Saturday 15.00
Worthing 11, Exeter 16
Quarter Scores: 4-4, 1-4, 3-3, 3-5

A disappointing result against a team that we had beaten in the final game of the first phase but this time round we really struggled to get going.
We didn't play particularly badly but we weren't quite up to our normal standards and as a result we didn't really give ourselves a realistic chance of recording a positive result. 
Richard led the scoring with 4 goals but we were guilty of missing too many chances which we really should have converted. Add to this a slightly lack luster defensive performance and it is easy to see why we never really gave ourselves a chance of the win.
It was annoying that we didn't play our best in this important fixture but all the squad knew what was required to improve in the subsequent matches.
Scorers: Richard 4, Elan 3, Gregg 1, Nathan 1, Matt 1, Alastair 1
Exclusions: Elan 2, Adam 1, Richard 1, Matt 1.

Saturday 18.45
Worthing 9, Caledonia 15
Quarter Scores: 0-4, 1-4, 2-3, 5-5.

This was a hugely frustrating display against a talented Caledonia team who had deservedly topped the Division 3 table winning all their 3 matches.
The score in the first half of the match was no reflection of the overall play and at the break the players and coaches were all at a loss to know why we were 8-1 down.
We had actually played a great deal better than this score would indicate but we hade been guilty of not taking some of the chances we created and we also conceded a number of goals through a lack of concentration.
It would have been easy in the second half for the teams heads to go down and we might have suffered a fairly heavy defeat as a result. The squad deserve a huge amount of credit for the way that they battled back and we started to do ourselves justice. Matt worked really hard in the centre forward position and in the fourth quarter he scored 3 excellent goals.
Although this was our second defeat of the day it was against the team that many people are tipping to win the second phase, and all the team should take a great deal from the excellent performance in the second half. 
Scorers: Richard 4, Matt 4, Nathan 1.
Exclusions: Alastair 2, Gregg 1, Adam 1, Richard 1, Sam 1, Dominic 1.

Sunday 10.30
Worthing 13, Hucknall 13
Quarter Scores: 1-4, 5-3, 1-3, 6-3

A pulsating match against a talented Hucknall team which saw a really exciting finish.
We probably played some of our best water polo during the first few minutes of the match when we defended with great skill and our attack made the excellent opposition goal keeper produce a number of good saves. By the end of the period we found ourselves 4-1 down but we had played so much better than this score indicated.
The second period saw the fight back begin and mid way through the third quarter we took the lead for the first time in the match. Unfortunately we conceded a poor goal just before the end of the quarter which meant that we were 9-10 down at the start of what was to become a really exciting finish.
The drama started when we fell two goals behind with just over 4 minutes left. On our next attack one of the opposition was excluded and we immediately took a time out. On the re-start Matt scored with an excellent finish but Hucknall soon re-gained a 2 goal advantage to lead 13-11. We halved the deficit with another fine goal from Matt on another "man-up" with only 46 seconds left.
In a frantic finale, we defended the next Hucknall attack really well and gained possession with time running out. With 12 seconds left Sam worked himself into a shooting position and he tied the match with a powerful finish past the opposition goalkeeper.
The drama wasn't quite over and Hucknall thought that they might have grabbed a winner in the last second but the "goal" was rightly ruled out. Nathan put in his normal strong performance in defence and he also found his way forward to score 4 excellent goals.
Overall this was an excellent point and was richly deserved after a performance of great character after the disappointment of the previous day.

Scorers: Nathan 4, Matt 3, Richard 2, Sam 2, Elan 1, Alastair 1.
Exclusions: Dominic 1, Nathan 1, Alastair 1.

Squad in Full: Wesley Connellan (g/k), Gregg Candy-Wallace, Adam Collins, Richard Hooper (Captain), Sam Abbott, Elan Stark, Dominic Cranford, Nathan Hart, Matt White, Alastair Hardinge.

Although it was disappointing to loose 2 matches we actually played well for long periods in all three of the games and all of the squad should take great credit for the way that we kept playing, even when things weren't working for us.
We knew that this second phase was going to be difficult with 7 matches against talented teams and we will learn from this weekend.
In two weeks we will be back at the familiar surroundings of the Walsall Gala baths for the next two fixtures against Tyldesley and Leeds.

Regards,

Alastair.

30/10/2011
Sussex Senior Knock-out Final.
Saturday 29th October 2011
Crowborough Leisure Centre
Worthing 20, Crawley 11 (+ 4 handicap) = 15.
Quarter Scores: 5-3, 5-4, 7-1, 3-3.

We retained the Sussex senior knock-out competition with a workmanlike but unspectacular victory against an improving Crawley team.
The final was played at the deep water pool in Crowborough which is "neutral" venue for both teams.
This competition is played with a handicap based on last seasons league position and as a result we had to make up a four goal deficit.
We made a steady start to the match but our defending wasn't it's normal high standard and this kept Crawley in the match.
It was only a really strong display in the third period that put the result beyond doubt and the final period was really a formality.
Crawley defended well for most of the match but they committed 9 exclusion fouls as opposed to our 2 and this illustrates the pressure that we put them under.
All the squad played well and Richard (7) and Matt (6) led the scoring. It was nice to see our two juniors (Joe Hazeldine and Ben Goddard) get some water time and neither of them looked out of place in what turned out to be a good win.

Scorers: Richard Hooper 7, Matt White 6, Nathan Hart 4, Alastair Hardinge 2, Sam Abbott 1.
Exclusions: Alastair Hardinge 1, Andy Cawdery 1.
Squad in Full: Andy Cawdery, Richard Hopper, Sam Abbott, Dominic Cranford, Ben Goddard, Ziggy Tate, Nathan Hart, Matt White, Joe Hazeldine, Alastair Hardinge, Alastair Roberts.

Our next competitive fixtures are next weekend when we start the second phase of the national league season at the Leeds university pool.

Regards,

Alastair.
Please click here for photo album

29/10/2011
British Water Polo League (Division 3)
Second phase fixtures
Championship 2 at Leeds, Walsall and Watford
Please click here for details
We would love to see as many supporters as possible at Watford on Saturday December 3rd. This is easily the closest venue that we have played at since we joined the National League.

29/10/2011
Sussex Senior League.
Wednesday 26th October 2011
Crawley B 7, Worthing 25.
Quarter Scores: 2-7, 1-6, 1-6, 3-6

This was a satisfactory win for our senior team which was achieved with a good number of our first choice squad unavailable.
As a result Ben Goddard (13 years of age) and Joe Hazeldine (14) both had a chance to experience a good amount of game time in senior water polo and the pair of them both played well.
After a slightly slow start we soon took control and we dominated the remainder of the match.
Crawley struggled to cope with all aspects of our attacking play and we scored a number of fine goals from a variety of positions.
In the end this was a good win and all the squad enjoyed the opportunity to play in the excellent K2 deep water pool. 

Scorers: Sam Abbott 9, Ziggy Tate 5, Richard Hooper 5, Joe Hazeldine 3, Andy Cawdery 1, Ben Goddard 1, Alastair Roberts 1.
Exclusions: Jon Gray 3, Adrian Irbe 2, Andy Cawdery 1, Rob Osborne 1.

Squad in full: Jon Gray, Andy Cawdery, Richard Hooper, Adrian Irbe, Sam Abbott, Joe Hazeldine, Rob Osborne, Ziggy Tate, Ben Goddard, Alastair Roberts. Coach: Nathan Hart. 

16/10/2011
British Water Polo League Division 3.
Weekend 3.
Walsall Gala Baths
15/16 October 2011

We travelled to the familiar surroundings of the Walsall Gala baths for the last two matches in the first phase of this years national league campaign.
With three wins in our first five matches we needed a single point from the two scheduled matches at Walsall to secure a place in top five of the league. 
If we could achieve this, then we would be safe from relegation and we would then play in the second phase of the competition joining with the three teams at the bottom of division 2.
Unfortunately we were without Matt White for the weekend because of injury but Adam Collins was making his debut and he added experience to the squad.
These are the individual match reports:

1. Saturday 15th October, 16.05
Worthing 9, University of Bristol 6.
Quarter Scores: 1-1, 3-0, 4-4, 1-1.

The result was the most important aspect of a dour and low key match when the two teams cancelled each other out for long periods.
The first period was particularly slow to come to life with chances few and far between with defences very much on top. We fell behind but Richard soon equalised and we then went on to play our best water polo of the match during the second quarter. We continued to defend well and Richard added two more goals and Nathan produced a fine finish when one of the opposition players was excluded.
With a 4-1 lead at half-time we looked well in control but Bristol kept working hard and the game was still in the balance going into the final period.
In the end we controlled the final quarter well, keeping possession and defending sensibly and eventually running the clock down.
This was a vital win and the result secured our top five position but it was far from our best performance and all the team realised that we can play significantly better. 

Scorers: Richard Hooper 4, Nathan Hart 2, Adam Collins 1, Sam Abbott 1, Elan Stark 1.
Exclusions: Nathan Hart 2, Adam Collins 1, Richard Hooper 1, Thom Hamm 1, Elan Stark 1, Dominic Cranford 1.


2. Sunday 16th October, 12.15
Worthing 14, Exeter 13.
Quarter Scores: 3-2, 3-4, 5-2, 3-5.

This was an exciting match where we played some of our best water polo of the first phase of the competition.
Exeter are a physical but well organised and skillful team who have a number of very talented players who can score goals from a variety of positions.
We knew that this match would be a real battle but we felt that we would be able to cause the opposition problems, particularly if we could defend well.
This proved to be the case and we always led the match until Exeter staged a strong comeback at the start of the final period. We led 11-8 at the beginning of the period but we suddenly stopped defending as we had been and Exeter scored 4 unanswered goals which meant they took the lead for the first time in the match with a little over 3 minutes remaining.
We equalised when Ziggy scored with a fine finish on a "man-up" play with and we had a chance to take the lead when another Exeter defender was excluded (they had 13 in the match) with just over a minute left. Unfortunately we missed the opportunity and then Exeter had a goal disallowed which led to their coach being red carded and dismissed from the pool side.
In a frantic finish we took our final time out and Elan scored an excellent goal to give us the lead again. We still had to defend the final Exeter attack but we managed to turn over the possession and we ran the clock down to secure a fine win.
This was a fine effort from all the squad and we were all delighted with the win. Wesley produced a number of fine saves in goal when it mattered and Nathan produced another solid display at centre back.

Scorers: Ziggy Tate 4, Elan Stark 4, Richard Hooper 2, Sam Abbott 2, Nathan Hart 1, Thom Hamm 1.
Exclusions: Sam Abbott 2, Alastair Hardinge 2, Dominic Cranford 1.

Squad in Full;- Wesley Connellen (g/k), Gregg Candy-Wallace, Adam Collins, Richard Hooper (capt), Thom Hamm, Sam Abbott, Elan Stark, Dominic Cranford, Ziggy Tate, Nathan Hart, Andy Cawdery, Alastair Hardinge.


This was a really good weekend for the team and we were well supported by a good number of friends and family. 
We now face another 7 really tough matches in the second phase starting with the long trip to Leeds in three weeks time.

Regards,

Alastair.

14/10/2011
Sussex Senior Knock-Out.
Wednesday 12th October 2011
Worthing 20, Brighton 9.
Quarter scores: 6-1, 5-3, 3-0, 6-5.

This was always going to be an interesting match for our senior team with a large number of the squad unavailable due to a variety of reasons.
As a result we included 3 of of our current junior squad who we knew would give a good account of themselves as well as benefitting from the chance to play at senior level. Joe Hazeldine and Ben Goddard have played a little senior water polo already but Olly Rainford was making his debut and all three of played a significant part in the match.
We made an excellent start in the first quarter and we built a 6-1 lead that was always going to put us in control. The team played really well for long periods and Brighton never really came to terms with our defensive strategy and the speed and directness of our counter attacking.
Sam and Ziggy both scored 7 but this was a really good all round team performance from the squad and everyone contributed to this impressive win.
The team was coached on the night by Matt White who was sitting the game out because of injury.

Scorers: Ziggy Tate 7, Sam Abbott 7, Andy Cawdery 2, Ben Goddard 2, Ben Alcorn 1, Adrian Irbe 1.
Exclusions: Joe Hazeldine 3, Rob Osborne 2, Olly Rainford 1, Ziggy Tate 1, Adrian Irbe 1, Ben Goddard 1.
Squad: Joe Hazeldine, Rob Osborne, Sam Abbott, Olly Rainford, Andy Cawdery, Ziggy Tate, Adrian Irbe, Ben Alcorn, Ben Goddard, Alastair Roberts.

Regards,

Alastair.

10/10/2011  

London Winter League.
Under 16 Competition (1996 + Younger)
Tournament 1.
Whitgift School, South Croydon.
Sunday 9th October.

Our under 16 team has begun to make really good progress over the past few months and we were looking forward to the first event of this competition.
Unfortunately we were without a number of the squad but eventually we managed to travel with seven players for the two match program.
These are the individual match reports:

1. Worthing 10, Tunbridge Wells/Sevenoaks 1. (H/T 5-1)
This was a really encouraging display against a spirited opposition who never came to terms with the speed of our attacking play.
We also adopted an aggressive defensive tactic that minimised the scoring opportunities for the opposing team and Henry didn't have a great deal to do in goal.
Joe dominated the scoring but this was a solid team display when we played some really good water polo at times. It was also pleasing to see Harleigh score two really good goals.
Scorers: Joe 6, Ben 2, Harleigh 2.
Exclusions: Joe 2, Harleigh 1, Ben 1, Sam 1.

2. Worthing 7, Basingstoke 5. (H/T 4-3)
This was a really exciting match when we came from behind to win.
We made a slow start and soon fell 2 goals down but we soon started to find our form and at half time we led 4-3.
Basingstoke equalised at the start of the second half but Joe and then Sam with two quick goals made the game safe. Henry made a number of good saves at crucial times and we also missed a number of chances when we might have added to our number of goals.
This was a good win against a talented team and all the squad played a part in getting a positive result.
Scorers: Sam 3, Ben 2, Joe 1, Karen 1.
Exclusions: None.

Squad in full: Henry Jackson (G/K), Joe Hazeldine, Ben Goddard, Harleigh Goddard, Toby Lodge, Karen Chan, Sam Wildman.

This was a really encouraging event for this squad and we are looking forward to the next tournament on November 27th.

Regards,

Alastair. 

2/10/2011  

2/10/2011

20/9/2011
As the senior team was making it's way back from the National league weekend at Grantham, our under 15 team (in conjunction with Crawley) were playing in the final London league tournament of the season.
This is a basic report (with thanks to Alison Goddard for keeping the stats)

London League Under 15 (97 & Younger) Championship.
Tournament 4.
Whitgift School, South Croydon.
Sunday 18th September 2011.

We have enjoyed our participation in this competition and the results in the first three tournaments meant that we qualified to play in the final "top four" play-off at this event.
We therefore faced three tough matches against the strongest teams which we knew would make a very demanding event.
The team played really well and the results were as follows:

Worthing/Crawley 3, Watford 5.
Scorers: Ben Goddard 2, Joe Hazeldine 1
Exclusions: Joe 2, Ben 1. 

Worthing/Crawley 1, Croydon 1.
Scorers: Joe 1
Exclusions: James O'Dell 3, Ben 2, Joe 2.

Worthing/Crawley 7, Basildon 0. 
Scorers: Ben 2, Joe 2, Nathan 1, James 1, Frankie Penfold 1.
Exclusions: None.

Squad in full: Ben Goddard, Joe Hazeldine, Nathan Jones, Ellis Bubb, Ben Curtis, (all Worthing SC), James O'Dell, Mattie O'Dell, Christian Hurst, Frankie Penfold, Sam Chatfield (all Crawley SC).

This was another good event for the team and the narrow defeat to the overall winners from Watford and an excellent draw with Croydon illustrates how well the team has progressed.

Regards,

Alastair. 

19/9/2011
National League 2011.
Tournament 1.
Grantham Leisure Centre, 17/18 September.

This is the report of the first national league weekend of the 2011 season.
Having gained promotion last year after winning division 4 and the subsequent play-off match, we travelled to Grantham to face three tough fixtures on our debut in division 3.
The format of the 2011 season has seen a significant change from previous years. The first phase of the season will consist of matches against the other 7 teams in the division. At this point the league will split with the top five playing with the bottom three in division two, and the bottom three joining to play with the top 5 from division four.
As a result of this, our first target is to make the top five but as a promoted team we know that this will not necessarily be easy. 
We travelled to Grantham with three debutants: Ziggy Tate, Thom Hamm and current GB junior goalkeeper Wesley Connellan and all of them were looking forward to this first weekend.
These are the individual match reports:

Saturday 17th September, 12.30.
Worthing 18, South Derbyshire 14.
Quarter Scores: 3-3, 3-6, 7-4, 5-1.

This was a really tough baptism in division three against an experienced and physical South Derbyshire team who had finished in mid-table last season.
Matt White was not available for this game as he served his one match ban that he picked up in the play-off last year but we worked hard to develop a tactical plan that would deal with his absence.
As a result Sam Abbott took over the centre forward role for long periods of the game and he worked incredibly hard against the South Derbyshire defenders.
We struggled early on and early in the third quarter we were 6-10 down but we changed our defensive tactics and we slowly turned the match around. We tied the game at 13-13 by the end of the third period and we played really strongly to close the match out.
Our fitness eventually told and as the game came to a conclusion we scored a number of times on the counter-attack. We also benefitted from only conceding two exclusion fouls in the entire match which continued our good record since joining the national league. Richard had a particularly fine game and scored 8 goals including 1 penalty.
This was a really tough match but we were pleased to have recorded our first win on our first appearance in this division but the squad realised that we would probably have to play better in the up and coming matches.

Scorers: Richard Hooper 8, Elan Stark 4, Sam Abbott 2, Nathan Hart 2, Ziggy Tate 1, Alastair Hardinge 1.
Exclusions: Richard Hooper 1, Alastair Hardinge 1.


Saturday 17th September, 16.15.
Worthing 13, Birmingham 14.
Quarter Scores: 4-6, 2-3, 2-2, 5-3.

Our second match of the day was against last year's division winners who missed out on promotion by the narrowest of margins in the play-off. As a result we realised that this would be a really tough test against a well organised and fit team that work really hard.
The match turned out to be a dramatic affair with a hugely exciting conclusion.
After a slightly tentative start when we took time to come to terms with Birmingham's style of play, we slowly started to play to our strengths and going into the final period we only trailed by two goals.
The drama really started when having reduced the deficit to 1 goal at 11-12 we took our first time out. Almost immediately a Birmingham player was excluded and Ziggy scored to put us on level terms for the first time since the start of the match.
Birmingham scored again to re-take the lead but we immediately took our second time out with just over a minute remaining. With 51 seconds left Elan scored to again tie the match and at the re-start Birmingham called a time-out. We thought we had done enough to earn a draw when we defended the next attack and we went forward to try and score the winning goal but unfortunately we lost possession and the opposition scored with 4 seconds of the match remaining.
It was bitterly disappointing to lose in these circumstances but we should take a great deal of credit for the manner of the performance and the fact that we pushed a talented team so close.
Wesley had a fine game in goal and produced a number of good saves and it was encouraging that the goals were shared around 7 of the outfield players.

Scorers: Matt White 3, Richard Hooper 2, Elan Stark 2, Ziggy Tate 2, Nathan Hart 2, Thom Hamm 1, Sam Abbott 1.
Exclusions: Richard Hooper 1, Elan Stark 1, Ziggy Tate 1, Alastair Hardinge 1.


Sunday 18th September, 13.00.
Worthing 17, Swindon 10.
Quarter Scores: 3-3, 4-2, 7-3, 3-2.

This was an excellent end to a very demanding weekend when we played three really tough matches. We beat Swindon in the play-off match to gain a place in this division but they re-gained a place when Warley withdrew and so we had the experience of a recent match against them.
We knew that this would be a tough encounter against a well organised and very strong team who play to their obvious strengths.
After slow starts in the two previous matches we were determined to make a stronger start this time and that proved the case with two quick goals from Matt White. By the end of the first quarter Swindon had leveled at 3-3 but we were playing well and we always looked dangerous in attack.
We took control in the remainder of the match and a particularly strong third quarter made the game safe and we were able to play out the final period controlling possession against a tiring opposition.
Matt had a particularly fine game at centre forward scoring 7 times but his hard work also resulted in Swindon committing a number of exclusion fouls. Overall they committed a remarkable 16 exclusions and with better finishing in the resulting plays we could have scored more goals.
Overall this was another good win which illustrated that we are a competitive team in the division and we should be capable of giving a good account of ourselves against the remaining four teams.

Scorers: Matt White 7, Richard Hooper 4, Sam Abbott 3, Elan Stark 2, Ziggy Tate 1.
Exclusions: Gregg Candy-Wallace 1, Thom Hamm 1, Ziggy Tate 1, Nathan Hart 1, Alastair Hardinge 1.

Squad in Full: Wesley Connellan (g/k), Gregg Candy-Wallace, Jon Gray, Richard Hooper (capt), Thom Hamm, Sam Abbott, Elan Stark, Dominic Cranford, Ziggy Tate, Nathan Hart, Matt White, Alastair Hardinge.

This was a really encouraging start to life in division 3 and we should be very pleased with our two wins and we can take a great deal from the narrowest of defeats to a talented Birmingham team.
All the squad played a part in these matches and as usual the goal scorers will make the headlines for obvious reasons. But all of the squad played their part and Wesley, at sixteen years of age, had a really good debut weekend in the national league and he will undoubtedly improve as he gains experience. Special mention should also be made of Nathan Hart who had an outstanding weekend playing in tough position of centre back. Not only did he defend with great skill, he joined the attack to score a number of vital goals and he only committed one exclusion foul in three games which is not easy playing in such a demanding role.

The season continues in two weeks when we play two fixtures in one day at Walsall on Saturday 1st October.

Kind regards,

Alastair.

16/9/2011