Water Polo Report

25/03/2013

London Winter League
Under 16 Championship (1997 & younger), Division 1.
Tournament 4, Sunday 24th March 2013
Queen Elizabeth's Boys School, Barnet.

The final tournament of the current under 16 Winter league saw the squad make the long journey to the deep water pool at Queen Elizabeth's School in Barnet.
We have played well in this competition in the previous rounds but at the final event we faced three tough matches against Croydon, Beckenham and Enfield. Unfortunately we were without Ben Goddard due to long term injury and we obviously miss his outstanding ability at this level.
The following match reports are as follows:

Match 1, Worthing 2, Beckenham 7. (H/T 1-2)
Beckenham are a much improved team and have a group of very talented players but we felt that we played well we would be able to play a very competitive match.
We started really well and we were very unfortunate to be behind at half-time. Our defensive strategy was particularly successful and we limited the opposition to a small number of chances and in attack we always looked dangerous.
The second-half saw Beckenham take control but we were still unfortunate with a number of goals that we conceded and we missed a number of chances when we should have scored.
Scorers: Joe 1, Ben 1.
Exclusions: Joe 1, Ellis 1.

Match 2, Worthing 2, Enfield 4. (H/T 1-2)
This was a very frustrating match and the final score is no reflection of how well we played.
We dominated for long periods but we contrived to miss chance after chance and this ultimately cost us the chance of victory.
It was a shame to lose a match that we really should have won but we played well other than taking our chances.
Scorers: Joe 1, Ellis 1.
Exclusions: Joe 1, Gemma 1

Match 3. Worthing 3, Croydon 8. (H/T 2-5)
A third defeat was not we had hoped for but this was not an unexpected result against the team that are the current national ASA champions in this age group.
We actually defended really well for most of the match but we were punished when we made mistakes by a very talented team.
The team did well in attack and we scored three good goals with Nathan looking dangerous on many occasions. He scored one high quality goal with a very cool finish after an excellent pass from Joe but all the squad contributed to a good performance.
Scorers: Nathan 2, Joe 1.
Exclusions: None.

Squad in full: Robbie Scott (G/K), Joe Hazeldine, Daisy Hazeldine, Gemma Coulson, Milo McCardle, Jacob Nash, Archy Burnell, Ben Curtis, Ellis Bubb, Nathan Jones.

Overall it was disappointing to lose the three matches but the squad played well and this is a very tough competition. We finished 4th in division 1 and this is a very creditable result, particularly as we had not been at full strength at any of the four tournaments. The squad also only features two members who are at the top of the age group (Nathan and Joe) with everyone else being born in 1998 with Ben and Archy another year younger. This indicates that we are still producing talented players and competitive teams and we look forward to continuing this development in the coming months.

Regards,
Alastair.

Water Polo News

17/03/2013

Three WSC girls were part of the Sussex team that played in the London/South-east region junior inter county tournament last Saturday.

Harleigh Goddard, Tara Osborne and Laura Joseph were part of a squad of 10 that eventually finished third in a very competitive event. The Sussex team were very unlucky to lose really close matches against Surrey and Kent both by single goal margins but they did record good wins against Suffolk and Hampshire.

All three of the girls played well enjoyed a good amount of water time throughout the 4 matches that the team played.

Regards,
Alastair.

Water Polo News

05/03/2013

Just a quick update regarding Ben Alcorn and Scott Martin who have been training with the GB men's squad at Manchester recently.

The squad that will play in the European championship qualifiers in Georgia in April has now been announced and Ben has been named as reserve goalkeeper and Scott is the first reserve as an outfield player.
Both will travel to the pre-tournament training camp that takes place in Barcelona at the end of March and we should congratulate them on being so tantalizingly close to making their debuts for the senior national team. I am sure that both of them will be disappointed to have missed out narrowly on the trip to Georgia but this is still a tremendous achievement and if they continue to work hard I'm sure that their time will come.
Finally, Worthing swimming club should be very proud that both of the boys have come through our junior program and they continue to play for our senior team when available.

Kind regards,
Alastair. 

Water Polo Report

05/03/2013

London Winter League Under 16 Championship (1997 & younger) Division 1.
Tournament 3, Sunday 3rd March 2013.
Whitgift School, South Croydon.

We travelled to the familiar surroundings of the Whitgift school pool for the latest round of the under 16 winter league where we were due to play two fixtures against Watford and Ealing.
Unfortunately, Ealing were unable to attend and as a result we arranged to play a full four quarter match against Watford rather than the two scheduled matches, and as a result this equaled the same amount of water time.
We were without Ben Goddard due to long term injury and a good number of the squad had been involved in the Sussex swimming championships at K2 which had taken place on Saturday and Sunday.
The following is a report of the match; -

Watford 9, Worthing 3.

Although the final score indicates a fairly easy win for Watford this was actually a much improved performance for the Worthing youngsters. With only two squad members at the the top of the age group (Joe and Nathan) we knew that we would be in for a tough game against an opposition who reached the final four of the ASA national cup competition last year.
We actually took the lead when Ben Curtis produced a fine finish but Watford were always dangerous, particularly on the counter-attack. The squad defended well for long periods and were slightly unlucky with some of the goals that we conceded, but we always had a threat going forward and Joe and Milo added further goals.
Overall the team showed a great deal of improvement and most of the squad have obviously benefitted from playing in the recent round of inter-district competitions for the south-east region.
Scorers; - Ben Curtis 1, Joe Hazeldine 1, Milo McCardle 1.
Exclusions; - Joe 2, Ben 1,Ellis 1.

Squad in full: Robbie Scott (g/k), Joe Hazeldine, Milo McCardle, Ben Curtis, Jacob Nash, Ellis Bubb, Nathan Jones, Daisy Hazeldine & Gemma Coulson.

We will return to Whitgift on Sunday 24th March for the final round of matches in the competition against Enfield, Croydon and Beckenham.

Kind regards,
Alastair.

Water Polo News

26/2/2013

Two Worthing members featured in the final of the ASA deep water championships that were played at the Manchester Aquatic centre last weekend.
Ben Alcorn played in goal for Bristol Central who were the eventual winners against a Lancaster team that featured Joel Abbott.
Both of them were invited to play for two of the best teams in the country and I'm sure that they will both have benefitted from the opportunity of playing in the premier knock-out competition in the UK.

Ben has remained in Manchester for the three day GB senior squad training camp and he has been joined by two other Worthing members. Scott Martin has joined the squad from his French club Lille and Wesley Connellan, who is the current GB junior goalkeeper, has been asked to attend to offer him the chance to gain experience with the senior squad.
The training camp will culminate with the selection of a GB squad that will play in the European championship qualifying tournament which will take place in Georgia in April.

Kind regards,
Alastair. 

Water Polo News

16/2/2013

Water Polo Report

27/01/2013

The 2013 water polo season has commenced with the (division 1) ASA academy age group inter-region competition which was played over the weekend of the 26/27th January at the Walsall Gala Baths.

Worthing have regularly produced junior boys and girls who have been selected for the various South-east region squads but for this event a remarkable 6 WSC boys were included in the squad of 13.
Ben Goddard, Ben Curtis, Milo McCardle, Jacob Nash, Robbie Scott and Ellis Bubb all played a part in a tough competition that resulted in the South-east finishing a creditable fourth after an exciting 16-13 win against the West Midlands in the final match.
Ben Goddard led the scorers, but all of the boys were involved and will have learnt a great deal from having played in this standard of competition.

The team was coached by Ben Alcorn and managed by Dave Alcorn to continue the WSC involvement.

Ben has now moved on to Manchester for a three day training camp with the GB senior squad and he will be joined by fellow Worthing member Scott Martin who is currently playing professionally for Lille in France. 

Regards,
Alastair.

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