Water Polo
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Match Report23/1/2012 |
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Match Report23/1/2012 |
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Match Report27/12/2011
Inter-County Under 16/Y96 Girls
Whitgift School – December 18th 2011 Sunday 18th December 2011. Squad Matilda Coke – MSM Fran Collings – MSM Abi Rocky – MSM Camilla Brandon – CSC Lara Partridge – CSC Karen Chan – WSC Harleigh Goddard – WSC Daisy Hazeldine – WSC Gemma Coulson – WSC We took a young squad into this tournament, containing only three full age players, we lost one other key player to illness on the day, which meant we had one of our three very inexperienced players in the water throughout. Additionally, Lara and Abi were both required to play substantial amounts of the intertwined U14 programme, because of their regular of experience at that level, meaning that they had a very busy evening, which included two sets of back to back matches. Due to Hants withdrawal, there were only two U16G matches. Sussex 4 Kent 9 Kent fielded a strong team, containing mostly Y96/97 players, a number of whom play regularly for Invicta Ladies, and they got a nasty shock in the 1st half as our girls put in a gutsy performance that troubled the Kent defence on numerous occasions, Kent went in to half time an undeserved 4-3 up. Our lack of substitution options, combined with the absence of our strong right sided player, meant, unsurprisingly, that we couldn’t hold our performance level, as Kent unravelled us more down this side in the second half. Nevertheless, this was a strong performance from a team that did not contain “naturals” in several positions, everybody worked hard, with a full squad we might have pushed Kent close. Goals Karen, Lara, Fran, Harleigh. Sussex 8 Surrey 5 The Surrey player profile was similar to our own on paper, however, the notable improvement of Harleigh and Abi over the last year weighed the match in our favour. We quickly established a 4-0 lead, and had to give some players a break, this allowed Surrey to get back in the match briefly, but we had too much for them. Particularly good to see were goals on debuts from Abi and Camilla. Camilla (Y99) being the baby of the team. Goals Harleigh (3), Abi (2), Fran, Camilla, Karen Ewan Partridge 19/12/11 |
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Match Report27/12/2011
London/South-east Under 14 (98 & Younger) Inter County Tournament.
Whitgift School, South Croydon Sunday 18th December 2011. Sussex County entered a team in this under 14 competition which is the youngest of the three age groups and as a result often involves a number of youngsters who are making their debut for a county representative team. Having won this tournament last year we knew that we would have a tough task to retain the title with so many players moving out of the age group for this year. The squad selected was a combination of players from three clubs and included boys and girls with varying degrees of experience. These are the individual match reports: Sussex 7, Kent 5. (H/T 4-4). A satisfactory win against a well organised opposition and a strong second half performance secured the positive result. With Ellis playing well at centre back, we always looked as though we could score goals. A few defensive lapses allowed Kent back into the match but Ben soon scored the goals to make the game safe and it was nice to see Lara, Toby and Tom also on the score sheet. Scorers: Ben 4, Lara 1, Toby 1, Tom Kane 1. Sussex 7, Middlesex 6. (H/T 2-2) Another close match against a talented Middlesex team who were helped by a number of "interesting" refereeing decisions. We actually controlled large parts of the match but we missed a few chances when we probably could have scored and we were guilty of allowing the opposition a number of goals which we really should have avoided. Ben again scored a number of fine goals but Lara, Tom and Josh also found the back of the net. Scorers: Ben 4, Lara 1, Josh 1, Tom Kane 1. Sussex 1, Surrey 8. (H/T 0-6) The final match against Surrey was a title decider because both teams went into the match unbeaten. Unfortunately we made a poor start and Surrey punished our defensive errors. Ben found it hard to get into the game as a result of being "man marked" and Surrey had obviously worked out where our main goal scoring threat would come from. The team should take a great deal of credit for a much improved performance in the second half of the match when we defended well and looked much more threatening in attack. Scorer: Ben Squad in full: Lara Partridge, Toby Underwood, Tom Kane, Mattie O'Dell (all Crawley SC), Abby-Louise Rocky, Josh Crow, Tom Collings (all Mid Sussex Marlins), Ben Curtis, Ellis Bubb, Ben Goddard (all Worthing SC). Overall to finish as runners-up in this competition to a strong Surrey team was certainly no disgrace and all of the squad did well. Without a specialist goal-keeper Tom Collings took on the role in the first match and Mattie O'Dell played in this difficult position in the second and third games and both did well. Finally, I would like to thank all the parents and friends who came along to support both this squad and the girls team who played in the Under 16 competition. Kind regards, Alastair. |
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Match Report5/12/2011
This is the final report of the 2012 national league campaign.
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. |
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Match Report22/11/2011 |
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Match Report22/11/2011 |
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Match Report22/11/2011 |
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Match Report17/11/2011 |
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Match Report7/11/2011 |
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Match Report6/11/2011 |
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Match Report30/10/2011 |
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British Water Polo League29/10/2011 |
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Match Report29/10/2011 |
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Match Report16/10/2011 |
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Match Report14/10/2011
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Match Report10/10/2011 London Winter League. |
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Match Report2/10/2011
It was a
very busy 24 hours for the senior
water polo squad with an important
Sussex county league fixture at
Brighton on Friday and the
second round of the national league
fixtures on Saturday at Walsall.
This is
the report of the trip to Walsall
where we played two really tough
matches on the one day.
British
Water Polo League (Division 3)
Walsall
Gala Baths
Saturday
1st October 2011.
Match 1,
13.45
Worthing
9, Caledonia 16.
Quarter
Scores: 3-3, 3-3, 2-4, 1-6.
This was
a match were the statistics really
do tell the story. We were level at
half-time, and we were only two
behind as we started the final
quarter but we ran out of steam and
eventually we were beaten by the
team that currently top the
division.
Caledonia
are well organised and have a
squad that are very fit and they
deserved to win this match but
we should take a great deal from
this performance. In the first half
we were very competitive and
Matt had a particularly good game at
centre forward and scored a number
of times as well as forcing the
opposition to commit a number of
exclusion fouls.
We
defended well early on and we looked
well organised and at times Caledonia
were frustrated by our tactics.
As the
game went on it became obvious that
we were going to struggle to play at
the same tempo throughout and this
proved to be the case. The final
quarter was disappointing but we had
put on a positive display which had
again indicated that we are
competitive in this division.
Scorers:
Matt White 5, Richard Hooper 2, Sam
Abbott 1, Alastair Hardinge 1.
Exclusions:
Thom Hamm 2, Sam Abbott 2, Richard
Hooper 1, Dominic Cranford 1, Matt
White 1.
Match 2,
20.00
Worthing
14, London Otter 7.
Quarter
Scores: 2-1, 5-1, 1-2, 6-3.
After
the defeat to Caledonia the second
match of the day against Otter
became a really important fixture
that we really needed to win if we
are to finish in the top 5 of the
division.
With a
long break between the games and a
late start we had plenty of time to
plan for the match. At the team
meeting we discussed the importance
of the fixture and how we felt we
should play tactically against a
team that can be awkward opponents.
We made
a slightly cagey start in the first
period but we played well in the
second quarter which was the key
period of the game. With a 7-2 lead
at the mid-point we were in control
and we were never really threatened
in the second half when we played
sensibly to use up the remaining
time in the match.
Matt
again worked hard at centre forward
but it was hard to score goals with
some uncompromising defending from
the Otter players. As a result they
committed 11 exclusion fouls and all
4 of Matt's goals came from our
extra man attacks. Richard also
scored 5 and in the end this was a
comfortable win in what could have
been a difficult encounter.
Scorers:
Richard Hooper 5, Matt White 4,
Ziggy Tate 2, Gregg Candy Wallace 1,
Thom Hamm 1, Nathan Hart 1.
Exclusions:
Gregg Candy-Wallace 1, Richard
Hooper 1, Sam Abbott 1, Matt White
1.
Squad in
full: Wesley Connellan (g/k), Gregg
Candy-Wallace, Richard Hooper
(capt), Thom Hamm, Sam Abbott,
Dominic Cranford, Ziggy Tate, Nathan
Hart, Matt White, Alastair Hardinge.
Although
we were disappointed to lose the
match against Caledonia, we bounced
back well against Otter and secured
another important win.
This was
a really long day and playing in the
last match resulted in a return home
at well past midnight. We will
be returning to the same venue in
two weeks time for the crucial last
first phase fixtures but we have
proved that we can compete well
in this division.
Regards,
Alastair.
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Match Report2/10/2011
This is
a report of Friday night's match at
Brighton.
Sussex
County League
Friday
30th September 2011.
Prince
Regent Pool, Brighton.
Worthing
16, Brighton 5. (Quarter scores:
4-1, 5-1, 1-3, 6-0)
On
Friday evening our senior team faced
a potentially difficult trip to play
a much improved Brighton team in
their home pool.
In the
end we recorded a comfortable win playing
some really good water polo at
times.
Although
we have a number of our senior squad
away at University, Joel Abbott was
back at home this weekend and he was
delighted to have the
opportunity to play in this match.
With the
exception of the third quarter we
were really in control and the final
score was a fair indication of the
difference between the teams.
Scorers:
Joel Abbott 6, Matt White 5,
Alastair Hardinge 2, Richard Hooper
2, Dominic Cranford 1.
Exclusions:
Alastair Hardinge 2, Adrian Irbe 1,
Joe Hazeldine 1, Richard Hooper 1,
Sam Abbott 1, Ben Goddard 1, Joel
Abbott 1, Matt White 1.
Squad in
Full: Ben Alcorn (g/k), Alastair
Hardinge, Adrian Irbe, Joe
Hazeldine, Richard Hooper, Sam
Abbott, Ben Goddard, Joel Abbott,
Matt White, Andy Cawdery, Dominic
Cranford, Ziggy Tate.
Regards,
Alastair.
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Match Report20/9/2011
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Match Report19/9/2011
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Match Report16/9/2011
Sussex
County Senior League.
Wednesday
14th September 2011.
Crawley
8, Worthing 15. (Quarter Scores: 4-3,
2-4, 1-2, 1-6)
This was
the latest match in the county
season and we were well below our
best in a match that was a lot
closer than the final score
indicates.
We
played poorly in the first period
when we contrived to miss several
chances that, if taken, would have
given us the initiative for the
remainder of the match. We also
conceded 4 goals that really should
have been avoided but we were slow
to adapt to the defensive tactics
that we were trying to employ.
We
slowly edged ahead in the second and
third periods but it was only in the final
quarter that we started to play
something like our normal standard.
Matt
White always posed a threat and
scored 7 of our goals but all of the
squad realised that this was not one
of our better performances.
Scorers:
Matt White 7, Ziggy Tate 3, Richard
Hooper 2, Alastair Hardinge 2,
Nathan Hart 1.
Exclusions:
Richard Hooper 1, Dominic Cranford
1, Alastair Hardinge 1.
Squad in
full: Alastair Roberts (G/K), Andy
Cawdery, Richard Hooper, Kevin Chan,
Sam Abbott, Dominic Cranford, Jon
Gray, Ziggy Tate, Nathan Hart,
Adrian Irbe, Matt White, Alastair
Hardinge.
We
travel to Grantham this coming
weekend (17/18 September) to play
the first tournament in our debut
season in division 3 of the British
water polo league following our
promotion last year. On Saturday we
play South Derbyshire and City of
Birmingham and on the Sunday we face
Swindon and we expect to be in for
three tough matches.
Regards,
Alastair.
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Water Polo Archive |
Alastair Roberts
Water Polo Secretary


