2006 Water Polo News Archive
Water Polo Starter Sessions23/12/2006
As announced in the recent
WSC newsletter, after the Christmas closure we are
encouraging the clubs youngsters to come and join
our successful Thursday night water polo training
sessions from 7.00-8.00pm.
Boys and girls born
92/93/94/95/96 who are strong swimmers and are
interested in trying out this exciting team sport are
invited to come and join us on Thursday evenings,
starting on January 4th.
We are enjoying our
most successful period of junior water polo for many
years and we have a dedicated team of coaches who
work hard with all those currently involved and are now keen
to see some more juniors join the squad.
Please come and join us
on January 4th.
Regards,
Alastair.
|
Match Review10/12/2006
This is a report of
yesterdays tournament.
Basingstoke Bluefins Ladies
Tournament.
The Worthing ladies team
successfully defended the trophy that we won for the
first time last year.
The tournament at
Basingstoke gives our ladies a rare chance to play and
some of the team traveled long distances from work and
university to take part.
Although we eventually won
the event, we managed to do this the hard way
particularly in two of the matches. The details are as
follows:
Match 1. vs. Southampton
University "B". Won 15-0.
This was a satisfactory
victory against an inexperienced opposition. All the
team gained a good amount of water time and our overall
standard of play was too strong for an enthusiastic but
limited opposition.
Scorers: Charlotte Macmahon
4, Rebecca Anderson 3, Mel Hart 3, Chrissy Pilcher 3,
Jenny Willett 2.
Match 2. vs. Basingstoke.
Won 3-2.
The match against the home
team was always going to be a much tougher affair but we
made very hard work of what should have been a easier
victory. We contrived to miss chance after chance which
kept the game close right up to the final whistle.
Eventually we managed to hang on to a victory by the odd
goal.
Scorers: Charlotte Macmahon,
Mel Hart, Rebecca Anderson.
Match 3. vs. Southampton
University "A". Drew 3-3.
Almost a carbon copy of the
previous match saw us in control but failing to
take many chances that came our way. The opposition
played a good standard of water polo but scored from
probably the three genuine opportunities that they
created. We led 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 but on each occasion
failed to press home our advantage.
Scorers: Rachel Pearson,
Chrissy Pilcher, Charlotte Macmahon.
Match 4. vs. Surrey
University. Won 13-3.
A straightforward win
against an
enthusiastic but inexperienced opposition. We took the
opportunity to play some of our younger players for a
longer period in this match and they all performed well
with the team scoring some good goals.
Scorers: Sian Fogerty 3,
Jenny Willett 2, Mel Hart 2, Rachel Pearson 2, Charlotte
Macmahon 2, Louise McCallum, Debby Willett.
The final match of the
tournament saw Basingstoke and Southampton University
"A" draw 6-6 and this result gave the overall
title by 1 point.
Overall we were happy to win
and the trophy was presented to Jenny Willett. The team
was unhappy with the way we had played in the two
"key" matches which we all realized should
have been won by more comfortable margins. The girls
worked hard throughout and traveled back to Worthing for
a meal out at Pizza Express which was a pleasant end to
a successful day.
Squad in full: Rebecca
Anderson, Louise McCallum, Charlotte Macmahon, Chrissy
Pilcher, Jenny Willett, Debby Willett, Mel Hart, Vicki
Sayers, Rachel Pearson,
Sian Fogerty, Rianna
Poppeliers.
Regards,
Alastair.
|
Match Review20/11/2006
This is the report of
today's tournament.
Sussex County Under 16
Tournament.
St. Bedes School, Upper
Dicker.
This was the fourth and
final tournament in this years county under 16
competition.
We again managed to play
with two teams which illustrated our strength in depth
in this age group. Both our A and B squads played
three matches each and the results were as follows:
1. Worthing "B" 6,
Eastbourne 0.
A satisfactory win against a
very young opposition but all our team played well.
Scorers: Sam Maloney 3,
Alastair Hardinge 2, Rachael Piper 1.
2. Worthing "A" 6,
Bexhill 0.
Our A team eased to victory
against a Bexhill team strengthened by some of the stronger
players from Hailsham. The team played well throughout
and first choice goalkeeper Joel Abbott
enjoyed himself on a rare outing as an outfield player.
His younger brother Sam took over in goal and made some
good saves.
Scorers: Elliot Ellison 2,
Ziggy Tate 2, Joel Abbott 1, Rob Osborne 1.
3. Worthing "B" 2,
Bexhill 4.
This was a good performance
against a Bexhill team that was strengthened
by the inclusion of some of our A team players. Our
young squad played well in this match and were unlucky
to loose to two late goals.
Scorers : Rachael Piper 1,
Sian Fogerty 1.
4. Worthing "A" 4,
Hailsham 1.
A satisfactory win against
our nearest rivals in Sussex at this age group. We were
always in control of this match and only our wasteful
finishing was disappointing. Sam Abbott again made
some good saves in goal but all the team played well and
the result was never in doubt.
Scorers: Ziggy Tate 2,
Elliot Ellison 1, Joel Abbott 1.
5. Worthing "A"
11, Eastbourne 0.
The final match for the A
squad was a one sided affair against the young and
inexperienced opposition. The team again played some
good quality water polo and scored several excellent
goals.
Scorers: Scott Martin 5,
Elliot Ellison 2, Joel Abbott 2, Ziggy Tate 1,
Rachael Piper 1.
6. Worthing "B" 1,
Hailsham 5.
The tournament finished with
our younger team putting on a spirited performance
against Hailsham. The squad all played well and we
missed several chances to score some more goals.
Scorer: Sam Maloney.
Full Squad: Joel Abbott, Sam
Abbott, Ziggy Tate, Rob Osborne, Elliot Ellison, Sam
Maloney, Scott Martin, Alastair Hardinge, Rachael Piper,
Rianna Poppeliers, Sian Fogerty, Alex Hoad.
This was another excellent
event for our under 16's and we remain unbeaten in the
county at this age group for the past two years. All the
squad played well and we were also missing some of
our regular players who were unavailable for a number of
reasons. As always, we were delighted with the number of
enthusiastic friends and family who made the trip to
support the team.
Finally, Christine Hobbs who
is the current Sussex ASA president, made a
presentation to the county youth team who recently won
the inter county title at Whitgift school. Ziggy, Joel,
Rob, Scott, Elliot along with Alan Benton from Hailsham
were presented with winners medals and Tim, Stuart and
Dominic will receive theirs shortly.
Regards,
Alastair.
|
Match Review5/11/2006
London Winter League.
Under 16 (Mixed) Tournament at
Whitgift School Croydon.
The 2006/2007 Winter league
program commenced with the first event at the deep water
pool at Whitgift School.
The competition features
teams from Croydon Amphibians, Enfield, Clissold
(Hackney), Hailsham, Beckenham, SE Region Girls,
Sevenoaks and Worthing. In a busy first tournament
we played three matches as follows:
Match 1. Worthing 14,
Enfield 0. (H/T 7.0)
We played an
enthusiastic and young Enfield team in the first match
and recorded a satisfactory win. All the squad had
a good amount of water time and we scored several good
quality goals.
Scorers: Elliot Ellison 4,
Tim Brazier 3, Ziggy Tate 3, Stuart Stirling 1, Sam
Abbott 1.
Exclusions: None.
Match 2. Worthing 16,
Clissold 0. (H/T 10.0)
This was almost a carbon
copy of the first match again against a young but
enthusiastic opposition. Again all of our squad had
a useful amount of water time and the team again played
some good quality water polo. The match featured a rare
excursion on the pitch by first choice goal keeper Joel
Abbott who scored twice and showed some good
all-round technique.
Scorers: Stuart Stirling 4,
Dominic Cranford 2, Rob Osborne 2, Joel Abbott 2,
Scott Martin 1, Ziggy Tate 1, Alastair Hardinge 1,
Tim Brazier 1, Sam Abbott 1, Sam Maloney 1.
Exclusion: Tim Brazier.
Match 3. Worthing 8,
Beckenham 0 (H/T 4.0)
A more competitive match
against a better organized opposition with some talented
players. We were never really threatened and again
played some excellent water polo at times scoring some
fine "team" goals. We again took the
opportunity of giving all of the squad a good amount of
water time and every individual played their part in
this satisfactory win.
Scorers: Elliot Ellison 2,
Scott Martin 2, Stuart Stirling 1, Sam Abbott 1, Tim
Brazier 1, Ziggy Tate 1.
Exclusions: None.
Match 4. Worthing 3, Croydon
Amphibians 2. (H/T 0-1)
Quite simply a titanic match
between the two best teams in the competition who have
had many close matches over the past few months. 18
months ago we were beaten by the same opposition by a
reasonable margin but over this period of time we
have improved to such an extent that we now know
that a match against Croydon will be a very competitive
affair. This proved to be no exception and much of
the play was of a really high standard.
We managed to miss a
penalty early on before almost immediately falling
behind. We equalized early in the second half and then
took the lead before the opposition tied the scores at
2-2. In an exciting climax to the match Dominic Cranford
scored with around a minute left to secure the win by
the narrowest of margins.
All the team played well in
this match but mention should be made of Dominic who
scored all three goals from the centre forward position
and also Joel Abbott who made a couple of fine saves.
Scorer: Dominic Cranford 3.
Exclusion: Rob Osborne.
Squad in full: Joel
Abbott (GK), Sam Abbott, Ziggy Tate, Scott Martin,
Elliot Ellison, Dominic Cranford, Sam Maloney, Tim
Brazier, Stuart Stirling, Rob Osborne, Alastair Hardinge.
This was a fine start to
this competition with the match against Croydon the
highlight and it again illustrated the progress that the
squad is making. The coaching staff are aware of
the undoubted potential of this group of players and the
challenge now is to ensure that the improvement that
they have recently shown is now capitalized upon to the
full.
Regards,
Alastair.
|
Match Review16/10/2006
This is a report of
yesterday's London/South East inter county under 16
water polo tournament which was played at Whitgift
school, Croydon. The Sussex team was made up of 8 of the
current Worthing team along with Alan Benton from
Hailsham.
The event attracted 5
entries with teams from Hampshire, Surrey, Kent,
Middlesex and Sussex playing on a league basis
with each team playing against each other.
The Sussex results were
as follows:
1. Sussex 10, Middlesex 1.
(Half-time 4-1)
This was a satisfactory
start to the tournament with the opposition
struggling to cope with our swimming ability and strong
defending. The first half of the match was slightly
disappointing with the Sussex team missing several easy
chances to add to their lead, but the result was never
in doubt.
Scorers: Dominic Cranford 4,
Ziggy Tate 2, Elliot Ellison 1, Scott Martin 1,
Alan Benton 1, Stuart Stirling 1.
Exclusions: none.
2. Sussex 13, Hampshire 1.
(Half-time 7-0)
The second win in the
competition again saw the Sussex youngsters
dominate from the start scoring both on several break-aways
as well as from the centre forward position.
Another sound defensive display nullified the opposition
attack and Joel Abbott in goal had little to do.
Scorers: Ziggy Tate 3, Scott
Martin 3, Stuart Stirling 3, Elliot Ellison 2,
Dominic Cranford 2.
Exclusions: Scott Martin 2,
Elliot Ellison 1.
3. Sussex 16, Kent 2.
(Half-time 9-1)
This match looked to be a
difficult encounter with the opposition already having
shown their ability in a narrow defeat against Surrey.
The Sussex performance was outstanding, particularly in
the first half when we completely dominated and a
talented Kent side had no answer to the power
and the pace of our play. The match was over as a
contest at half-time and the second half was played at a
slower tempo but still with Sussex dominating. Every squad
member played their part in this excellent win but
special mention should be made of Dominic Cranford who
dominated proceedings from the centre-forward position
scoring some excellent "back shot" goals.
Scorers: Dominic Cranford 5,
Stuart Stirling 4, Scott Martin 3, Tim Brazier 2, Ziggy
Tate 1, Elliot Ellison 1.
Exclusions: Rob Osborne 2.
4. Sussex 4, Surrey 4.
(Half-time 1-4)
Going into the last
match of the tournament both teams were unbeaten so this
match really had a "final" feel about it. The
Surrey team is made up of a combination of boys from
Croydon Amphibians and Sutton and Cheam and we knew that
this would be a demanding match in every respect. Having
taken an early lead the Sussex team played poorly
for the remainder of the first half and conceded 4 goals
due to some defensive lapses.
The second period saw a
remarkable fight-back with our young team scoring
the 3 goals to draw level, the equalizer being scored
with only 35 seconds left in the match. Surrey had one
last chance to win the match but their final shot went
wide with only 2 seconds remaining.
The draw secured the overall
title for Sussex with our team having a
significantly better goal-difference throughout the
tournament.
Scorers: Alan Benton 2,
Ziggy Tate 1, Tim Brazier 1.
Exclusions: Rob Osborne 2,
Tim Brazier 1.
This was the first win for a
Sussex junior team (at either under 16 or under 18) at
an inter county event for probably 25 years +. The
efforts of the squad should not be under estimated and
it was an all-round team performance that was behind
the success. To win in Surrey at their home pool
made the victory even more satisfying, and we were
well supported by our noisy and enthusiastic family and
friends who will have enjoyed the journey home.
The squad in full: Joel Abbott
(GK), Tim Brazier, Scott Martin, Elliot Ellison,
Dominic Cranford, Rob Osborne, Stuart Stirling, Ziggy
Tate (all Worthing), Alan Benton (Hailsham).
Coaches, Richard Hooper & Alastair Roberts.
Kind Regards,
Alastair.
|
Match Review11/10/2006
This is a slightly unusual
report containing news of our combined training session
and match with the Invicta ladies national league team.
Invicta ladies play in
the third division of the national league and feature
four Worthing girls in their current squad. (Rebecca
Anderson, Rachel Pearson, Mel Hart and Jenny Willett
were joined by under 16 Sian Fogerty for her Invicta
debut). Other members of their squad traveled from
various parts of the South East to take part in this
session which took place at the Aquarena.
We decided to play our under
16 squad in the match that followed the training session
to give our youngsters the chance of some match
practice. Several of our squad will be involved playing
for Sussex in this Sundays South East region inter
county under 16 tournament and this match was an ideal
warm up for this event.
The match saw our juniors
record a 10-3 win playing some excellent water polo in
the process. It was pleasing that we had 7 different
scorers with Ziggy Tate (3), Stuart Stirling (2),
Dominic Cranford, Elliot Ellison, Tim Brazier, Scott
Martin and Sam Abbott all finding the back of the net.
The remaining squad members
were Joel Abbott who played in goal, Rob Osborne,
Alexander Cranford, Kevin Chan, Sam Maloney and
Alastair Hardinge.
This was a highly successful
session which both teams will have benefited from.
Regards,
Alastair.
|
Match Review2/10/2006
Sussex Senior League.
Crawley 8, Worthing 15.
A highly entertaining match
played at the new K2 facility at Crawley.
This was our first visit to
the multi-sports complex which includes an 8 lane 50
metre deep water pool ideal for competitive swimming,
diving and water polo. I would hope that the Worthing
council who have spent years considering the options for
the replacement pool in the borough have taken the time
to examine the positive effects that a development
such as K2 can bring to a town and surrounding area.
The match itself gave us the
chance to again play some of our junior players in a
senior match. Ben Brazier and Ben Alcorn have featured
regularly recently and they were joined in this match by
3 of our current under 16's. Ziggy Tate scored a fine
breakaway goal, Rob Osborne showed good technique and
tactical awareness and Joel Abbott gave an accomplished
display in goal.
The final score reflected
the difference between the teams but the winning margin
would have been greater if it wasn't for some wasteful
finishing.
Scorers: Paul Phillpott 5,
Richard Hooper 4, Dave Hoad 2, Andy Parkin 2, Andy
Cawdary 1, Ziggy Tate 1.
Exclusions: Anthony Gray 1.
Remaining Squad: Joel Abbott
(GK), Rob Osborne, Jon Gray, Ben Brazier, Ben Alcorn,
Alastair Roberts.
Regards,
Alastair.
|
Match Review24/09/2006
Sussex County Under 16
Tournament.
St. Bedes School, Upper
Dicker.
This was the third of four
tournaments in this years county 16 program.
We again entered two teams
to give all the youngsters we have available in this age
group the chance to play some competitive matches.
It is highly encouraging that we are able to comfortably
raise enough players to enter the two teams and all of
our players will hopefully benefit from the experience.
We played four matches, two
for each of our teams as follows:
Worthing "A" 14,
Hastings 1.
A straightforward win
against a Hastings team who had entered a county
event for the first time for many years. Their
inexperience was obvious, but they put up a spirited
performance against our much more experienced team.
The Worthing team
scored mainly on the counter attack as a result of some
highly effective defending.
Scorers: Stuart Stirling 6,
Ziggy Tate 2, Elliott Ellison 2, Dominic Cranford 2,
Scott Martin 1, Tim Brazier 1.
Exclusions: none.
Worthing "B" 13,
Eastbourne 0.
Our "B" team put
on a fine performance against a young but enthusiastic
opposition. All the team played well and again our
sound defending and counter attacking were decisive. The
team scored some good goals and Alexander Cranford dealt
with the goalkeeping making some fine saves.
Scorers: Joel Abbott 4, Sian
Fogerty 3, Kevin Chan 3, Sam Abbott 2, Rachael Piper
1, Alastair Hardinge 1.
Exclusions: Kevin Chan 1,
Sam Abbott 1.
Worthing "B" 9,
Hastings 3.
This was another encouraging
performance from our younger team against a stronger
opposition. The team again played some good quality water
polo and scored a number of well worked goals.
Rachael Piper led the attack with a fine hat trick
but she could have scored many more with some
cooler finishing. All the team played well and the two matches
will be a valuable experience.
Scorers: Rachael Piper 3,
Joel Abbott 3, Sian Fogerty 1, Rianna Poppeliers 1,
Kevin Chan 1.
Exclusions: none.
Worthing "A" 6,
Hailsham 3.
A closer match than perhaps
we would have expected against our nearest rivals in the
county. The match should have been over by half time but
the Worthing team missed a number of chances that they
should have taken. The defending was always sound and
this frustrated the opposition into losing possession on
a number of occasions. The final score was a fair
reflection of the difference between the two teams but
our wasteful finishing cost the team a more comfortable
winning margin.
Scorers: Scott Martin 4, Rob
Osborne 1 (Pen), Stuart Stirling 1.
Exclusions: Rob Osborne 2.
Squads in full:
"A" Joel Abbott (GK), Ziggy Tate, Elliot
Ellison, Rob Osborne, Dominic Cranford, Scott Martin,
Tim Brazier, Stuart Stirling.
"B"
Alexander Cranford, Sian Fogerty, Rianna Popppeliers,
Kevin Chan, Sam Abbott, Rachael Piper, Alastair Hardinge,
Sam Maloney, Daniel
Macdonald.
Regards,
Alastair.
|
Match Review23/09/2006
Sussex league senior
friendly.
Worthing 20, Haywards Heath
7.
This was an entertaining
match at the Aquarena against our traditional
rivals from mid-Sussex. Unfortunately, the
opposition were without a few of their established
players but this was still a good performance from a
Worthing team that played some good quality water polo.
It was particularly pleasing
to see the contributions of 5 of our current
junior squad. Ben Alcorn impressed in goal, Ben Brazier produced
a good performance on the pitch. Tim Brazier, Ziggy Tate
and Stuart Stirling are all still currently part of our
successful under 16 team and all played extremely well
in this match.
Scorers: Matt White 7, Paul
Phillpott 6, Richard Hooper 3, Ziggy Tate 2, Dave Hoad
2.
Exclusions: Nathan Hart 1,
Dave Hoad 1, Stuart Stirling 1, Paul Phillpott 1.
Remaining squad: Ben Alcorn
(GK), Andy Cawdary, Ben Brazier, Tim Brazier,
Anthony Gray.
Regards,
Alastair.
|
Match Review19/09/2006
Sussex Junior League.
Haywards Heath 6, Worthing 19.
This was a satisfactory but
unspectacular win away at the Dolphin Centre in
Haywards Heath.
The team started well but
found it difficult to maintain a consistent level of
performance against an enthusiastic opposition.
We were fortunate to have
the full compliment of 13 players available but this did
not help with the team playing with any great
pattern. It was only fair to give all the squad a
reasonable amount of water time but this always leads to
many changes with the resulting disruption in the play.
After a good first quarter
the team found it much harder in the second and
third periods before finishing strongly.
Scorers: Ben Brazier 4,
Dan Gibb 3, Ben Alcorn 3, Stuart Stirling 3, Elliot
Ellison 2, Ziggy Tate 2, Dominic Cranford 1, Tim Brazier
1.
Exclusions: Scott Martin 3,
Ben Alcorn 2, Rob Osborne 1, Rebecca Anderson 1,
Stuart Stirling 1.
Remaining Squad. Joel
Abbott (GK), Sam Abbott.
Quarter Scores: 6-0, 1-2,
5-3, 7-1.
Regards,
Alastair.
|
Match Review16/09/2006
Women's Friendly: Haywards
Heath 18, Worthing 2.
We were invited to play at
Haywards Heath as part of their build up to this years
national league first division season.
Our young team played much
better than the final score indicates and for long
periods we frustrated the opposition with some
excellent defending. We always struggled to create many
chances in attack and unfortunately when we did our
finishing was not of the highest standard.
Our two goals were scored by
under 16 squad member Sian Fogerty with an excellent
finish and Rebecca Anderson who took her chance when
the opposition had a player excluded.
All the girl's enjoyed the
chance to play against a talented team and everyone
always gave 100%.
Scorers: Sian Fogerty,
Rebecca Anderson.
Exclusions: Sian Fogerty 2,
Roxanne Hargreaves 2, Chrissy Pilcher 1, Rebecca
Anderson 1, Charlotte Macmahon.
Remaining Squad: Emily
Tilzey (GK), Jenny Willett, Rachel Pearson, Rianna
Poppeliers.
Many Thanks,
Alastair.
|
Match Review30/07/2006
Kent/Sussex League.
Worthing 9, Beckenham 15.
(Played at Crowborough)
This was an excellent match
between the current champions of the two counties.
Beckenham feature many players who have been involved
with the National squads and most of their squad
currently feature in the national league for Invicta.
Worthing were hampered by
the unavailability of some of our key players, but the
squad that played put everything into the match.
The first quarter saw us
take an early 2 goal advantage with keeper Ben
Alcorn making a string of excellent saves. Beckenham
scored late in the period but this was an indication of
the closeness between the two sides.
The second period saw
Beckenham edge ahead and also saw the controversial
dismissal of Scott Orchard for dissent. This proved to
be the pivotal moment in the match and Beckenham took
the advantage in the 3rd and 4th periods.
Worthing played with a great
deal of character and no little skill throughout
but were hampered by missing 2 penalties and also
failing to take advantage of several of the "man
up" plays.
Quarter Scores: 2-1, 2-4,
2-6, 3-4.
Worthing Scorers: Richard
Hooper 3, Matt White 3, Scott Orchard 2, Nathan Hart 2.
Exclusions: Scott Orchard 3,
Richard Hooper 1, Andy Cawdary 1, Alastair Roberts 1,
Nathan Hart 1.
Remaining squad: Tim
Brazier, Ben Brazier, Ben Alcorn.
All the squad played well
but special mention should be made of 15 year old Tim
Brazier who gave an excellent display against talented
opposition. Tim is shortly off to the National
Academy training week at Millfield along with fellow
Worthing juniors Ziggy Tate, Scott Martin and Joel
Abbott and the experience of playing in a match
like this will act as excellent experience for him.
Kind regards,
Alastair.
|
Match Review28/07/2006
Sussex Senior League:
Hastings 3, Worthing 19.
This was a straight forward
win for our senior team at Hastings. This is the longest
away trip for us in the county league and matters are
not helped by the 9.30pm start time.
We were always in control of
this match with the home team struggling to deal
particularly with our speed on the counter attack.
Several of the goals scored were of an excellent
standard and were as a result of good all round team
play.
The team never were never
greatly troubled by home sides attack and only conceded
goals in the second half of the match.
Quarter scores: 7-0, 3-0,
5-1, 4-2.
Scorers: Matt White 7, Paul
Phillpott 6, Ben Alcorn 2, Nathan Hart 2, Scott Orchard
1, Ben Brazier 1.
Exclusions: None.
Remaining squad: Dave Hoad,
Richard Hooper, Jon Gray, Anthony Gray, Andy Cawdary.
Regards,
Alastair Roberts.
|
Match Review16/07/2006
London League under 15's
(born 1992 + younger)
Tournament 3, Whitgift
School.
We traveled to the third
tournament of this years championship knowing that two
wins would guarantee us the overall title. With matches
against Chelmsford and our south coast rivals from
Hailsham we thought that we should have a good
chance of
recording the required victories. We were missing three
players from the previous events with Rachel Piper and
Sam Maloney away and Daniel Macdonald unavailable
through illness.
Match 1, Worthing 5,
Chelmsford 3.
This was a nervous
performance from the team who never played at their
best. Although we took the lead through an early Scott
Martin goal, poor defending led to our opponents scoring
twice to take the lead. We equalized just before half
time but again fell behind at the start of the second
period. Two more goals from Scott settled the nerves and
the best goal was the final score from Kevin Chan
who rounded off an exciting counter attack with a cool
finish.
Scorers: Scott Martin 4,
Kevin Chan 1.
Exclusions: Kevin Chan.
Match 2, Worthing 3,
Hailsham 2.
Needing a win to secure the
title, nerves got the better of our young team but
eventually they did enough to just edge past our
Sussex rivals. We went behind again in this match before
two goals from Kevin Chan gave us the lead. In a very
exciting end to the match Hailsham equalized before Luke
Helmer came up with the winning goal from a Alastair
Hardinge pass.
The last few seconds were a
nervy affair but the team held on to win. This was a
classic example of a good team playing badly but still winning
which is much better than playing well and losing!
Scorers: Kevin Chan 2, Luke
Helmer 1.
Exclusions: Luke Helmer,
Scott Martin.
Full Squad at this
tournament: Alexander Cranford (GK), Scott Martin, Kevin Chan,
Sam Abbott, Luke Helmer, Alastair Hardinge, Luke
Cherriman, Jake Holyoake.
We were delighted to win both
matches and therefore secure our second London
League championship following the success of our
under 18 girls. The club decided to fund our entry
into these competitions to offer our youngsters the
chance of playing more regularly against the better
players and teams from the South East. It is really
encouraging to report that we have been highly
competitive in all the age groups, with both our boys
and girls, since we entered for the first time last
year.
Regards,
Alastair.
|
Match Review7/07/2006
Senior Friendly: British
Army 6, Worthing 13.
The match against the Army
team is our annual fixture that serves as part of the oppositions
build up to the inter-services tournament.
Played at the excellent 50
metre deep water pool at Aldershot, the match is always
a highlight of our seasons fixtures. This year we
were able to play six rather than the normal four periods
of play and because of this we took some of our junior
players along to give them experience of playing in a
full-size deep water playing area.
The match was always
competitive but our defence was probably the deciding
feature with the Army struggling to create many scoring
opportunities. The first quarter saw us fall behind 0-1
and 1-2 but our fast attacking breaks saw the period
finish with us leading 4-2.
The remainder of the match
saw the Worthing seniors in control although they did
not play well in the set plays either defending with a
player short or attacking with the extra man.
Quarter Scores: 4-2, 3-2,
5-0, 1-2.
Scorers: Matt White 5,
Richard Hooper 3, Scott Orchard 2, Nathan Hart 1, Paul
Phillpott 1, Dave Hoad 1.
Exclusions: Richard Hooper
1, Dave Hoad 1, Andy Cawdary 1, Ben Brazier 1.
Full Squad: Ben Alcorn (GK),
Dave Hoad, Scott Orchard, Richard Hooper, Matt White,
Nathan Hart, Jon Gray, Paul Phillpott, Andy Cawdary, Ben
Brazier, Anthony Gray, Andy Parkin, Ziggy Tate, Tim
Brazier, Stuart Stirling, Rob Osborne.
Regards,
Alastair.
|
Match Review2/07/2006
London League Junior Boys (born
1988 + younger)
Tournament 2, Whitgift
School, Croydon.
This was another exciting
event that again illustrated that our younger players are
continuing to make good progress. At this tournament we
played two full four quarter matches as follows:
Match 1. Worthing 13,
Chelmsford 0.
This was an excellent
performance from our juniors who controlled the match
throughout and deserved to keep a clean sheet. The boys
showed good awareness in attack and we experimented
with various styles of defensive formation during the
second half of the match. The teams superior fitness
always made us a threat on the counter attack and our
opponents struggled to deal with our style of play.
Scorers: Scott Martin
4, Elliott Ellison 3, Dan Gibb 2, Ziggy Tate 2, Ben
Brazier 2.
Exclusions: Ben Brazier, Dan
Gibb.
Match 2. Worthing 2, Croydon
Amphibians 3.
This was another titanic
clash against our south London rivals.
The match was always a close
affair but unfortunately we conceded three
goals from defensive errors that eventually would cost
us the match. We actually fell behind by 0-3, but the
team came back strongly to score two quick goals and we
were pressing hard for an equalizer up to the final
whistle.
This was another excellent
match but our players were showing the strain of having
to play two full matches "back to back" with
no significant rest.
Scorers: Ziggy Tate, Ben
Brazier.
Exclusions: None.
Full Squad: Joel Abbott
(GK), Ben Brazier, Tim Brazier, Ziggy Tate, Elliott
Ellison, Dan Gibb, Robert Osborne, Scott Martin.
Regards,
Alastair.
|
Match Review18/06/2006
London League Under 15
Competition,
Tournament 2, Whitgifrt
School, Croydon.
Match 1.
Worthing 5, Sutton and Cheam
2.
This was an excellent start
to the day against a strong physical opposition. The
Worthing youngsters were quickly into the match and Sutton
struggled to cope with our counter attacking play. We
led 4-0 at half-time and looked in total control but the
match was turned on it's head when Alastair Hardinge was
excluded for what the referee deemed to be serious
violent conduct. He reacted to being constantly held and
pulled back with a swinging elbow which didn't connect
but the officials thought the offence was serious enough
to exclude Alastair with no substitution. As a
result we played over four minutes a player short but
with some excellent defending the team comfortably held on
for the win.
Scorers: Scott Martin 2,
Kevin Chan 1, Sam Maloney 1, Alastair Hardinge 1.
Exclusions: Alastair
Hardinge 3.
Match 2.
Worthing 13, Croydon
Amphibians 6.
Another fine performance
against a team that we have always had tough
matches against at all age groups.
Again the team used a
fine counter attacking style that caused the
opposition lots of problems. The match was never
close with the Worthing team scoring several
excellent goals. All the squad had a good amount of playing
time and the fact that we always had three
available substitutes in each match meant we were always
able to put "fresh" players into the
water.
Scorers: Kevin Chan 4, Sam
Abbott 2, Luke Helmer 2, Scott Martin 1, Sam Maloney 1,
Rachel Piper 1, Alastair Hardinge 1, Luke Cherriman 1.
Exclusions: Scott Martin 1.
Match 3.
Worthing 9, Chelmsford 2.
An excellent end to the day
in our third match when again all the squad played well.
We raced into a 3-0 lead but a degree of over
confidence allowed our opponents back into the match and
they scored twice to make the half-time score 3-2.
The second half again saw
our youngsters take control scoring 6 times with no
reply.
Scorers: Kevin Chan 3,
Rachel Piper 2, Scott Martin 1, Sam Maloney 1, Alexander
Cranford 1, Luke Cherriman 1.
Exclusions: None.
Full Squad: Alexander
Cranford (GK), Scott Martin, Kevin Chan, Sam Abbott,
Luke Helmer, Sam Maloney, Rachel Piper, Alastair
Hardinge, Daniel MacDonald, Luke Cherriman.
This was an excellent
tournament for our young team who continue to improve.
The squad played some good water polo at this event that
none of the opposition teams came close to dealing with
our individual skills, swimming speed and all-round
tactical play.
As always, we were supported
by a large number of family and friends who made the
trip and added much to the atmosphere.
Regards,
Alastair.
|
Match Review04/06/2006
Sussex Under 16 Tournament,
St Bedes School.
This was the second
tournament of this years county championship. As in the
first event we took the decision to again enter two
teams because of the large number of youngsters we have
available in this age group. Both our A and B teams
performed well on the day and the first team remains
unbeaten this year.
It was really pleasing to
see all of our youngsters playing in this event and we
comfortably had enough numbers for the two teams even
though we were missing some of our regular players.
Match 1. Worthing
"A" 8, Haywards Heath 2.
A satisfactory win in the
opening match against a young but enthusiastic
opposition who were strengthened by the addition of a
couple of guest players. This was a match that we always
dominated and our two main attacking players, Dominic
Cranford and Elliott Ellison scored most of the
goals from the centre forward position.
Scorers: Elliott Ellison 4,
Dominic Cranford 2, Scott Martin 1, Ziggy Tate 1.
Match 2. Worthing
"B" 0, Hailsham 7.
Although the final score
suggests that our "B" team were well beaten,
the team put up a fine display and were always
competitive against currently the second best under
16 team in the county. The defending was good
but the team struggled to create a great deal of
attacking opportunities. The young team all played with
a great deal of enthusiasm and showed a great deal of
promise.
Match 3. Worthing
"A" 7, Hailsham 3.
A comfortable win against
our nearest rivals in the county. Again Elliott and
Dominic dominated the scoring and our opponents never
came to terms with their strength and technique.
Defensively the team played a highly effective zone
defence which isolated the oppositions main attacking
options. It was only a number of relatively easy
missed chances that kept the final score as close as it
was.
Scorers: Elliott Ellison 4,
Dominic Cranford 1, Scott Martin 1, Tim Brazier 1.
Match 4. Worthing
"B" 4, Haywards Heath 4.
A highly entertaining match
against an opposition team again strengthened with some
"guest" players. Our young team played some
good water polo in this match and always looked likely
to score with the speed of their counter attacking play.
This match illustrated the improvement many of the squad are
making and some of the younger members particularly are
beginning to look a great deal more confident.
Scorers: Luke Helmer 1,
Scott Martin 1, Rachel Piper 1, Alexander Cranford 1.
Match 5. Worthing
"B" 6, Bexhill 6.
Another cracking match
that was enjoyed by our noisy and enthusiastic group of
supporters. Again, all the younger team members played
well in this match and some of the play was of a high
standard.
Scorers: Elliott Ellison 2,
Sian Fogerty 2, Scott Martin 1, Alastair Hardinge 1.
Complete Squad: Tim Brazier,
Ziggy Tate, Rob Osborne, Elliott Ellison, Dominic
Cranford, Sian Fogerty, Rianna Popeliers, Scott Martin,
Sam Maloney, Luke Helmer, Alexander Cranford, Kevin
Chan, Alastair Hardinge, Rachel Piper, Daniel MacDonald,
Alex Hoad.
This was another good event
for our squad and all of the players had a good amount
of water time. Special mention should be made of
Alexander Cranford who played in goal for both the
"A" and "B" teams in the absence of
regular keeper Joel Abbott. He played well in
every game, saved a penalty, and also found time to
score an excellent goal in his one period playing
outfield.
Regards,
Alastair.
|
Match Review26/05/2006
1. Sussex Junior League:
Hailsham 13, Worthing 9.
This was a much better
performance from our juniors who had lost the home
match by 4-19 against the same opposition only
a month earlier.
Hailsham again featured two
national squad members but our tactics during this
game frustrated our
opponents on many occasions. It was also very
encouraging to see the quality of our attacking
play and we scored several excellent goals.
Ben Alcorn put on a fine
performance in a rare appearance in goal for
the juniors in the absence of Joel Abbott. All the team
played well and this match again indicated the progress
that the squad is making.
Quarter Scores: 1-1, 2-6,
4-3, 2-3.
Scorers: Ziggy Tate 3,
Elliott Ellison 2, Ben Brazier 2, Scott Martin 1, Dan
Gibb 1.
Exclusions: None.
Remaining Squad: Ben
Alcorn (GK), Tim Brazier, Rob Osborne, Stuart Stirling.
2. Sussex Junior League:
Worthing 15, Haywards Heath 3.
A satisfactory win against a
young but enthusiastic opposition at the Aquarena.
Strangely, the team did not
play as well as they had 48 hours previously in the
defeat at Hailsham but again some of the play showed
significant improvement.
All the 13 in the squad had
good water time in this match and will hopefully
continue to learn and develop as a result of the
experience.
We took the chance in this
match to play both the Abbott brothers in goal for a
half each. Joel played the first half and younger
brother Sam took over in second. Both played well
and contributed a number of good saves.
Quarter Scores: 4-2, 5-0,
2-1, 4-0.
Scorers: Ben Alcorn 5, Ben
Brazier 2, Stuart Stirling 2, Dan Gibb 2, Ziggy
Tate 1, Elliott Ellison 1, Tim Brazier 1, Dominic
Cranford 1.
Exclusions: Elliott Ellison
1, Rob Osborne 1, Dominic Cranford 1.
Remaining Squad: Joel Abbott
(GK 1st Half), Sam Abbott (GK 2nd Half), Rebecca
Anderson, Scott Martin.
Regards,
Alastair.
|
Match Review19/05/2006
This is a report of this
weeks match.
Remarkably, we don't have
any sort of fixture this coming weekend now that
Folkstone have cancelled the Kent/Sussex league match
that was due to be played on Saturday night at
Crowborough.
Sussex Senior Knock Out.
Worthing 14, Hastings 2.
What looks like a relatively
easy win hides the true nature of this exciting
match.
The county Knock Out
competition is run on a handicap which is based on
last years final league positions. As a result of this
we started this match with a 10 goal deficit which
against a competitive Hastings team was always going to
be a difficult proposition.
This proved to be the case,
with our seniors only taking the overall lead
with under 3 minutes of the match remaining.
The victory was based around
an excellent defensive performance with the team using a
zone defence to isolate the oppositions dangerous
attacking players. It was only our inability to convert
some relatively easy chances that kept the result in
doubt until well into the final period.
Quarter scores (excluding +
10 handicap to Hastings): 3-0, 2-1, 4-0, 5-1.
Worthing Scorers: Paul
Phillpott 6, Richard Hooper 3, Scott Orchard
2, Dave Hoad 1.
Exclusions: Ben Brazier 2,
Andy Cawdary 1, Scott Orchard 1, Dave Hoad 1.
Remaining Squad: Ben Alcorn
(GK), Jon Gray, Andy Parkin, Anthony Gray, Ziggy Tate,
Stuart Stirling, Rob Osborne.
Regards,
Alastair.
|
Match Review15/05/2006
This is the report of this
weeks events.
1. Sussex Senior League.
Worthing 11, Crawley 6.
A satisfactory win against a
much improved Crawley senior team.
We were missing several of
our senior players and as a result we took the
opportunity to give a game to several of our under 16
junior team. Joel Abbott, Stuart Stirling and Ziggy Tate
had already played some senior polo, Rob Osborne made
his senior debut in this match.
In this match we were again
guilty of missing far too many chances, some as a result
of the oppositions goalkeeper, but often through poor
shooting.
The result was never in
doubt but the final score was not really a fair
reflection of the difference between the two teams.
Quarter Scores: 5-1, 2-3,
3-1, 1-1.
Worthing scorers: Paul
Phillpott 5, Richard Hooper 4, Andy Parkin 2.
Exclusions: Andy Parkin 2,
Andy Cawdary 1, Dave Hoad 1.
Worthing Squad: Ben Alcorn
(GK), Ziggy Tate, Andy Parkin, Richard Hooper, Andy
Cawdary, Anthony Gray, Joel Abbott, Dave Hoad, Stuart
Stirling, Rob Osborne, Martin Wiseman, Paul Phillpott,
Alastair Roberts.
2. London League Junior
Tournament (1988 and younger)
Whitgift School, Sunday 14th
May 2006.
We have entered this summers
junior London league to give our team more
experience of competitive water polo. Our young team
consists of two boys who were born 1988 and one born
1990. The remainder of the squad are 1991 and 1992
age group and the opportunity of playing against some of
the best junior players in the South East is sure to be
of long term benefit.
The league is played over
three tournaments with each team playing the opposition
twice. The teams also entered are Hailsham,
Brentwood, Croydon Amphibians, Chelmsford and Watford.
At the first event we played the following three matches:
1.Worthing 1, Croydon Amphibians 0.
An excellent start against
our South London opponents who we always have close
matches against in all age groups. The team played
really well in this match and the defending was of the
highest order resulting in a much deserved clean sheet.
The Croydon goalkeeper made several excellent saves
which kept the final score close but this was a
match that we richly deserved to win.
Period scores: 1-0, 0-0.
Scorer: Ben Alcorn.
Exclusions: None.
2.
Worthing 1, Hailsham 8.
A tough match against our
Sussex rivals but this performance and result
was a huge improvement over the county league game
played a couple of weeks ago. Playing against two
National squad players our team kept playing to a
plan designed to frustrate our opponents and we were
fairly successful with these tactics. All the squad
played well in this match and the final score was no
disgrace.
Period scores: 1-4, 0-4.
Scorer: Ben Alcorn.
Exclusions: None.
3. Worthing 5, Watford 4.
Another exciting match
against an older and more physical opposition. Our boys
produced some excellent play in this match and we scored
some really good goals as a result of good team work.
The match was close throughout but the win was sealed
with an excellent goal from the centre forward position
from Elliot Ellison following another good passage of
attacking play.
Period scores: 3-2, 2-2.
Scorers: Ben Brazier 3,
Elliot Ellison 2.
Exclusions: None.
Worthing Squad: Joel Abbott
(GK), Ben Alcorn, Ben Brazier, Tim Brazier, Dan Gibb,
Ziggy Tate, Rob Osborne, Elliott Ellison, Dominic
Cranford, Scott Martin, Stuart Stirling.
Overall, this was a fine
tournament for our team who showed a great deal of
improvement has been made. We are aware that we still
have a lot of work to do to get the best out of this
group of players, but the signs are very encouraging.
Regards,
Alastair.
|
Match Review7/05/2006
This is the report of
today's event.
Sussex County Under 16
Tournament (1991 + younger)
St. Bedes School, Sunday 7th
May 2006.
This seasons county
tournaments commenced with this event at St Bedes.
Because we have so many
junior boys and girls who are eligible to play in this
age group we decided to take the unprecedented step of
entering two teams.
We were confident that our
"A" squad would do well in these tournaments
but we also were keen to offer the opportunity of
playing to as many of our young players as possible.
Several of our less
experienced players made their competitive debuts at
this tournament and all of them will have gained a great
deal from playing at this event.
Match 1. Worthing
"A" 13, Bexhill 1.
A confident start by our
team saw them in total control throughout against an
inexperienced opposition. We were never extended in this
match and we scored several goals resulting from
good all-round team play.
Scorers: Elliott Ellison 5,
Ziggy Tate 4, Dominic Cranford 2, Kevin Chan 1.
Exclusions: Ziggy Tate 1,
Tim Brazier 1.
Match 2. Worthing
"B" 6, Eastbourne 0.
Our "B" team
produced a fine performance against a young and
inexperienced opposition and recorded a highly
satisfactory win. Several of the squad were playing
in their first competitive polo match and all of them
looked as though they enjoyed the experience.
Scorers: Joel Abbott 3, Sam
Abbott 2, Rachel Piper 1.
Exclusions: None.
Match 3. Worthing
"A" 9, Hailsham 2.
A really pleasing result
against our nearest rivals in this age group. The team
were well prepared for this match and the choice of
tactics resulted in the oppositions main goalscorer
being isolated. The team played well throughout and it
looked for a long time that we may keep a clean sheet.
Scorers: Scott Martin 3,
Elliott Ellison 2, Ziggy Tate 2, Dominic Cranford
1, Stuart Stirling 1.
Exclusions: Tim Brazier 3,
Elliott Ellison 2, Ziggy Tate 1.
Match 4. Worthing
"B" 2, Bexhill 10.
The score might indicate
that our "B" team were well beaten but this
was only as a result of Bexhill "borrowing"
several of the better players at the tournament because
they were short of players. Their squad for this match
included the two best Hailsham players along with our
own Scott Martin and Dominic Cranford. Our young team
played well again and Sam Abbott put on a particularly
good performance in the shallow end goal.
Scorers: Joel Abbott 1,
Alastair Hardinge 1.
Exclusion: Ziggy Tate 1.
Full Squad: Tim Brazier,
Ziggy Tate, Elliott Ellison, Dominic Cranford, Stuart
Stirling, Joel Abbott, Sian Fogerty, Rianna Popeliers, Sam
Abbott, Scott Martin, Luke Helmer, Alexander
Cranford, Kevin Chan, Alastair Hardinge, Rachel
Piper, Jake Holyoake, Daniel MacDonald, Alex Hoad.
This was an excellent event
for us and I was delighted that the players all got the
water time that they did. The decision to enter the two
teams meant that we were able to offer the chance
of playing to many more youngsters than normal and
that has to be of benefit in the longer term.
Regards,
Alastair.
|
Match Review30/04/2006
London League Under 15 Mixed
(Born 1992 + younger)
Tournament 1, Whitgift
School, Croydon.
After the success of
our 1991 team in last years event, we decided to
enter again this year. We were aware that at the 1991
age group we have a strong group of players including
four members who attend the Southern regional training
centre on Friday nights.
Our 1992 team includes some
players who have gained valuable experience last year
along with some who were making their debut in any competitive
water polo match. The results achieved were really
encouraging and again indicate that we have a strong
squad of youngsters playing at the present time.
Match 1. Worthing 4, Sutton
and Cheam 5.
A close match throughout in which
we never held in the lead, this was however an
encouraging start against a club with a long tradition
of junior water polo.
Statistics: Goals, Scott
Martin 2, Rachel Piper 1. Exclusions, Alastair Hardinge
2, Scott Martin 1.
Match 2. Worthing 7, Croydon
Amphibians 6.
A really entertaining match
saw our youngsters recover from a 4-0 deficit to snatch
a dramatic victory. Our matches against Croydon are
always close affairs and this one proved no different
but the manner of the win was highly satisfying. The
speed and fitness of our squad was always causing the
opposition problems and this proved to be decisive in a
thrilling end to the match.
Statistics: Goals, Kevin
Chan 2, Sam Abbott 2, Luke Helmer 2, Scott Martin 1.
Exclusions, Scott Martin 2, Rachel Piper 1.
Match 3. Worthing 4,
Hailsham 2.
Another good win against our
south coast rivals who featured several players from
other Sussex clubs. Our youngsters were always in
control and again the speed and counter attacking
ability was probably the difference between the two
teams.
Statistics: Goals, Sam
Abbott 2, Rachel Piper 1, Scott Martin 1. Exclusions,
Rachel Piper 1.
Full squad: Sam Abbott,
Daniel Macdonald, Luke Helmer, Kevin Chan, Rachel Piper,
Alastair Hardinge, Scott Martin, Jake Holyoake, Sam
Maloney, Alexander Cranford.
The team was coached in the
absence of both Richard and myself by current
junior players Ben Alcorn and Ben Brazier. They worked
hard to get the best out of the team and this was
reflected in the way that the team played.
All the squad played their
part but both Alexander and Sam (Abbott) put in
fine performances in goal. The only girl in our
squad, Rachel Piper, enjoyed a highly entertaining day
scoring goals, committing exclusion fouls and generally terrorizing
opponents with her speed and swimming ability. Scott
Martin played throughout with a level of skill that
belied his age and he captained the team setting a
fine example of how to play the game.
The next tournament will
hopefully see the team continue to improve.
Regards,
Alastair.
|
Match Review26/04/2006
Sussex County Junior League.
Worthing 4, Hailsham 19.
This was a really difficult
match for our young team against opposition who include
three players who are currently involved with the GB
national squads.
It was however, a
disappointing performance which really did not show the
real ability of our juniors.
The team made an encouraging
start in the first quarter and although they conceded
the first goal they soon equalized with an excellent
move in a "man up" play. At the end
of the period we trailed 1-4 but this proved to be best
period we had in the match. The next two periods were
won by our opponents by 6-0 and 8-0 with our squad
failing to deal with the speed and directness of the
counter attacks.
This match will act as
an important lesson for many of our under 16 team who
will gain a huge amount of experience playing against
the high standard of the oppositions play. The
coaching staff were disappointed with certain areas of
the tactical naivety that we displayed but this match
will act as a reminder of the hard work that is needed
to improve both individually and collectively.
Scorers: Ben Brazier 2, Ben
Alcorn 1, Dan Gibb 1.
Exclusions: Tim Brazier 1,
Rebecca Anderson 1, Stuart Stirling.
Remaining Squad: Joel Abbott
(GK), Ziggy Tate, Elliot Ellison, Robert Osborne, Scott
Martin, Dominic Cranford, Kevin Chan.
Regards,
Alastair Roberts.
|
Match Review24/04/2006
Sussex County Junior Knock
Out.
Haywards Heath 3, Worthing
13.
This was a poor quality
match that the Worthing junior team won comfortably but
without ever playing to their best.
Played at the Dolphin Centre
pool, the team started well and led 4-0 at the end
of the first quarter. This proved to be the best period
of the match as after this the standard of the match
overall seemed to deteriorate with both teams guilty of
far too many elementary errors.
Although this was a satisfactory
win it was disappointing that the team did not produce a
better performance as they have been working
extremely hard in training over the last few
months. But with our young team we should not be too
surprised that we struggle to find a level of
consistency as this will undoubtedly come with more
experience.
Scorers: Ziggy Tate 4, Dan
Gibb 3, Ben Brazier 3, Scott Martin 2, Ben Alcorn 1.
Exclusions: Dominic Cranford
2, Ben Alcorn 2, Elliot Ellison 1.
Remaining squad: Joel Abbott
(GK), Callum Fogerty, Rebecca Anderson, Stuart Stirling,
Robert Osborne, Tim Brazier.
Regards,
Alastair.
|
Fixtures for 2006Updated 22/04/2006 |
Match Review9/04/2006
Just a short message to tell
you that the following boys played for Sussex in the
Junior inter county tournament at Crowborough. The
Worthing members involved were:
Ben Alcorn,
Ben Brazier,
Dan Gibb,
Tim Brazier,
ZiggyTate.
All played well but Ben
Alcorn was particularly impressive in goal.
Sussex played really well on
the day and finished runners up to very strong Kent
team. The win over a strong Surrey side was particularly
impressive and finishing second in this highly
competitive competition was fair reward for the Sussex
youngsters.
Regards,
Alastair
|
Match Review3/04/2006
This is the report of last
weeks match.
Sussex Senior League.
Hailsham 10, Worthing 11.
This was an excellent win
for our senior team away at the St Bedes school
pool.
The match was a closely
fought affair throughout punctuated by 17 exclusion
fouls which illustrated the highly competitive nature of
the fixture.
Although we fell behind shortly
after the start, we slowly took control of the match and
early in the third quarter our lead was 8-3. From a
position where we should have comfortably won the match,
the opposition staged a spirited comeback
aided by some controversial decisions from the officials.
This was a fine win for the
team who included both Nathan Hart and Matt White who
were both home from university.
Quarter scores: 3-2, 4-1,
2-3, 2-4.
Exclusions: Matt White 3,
Andy Parkin 2, Andy Cawdary 1, Scott Orchard 1,
Dave Hoad 1, Nathan Hart 1, Paul Phillpott 1.
Scorers: Nathan Hart 3,
Richard Hooper 3, Dave Hoad 2, Matt White 1, Scott
Orchard 1, Paul Phillpott 1.
Remaining Squad: Ben Alcorn
(GK), Ben Brazier, Jon Gray, Alastair Roberts.
Kind Regards,
Alastair
|
Match Review28/03/2006
Another busy week with away matches
on Monday and Friday. These are the reports.
Girls Friendly: Surrey
University 7, Worthing 6.
This match was played at
the Spectrum centre in Guildford and gave us a chance to
play a very young and inexperienced team against the
university girls.
Our team was made up of all
the under 18 girls who have played in the Junior London
league along with Emily Tilzey and Vicki Sayers who
are both just 18.
The team played well
throughout but struggled to deal with the oppositions more
physical approach. Our girls superior speed and fitness always caused
the opposition problems and it was only the inability to
convert some of the many chances that we created that cost
us the match.
The match was controversially
decided in the final period when the referee ruled
that what proved to be the winning goal had crossed the
line even though many players and supporters were sure
that the ball had rebounded from the post.
Quarter Scores: 0-1, 2-3, 3-1,
1-2.
Worthing Scorers: Emily Tilzey,
Rebecca Anderson, Jade Boiling, Zoe Yeandle, Rianna
Popeliers, Vicki Sayers.
Exclusions: None.
Remaining Squad: Kayley Alcorn
(GK), Emma Piper, Rachel Piper, Wania Scott, Sian Fogerty.
Sussex Senior League: Brighton
3, Worthing 14.
A satisfactory start to the
2006 county season saw the team record a convincing
victory.
The first quarter saw the team
play some excellent water polo attacking the shallow end
goal and resulted in a 5-0 lead. The standard of play
during the remainder of the match never quite reached the
same level but we were rarely troubled by the
opposition who only scored their three goals in the second
half of the match.
The team played well in both
attack and defence and only some wayward finishing kept
the score down.
Quarter Scores: 5-0, 3-0, 3-1,
3-2.
Worthing Scorers: Richard
Hooper 7, Matt White 3, Jon Gray 2, Ben Brazier 1, Paul
Phillpott 1.
Exclusions: Andy Parkin 2.
Remaining Squad: Ben Alcorn
(GK), Anthony Gray, Scott Orchard, Alastair Roberts.
Regards,
Alastair.
|
Match Review19/03/2006
This is the report of today's
matches in the London Winter League.
It was quite an exercise to
get both the boys and girls teams to this event and
subsequently to play 6 matches in the afternoon. The
support that both teams received from family and
friends made a real difference and added to the
atmosphere.
Mixed Championship (1990 + younger)
Match 1. Worthing 9, Watford
3.
Just the start we wanted and
the team dominated from the start in an excellent first
half display. The second period was not of such a
high standard but the overall result was never in doubt.
Scorers: Dan Gibb 6, Tim
Brazier 1, Scott Martin 1, Ziggy Tate 1
Exclusions: Sian Fogerty 2,
Tim Brazier 1.
Match 2. Worthing 0, Croydon
Amphibians 3.
A disappointing result in the
match that was to decide the overall championship. We went
into this match knowing that a victory would give us a
chance of the title but the team never really got going as
an attacking force missing the small number of chances
we created in attack.
Two of the three goals we
conceded were in situations when we were playing "man
down" as a result of having a player excluded and this
illustrated how indiscipline can cost the team goals. The
squad were all annoyed that they hadn't really done
themselves justice in this match but hopefully the
lessons learned will spur us on in the future.
Scorers: None
Exclusions: Scott Martin 3,
Tim Brazier 2.
Match 3. Worthing 10,
Chelmsford 3.
An excellent result which
showed that the team had immediately re-focused after the
previous defeat. Again an excellent start set the tone of
the match and we raced into a 5-0 lead. A more disciplined performance
saw the team commit no exclusion fouls in this match.
Scorers: Tim Brazier 4,
Ziggy Tate 2, Dan Gibb 2, Stuart Stirling 1, Scott Martin
1.
Exclusions: None.
Match 4. Worthing 3, Hailsham
1.
The matches against our Sussex
rivals are always close affairs and this proved no
different. Playing our fourth match was beginning to take
it's toll physically but the squad stuck to the task and
were worthy winners. Again, it was our inability to
convert the chances that we created that was the
major issue and the winning margin really should have
been more.
Scorers: Dominic Cranford 1,
Scott Martin 1, Tim Brazier 1.
Exclusions: Rob Osborne 1, Tim
Brazier 1.
Squad: Joel Abbott (GK), Tim
Brazier, Dan Gibb, Dominic Cranford, Rob Osborne, Scott
Martin, Ziggy Tate, Kevin Chan, Sian Fogerty, Stuart
Stirling.
Overall, our winter league
experience was very positive and if we had won all 4
matches at this final event we would have taken the
Championship. The margin of defeat was small but we have
seen a real improvement over the past few months and the
team is now highly competitive. As I have stated before,
the championship is for players born in 1990 and younger
and our team only includes one member who is not eligible
for next year and so we would expect to be very strong
next year.
Girls Championship (1988 +
younger)
Our girls team played two
matches and the results were as follows:
Match 1. Worthing 7, Watford
1.
A fine performance against the
home team and our girls superior fitness soon
proved to be for the opposition. It looked as though we
might keep a clean sheet until we conceded a late goal but
our girls really dominated throughout.
Scorers: Zoe Yeandle 2,
Rachael Piper 2, Rebecca Anderson 1, Sian Fogerty 1, Emma
Piper 1.
Exclusions: Emma Piper 1, Sian
Fogerty 1.
Match 2. Worthing 2, Croydon/Beckenham
0.
An excellent end to the day
saw the girls record a win against a much stronger
standard of opposition. All the squad put in fine
performances and the way they played showed a huge
improvement over the first tournament. The game was close
throughout but a late goal from Rebecca made the game
safe.
Scorers: Rebecca Anderson 2.
Exclusions: Rebecca Anderson
1.
Squad: Kayley Alcorn (GK), Zoe
Yeandle, Sian Fogerty, Rebecca Anderson, Rianna Popeliers,
Emma Piper, Rachael Piper, Jade Boiling.
The girls finished their
competition level
on points with Croydon/Beckenham and the three matches
between the teams saw each record 1 win with 1 match
drawn. Our goal difference was 1 better over the three
matches and so the late goal in the final match from
Rebecca was hugely important.
We were all delighted with how
our very young and inexperienced girls team played and
their results were fair reward for the hard work that they
all put in.
Regards,
Alastair.
|
Match Review27/02/2006
Following is the report of
yesterdays London Winter League tournaments.
For the first time we had two
teams playing on the same day in the 1990 age group
mixed competition and also the 1988 age group girls event.
With the two tournaments being played on the same day it
meant that we were involved with 5 matches in total. The
details are as follows:
1990 Age Group and younger
Mixed.
Match 1. Worthing 4, Sutton
and Cheam 2.
An excellent start to the day
saw the team come from behind at half time to record a
good win. Sutton again included a current GB junior
international player but the Worthing team got the tactics
right and eventually ran out comfortable winners.
The strong second half saw
Elliot score a particularly fine goal from the centre
forward position.
Scorers: Scott Martin 2, Ziggy
Tate 1, Elliot Ellison 1.
Exclusions: Stuart Stirling 1,
Ziggy Tate 1.
Match 2. Worthing 2, Hailsham
1.
The South coast
"derby" saw the team squeeze home by the
narrowest of margins and again we came from behind to
secure the win.
The match was a close affair
throughout and the Worthing team defended well but
struggled in attack missing chances at key moments.
It was satisfying not to have played to our best but still
come out on top but the team realized that it was a below
par performance.
Scorers: Scott Martin 1,
Elliot Ellison 1.
Exclusions: Scott Martin 1.
Match 3. Worthing 0, Watford
3.
We saved the poorest
performance until the last match and again our
inability to take our chances was the key difference
between the teams. A missed penalty when we were only 1-0
down was probably the key moment in the match but this was
a below par performance.
Exclusions: Scott Martin 2.
Overall, this was a further
encouraging event for our young team. We only include 1
player (Dan Gibb) who was born in 1990 and the
rest of the squad are either 1991 or 1992 age group. We are
building towards next year and our competitiveness in
these tournaments is a good indication of the
potential of the squad.
Worthing squad: Joel Abbott
(GK), Dan Gibb, Ziggy Tate, Scott Martin, Rob Osborne,
Stuart Stirling, Elliot Ellison, Kevin Chan, Dominic
Cranford, Sian Fogerty.
1988 Age Group Girls.
Match 1. Worthing 3, Croydon/Beckenham
4.
This was a really encouraging
display from our young and very inexperienced girls. The
opposition included two girls who are regular players in
the women's national league and have been involved with
the National squad. We took an early lead when Rebecca
scored an excellent goal and the girls were highly
competitive throughout.
We never gave up and were
pressing hard for an equalizer right up to the final
whistle.
Scorers: Rebecca Anderson 1,
Sian Fogerty 1, Rachael Piper 1.
Exclusion: Rachael Piper 1.
Match 2. Worthing 2,
Chelmsford 0.
A competent win but it was
slightly disappointing that we didn't manage to convert
our dominance into more goals. Rebecca scored 2 fine goals
but we missed chance after chance with the opposition goal
keeper making some fine saves. Emma Piper put in a
particularly encouraging performance in the defensive
role.
Scorer: Rebecca Anderson 2.
Exclusion: Sian Fogerty.
Worthing squad: Kayley Alcorn
(GK), Rebecca Anderson, Rianna Popeliers, Jade Boiling,
Emma Piper, Rachael Piper, Sian Fogerty, Jo Simpson.
This was a really busy event
for all those involved and the next and final
tournament will see us playing 4 1990 matches and 2 girls
matches which is bound to be challenging. We hope to be at
full strength and finish overall as high as possible in
both competitions.
Finally, we received
magnificent support from our enthusiastic and large number
of friends and family. The club should be proud of
the enthusiasm shown by both the players and supporters at
all of these events.
Regards,
Alastair.
|
Match Review24/02/2006
Senior Friendly.
Worthing 5, Southampton 6.
This was a closely contested
match that could have been won by either team in a
tense finish.
Worthing were missing several
players from their team and so included under 16 juniors
Ziggy Tate and Joel Abbott who made his senior debut in
goal.
The match was close throughout
with the lead changing hand on several occasions.
The feature of the match was
the number of exclusion fouls committed by both teams that
then resulted in no goal being scored. The standard of
play in "man up" situations was
particularly poor and the high number of
unconverted chances kept the score down.
The Southampton goalkeeper
made a high number of fine saves and it was our inability
to convert lots of relatively simple chances that cost us
the match.
Quarter Scores: 2-2, 2-0, 0-4,
1-0.
Worthing Scorers: Paul
Phillpott 3, Richard Hooper 1, Dave Hoad 1.
Exclusions: Scott Orchard 3,
Jon Gray 2, Andy Cawdary 2, Dave Hoad 1.
Remaining Squad: Ben Alcorn,
Ziggy Tate, Joel Abbott, Alastair Roberts.
Regards,
Alastair.
|
Match Review28/01/2006
Senior Friendly: Southampton
3, Worthing 8.
Our senior team enjoyed an
entertaining victory against Hampshire league
opposition in a match played at the Quays swimming
complex.
The match was our first
competitive outing of the year and the team looked a
little rusty but nevertheless we were in control
throughout. The opposition were well disciplined
defensively but caused us only a small number of problems
with their attacking play. The final score was a fair
reflection of the match and only our wasteful finishing
kept the winning margin down.
Quarter scores: 2-0, 2-1, 3-1,
1-1.
Worthing scorers: Richard
Hooper 3, Paul Phillpott 2, Andy Cawdary 1, Scott Orchard
1, Dave Hoad 1.
Exclusions: Alastair Roberts
2, Richard Hooper 1, Dave Hoad 1, Paul Phillpott 1.
Remaining squad: Ben Alcorn
(GK), Jon Gray, Andy Parkin, Anthony Gray.
Regards,
Alastair.
|
Match Review16/01/2006
This is a report of yesterdays
Under 16 London Winter league tournament.
Having played in last summers
event for junior players born in 1991 or younger, this was
our first appearance in the Winter league which is for a
1990 or younger age group. We decided to enter this
competition with a squad made up of 1991 and 1992 age
group players with the addition of Dan Gibb who is
the only team member born in 1990. All the other
teams entered featured several players born in 1990
and so we were definitely the youngest team playing
in the event. The results were as follows:
Match 1. Worthing 4, Sutton
and Cheam 1.
A fantastic result against a
team featuring a current GB junior international player,
our youngsters played with a great deal of skill and
composure. Tim Brazier opened the scoring and two goals
from Ziggy Tate gave us a comfortable advantage. Dan
Gibb scored in the second half and only a late and
highly controversial goal when the ball clearly hit the
post, spoiled what was an excellent performance.
The team played an excellent
"drop" defence to nullify the major threat of
the opposition and on the rare occasions that they managed
to find a shooting position, Joel Abbott produced a number
of fine saves.
Match 2. Worthing 1, Croydon
Amphibians 3.
A cracking match that was an
excellent indication of the progress the team is making.
Winners of the summers 1991 competition, Croydon were
strengthened by the addition of several 1990 players. The
closeness of this result was a good indication of the
improvement we have made and with a little more composure
in front of goal we might have at least drawn this match.
Unfortunately we missed a penalty at a key moment that
would have tied the scores at 2-2 but it was a terrific
performance by all the team. Dan Gibb scored our goal
midway through the first half and we were pressing hard
late in the game looking for an equalizer when we conceded
the crucial third goal.
Match 3. Worthing 5,
Chelmsford 5.
Although we drew the match,
this was the most disappointing performance of the
afternoon. Having dominated the match in the first half
leading 4-2 at the break, the score should have been
much greater as we contrived to miss several
opportunities.
The second half was poor with
a limited opposition scoring on three occasions as a
result of some poor defending. This was a great shame as
this was a match we should have won comfortably.
For the record, Dominic
Cranford, Dan Gibb, Scott Martin and Ziggy Tate scored in
the first half and Dan got our goal in the second period.
Overall, this was a highly
enjoyable afternoon when we saw a great deal of the
potential that this group of players posses. Throughout
all the matches the team was cheered on by our loyal band
of supporters and it is a pleasure to see so many family
and friends prepared to travel to these events.
Our squad in full: Joel Abbott
(GK), Tim Brazier, Ziggy Tate, Scott Martin, Stuart
Stirling, Dominic Cranford, Elliot Ellison, Dan Gibb,Kevin
Chan, Robert Osborne, Sian
Fogerty.
Regards,
Alastair.
|
Match Review16/01/2006
London Winter League Girls
Championship.
Whitgift School, Croydon. Sunday
15/01/06.
This was the first tournament in
this years championship and the first time that we have
entered a Worthing junior girls team in any
competition. We are fortunate that at present we have a
number of talented girls at the club who are now playing
water polo and this tournament saw several of the squad play
their first matches.
The girl's deserve a huge
amount of praise for the way that they played and we managed
to remain unbeaten in our three matches with two wins and a
draw.
Match 1. Worthing 5, Chelmsford
1.
An excellent start to the
tournament saw the girls record a satisfactory win against
enthusiastic opposition. Our girls fitness was soon proving
to be the major difference between the teams and we
dominated throughout and only some wasteful finishing could
be criticized. Rebecca Anderson dominated proceedings from
the centre forward position but all the girls played
well.
Scorers: Rebecca Anderson 4,
Joann Simpson 1.
Match 2. Worthing 3, Croydon
Amphibians/Beckenham 3.
A cracking match which was
enjoyed by a noisy crowd. We probably should have won but we
contrived to miss several chances, particularly late on,
which would have won the game. Again, Rebecca dominated
proceedings scoring all our three goals but all the girls
worked extremely hard against a much better standard of
opposition.
Scorer: Rebecca Anderson 3.
Match 3. Worthing 9, Watford 2.
A satisfactory win when again
our girls swimming ability and fitness proved to be the main
difference between the teams. All the team again put in
strong performances and it was nice to see six different
goalscorers in this match.
Scorers: Sian Fogerty 2, Rachel
Piper 2, Joann Simpson 2, Emma Piper 1, Rebecca Anderson 1,
Zoe Yeandle 1.
In addition to the other six
girls who scored, the squad was completed by Rianna
Popeliers and Kayley Alcorn. Kayley is sister of Ben who is
our junior boys and senior men's goalkeeper and she put on a
fine display in goal making many fine saves. Her willingness
to play in this demanding position with very little notice
and even less training summed up the spirit of all the
girls. It was refreshing to see the enthusiasm of the whole
team who never gave less than 100% throughout.
Regards,
Alastair.
|
Match Review
8/01/2006
This is the report of the County Junior Knock out that was concluded last week.
The semi-final was played last
Wednesday at the Aquarena.
Worthing 6, Haywards
Heath 3.
This was a low scoring match
that the Worthing youngsters were always in control of.
The final score would
have been a bigger win for our youngsters without the
excellent performance of the Haywards Heath goalkeeper who
made a string of quality saves.
All of the Worthing squad got
good water time and some of the younger members put in
particularly strong performances.
Quarter scores: 1-0, 3-1, 0-1,
2-1.
Worthing scorers: Ziggy Tate
1, Stuart Stirling 1, Nathan Hart 1, Ben Alcorn 1, Dominic
Cranford 1, Dan Gibb 1.
The final was played on
Saturday night at the deep water pool at Crowborough.
Worthing 5, Hailsham 16.
This was an excellent match
and our young team never gave up against a very talented
opposition. The six outfield players that Hailsham started
with are all involved with the GB national squads, 4 in
the 87 and 2 in the 89 age groups. Our young team
played with a huge amount of commitment and no little
skill and were unlucky not to score on other
occasions.
Our chances were not helped
with the controversial dismissal in the first quarter of
Ben Brazier for dissent.
All the team played well but a
special mention should be made of Joel Abbott who at 14
years of age played in goal with great courage and
ability. He made a number of high quality saves which
indicates the huge potential he has in this demanding and
highly specialized position.
Quarter scores: 0-4, 1-5, 2-3,
2-4.
Worthing scorers: Ben Alcorn
1, Nathan Hart 1, Stuart Stirling 1, Dominic Cranford 1.
Full squad for both matches:
Joel Abbott (GK), Ziggy Tate, Ben Alcorn, Nathan Hart
(Capt), Ben Brazier, Stuart Stirling, Rob Osborne, Rebecca
Anderson, Tim Brazier, Louise Gibb, Dominic Cranford, Dan
Gibb.
The senior competition was won
by Worthing after the withdrawal of Haywards Heath B from
the final.
Regards,
Alastair.
|
Alastair Roberts
Water Polo Secretary