2008 Water Polo News Archive
Match Review13/12/2008
Inter-County Under
14
Saturday 6th
December 2008.
I have attached the "official" report that I wrote for the county but the WSC perspective is as follows: The following boys and girls from Worthing SC were selected to play for Sussex in the inaugural Southeast/London region under 14 tournament that was played at the Whitgift School pool in South
Croydon: |
Match Review7/11/2008
Sussex County Senior
League.
Wednesday 5th
November 2008.
Crawley 14, Worthing
20. (Quarter Scores: 2-5, 3-7, 2-4, 7-4)
This was a highly
entertaining match played at the excellent deep
water 50 metre pool at the K2 centre in Crawley.
Even though we were
missing a number of our established senior
squad, we were still able to take a full team of
13 to this match against a much improved
opposition who now feature a number of new but experienced
players.
We had to play some
good quality water polo to control the match and
the opposition always offered a threat in attack
but we were able to score regularly when
counter-attacking.
At the end of the
first quarter we led 5-2 and by half-time we had
extended our lead to 12-5 which really ended
the match as a contest. The third period saw the
lead extended to 16-7 but a poor final quarter
saw Crawley come back but the final result was
never in doubt.
All of the Worthing
squad played their part in this win and it was
again good to see 5 of our current junior team
playing well again in a senior match. Special
mention should be made of Alexander Cranford who
played part of the match in goal making his
debut in this demanding position in a senior
match.
Scorers: Matt White
8, Paul Phillpott 3, Scott Martin 3, Elliott
Ellison 2, Nathan Hart 2, Richard Hooper 1,
Scott Orchard 1.
Exclusions:
Alexander Cranford 1, Paul Phillpott 1, Richard
Hooper 1.
Squad in Full: Jon
Gray, Elliott Ellison, Richard Hooper,
Dominic Cranford, Sam Abbott, Scott Orchard,
Scott Martin, Alexander Cranford, Matt
White, Andy Cawdary, Paul Phillpott, Nathan Hart
and Alastair Roberts.
Regards,
Alastair.
|
Match Review18/10/2008
1. Sussex County
Youth Squad.
Four Worthing
youngsters represented Sussex county at the
London/South East region tournament which was
played at Whitgift school last Sunday.
Alexander Cranford,
Sam Maloney, Peter Flynn and Max Felton were
part of squad that finished runners-up to Surrey
after a very exciting final match. With the
winners guaranteed the title the Sussex/Surrey
match was of a high quality and saw Sussex
recover from a 3 goal deficit and then miss a
penalty would have seen the scores level at 3-3.
Surrey eventually went on to win the match 5-2
and so take the title but the Sussex played
really well and were always in with a chance
until conceding 2 late goals.
All the Worthing
boys played well and should be happy that
they were part of a Sussex Squad that gave
everything they could in all of the 4 matches that
were part of the tournament.
2. Sussex Senior
League.
Wednesday 15th
October 2008.
Worthing 28,
Haywards Heath 8. (Quarter Scores, 9-2, 6-4,
1-2, 12-0)
This was a
satisfactory win against a spirited Haywards
Heath team who struggled to deal with the
quality of our play.
We dominated from
the start and the match was decided during
the first quarter when we scored 9 times
with the opposition getting 2 goals back as a
result of some goal-keeping errors.
We took the
opportunity to play all of our squad of 13
during the match and it was only in the
third quarter that the opposition managed to
gain a level of control.
The final period saw
Worthing back to their best scoring 12 times
without reply.
Scorers: Matt White
9, Paul Phillpott 6, Scott Martin 5, Ziggy Tate
2, Elliot Ellison 2, Richard Hooper 2, Sam Abbott
1, Alastair Roberts 1.
Exclusions: None.
Squad in full: Ziggy
Tate, Elliot Ellison, Richard Hooper, Nathan
Hart, Matt White, Scott Martin, Dominic
Cranford, Sam Abbott, Rob Osborne, Adrian Irbe,
Paul Phillpott, Tony Gray, Alastair Roberts.
Regards,
Alastair.
|
Match Review11/10/2008
Basingstoke Under 14
Tournament (1995 + Younger)
Basingstoke
Aquadrome Pool,
Saturday 11th
October 2008
This is the second
year that we have taken a team to this event
which was played on a "round-robin"
league basis with the 5 teams who entered
playing each other.
As a result we were
due to play 4 matches with only short breaks
between them which is a demanding program for
this age group. We only had a squad of 8
available which meant that all those involved
would be in for a busy afternoon.
The individual match
reports are as follows:
1. Worthing 8,
Worcester City 4. (H/T 2-0)
This was a good win
against an enthusiastic opposition but we were
always in control.
The match was close
during the first-half but we improved throughout
and by the end we were worthy winners. The goals
we conceded were disappointing but the team
played well at times and we scored some
excellent goals.
Scorers: Joe
Hazeldine 4, Ben Goddard 2, Charlie Jones 1,
Tara Osborne 1.
Exclusions : None.
2. Worthing 1,
Basingstoke "A" 2. (H/T 0-2)
This was a really
exciting match against the eventual overall
winners and we recovered from falling behind to
2 early goals to dominate proceedings in the
second period. We possibly deserved to take
something from this match and we missed a
penalty late on that would have secured a draw.
Scorer: Joe
Hazeldine 1.
Exclusions: Joe
Hazeldine 1.
3. Worthing 12,
Basingstoke "B" 0 (H/T 4-0)
A satisfactory win
against the host's second team was a match that
we dominated throughout. That said, we made a
slow start and it was only in the second half
that we really started to play well. We
took the opportunity to play Sam Wildman
who had been playing in goal in all the matches
out on the pitch in the second half with Ben
Goddard deputizing.
Scorers: Joe
Hazeldine 4, Tara Osborne 2, Charlie Jones 2, Oliver
Rainford 1, Laura Joseph 1, Sam Wildman 1,
Ben Goddard 1.
Exclusions: Joe
Hazeldine 1, Charlie Jones 1.
4. Worthing 3,
Salisbury 4. (H/T 2-2)
This was a slightly
disappointing finish for the team in a match
that we didn't really do ourselves justice. Some
of the mistakes that we made were probably
due to a degree of fatigue but it was still a
match that we really should have won. We
dominated possession for long periods but our
shooting was poor and to compound matters we
conceded some poor goals that really should have
been avoided.
Scorers: Charlie
Jones 2, Tara Osborne 1.
Exclusions: None.
Squad in Full: Sam
Wildman, Oliver Rainford, Henry Jackson, Joe
Hazeldine, Tara Osborne, Ben Goddard, Charlie
Jones & Laura Joseph.
This was an
enjoyable event and all of the team played well,
To win 2 matches and lose 2 was slightly
disappointing but the 2 defeats were both only
by the odd goal and either could have gone
our way with a little more luck.
All of the squad
played well and it should be noted that three
of our players (Ben, Charlie & Laura)
were actually playing in their first competitive
matches. Sam Wildman played particularly well in
goal and was awarded the best goalkeeper trophy
for his efforts.
Regards,
Alastair.
|
Match Review20/09/2008
Sussex Senior
League.
Wednesday 17th
September 2008
Haywards Heath 4,
Worthing 14. (Quarter Scores, 4-1, 3-1, 1-2,
6-0)
A satisfactory win
against a strong Haywards Heath team who are
always an awkward proposition in their home
pool.
We made a good start to the match and quickly scored 4
times but all evening we missed chances that
would have given a fairer reflection to the dominance of
our play. That said, the opposition goalkeeper
made a number of fine saves but more
clinical finishing would have resulted in more
goals being scored.
Although we were on
top throughout, the third quarter summed
up the match because we missed chance after
chance which resulted in the team losing the
period 1-2.
Normal service was
resumed in the final quarter when with the
opposition tiring, we scored 6 goals without
reply.
Scorers: Matt White
7, Richard Hooper 5, Dominic Cranford 1, Sam
Abbott 1.
Exclusions: Matt
White 1, Paul Phillpott 1.
Squad in Full: Matt
White, Richard Hooper, Dominic Cranford, Sam
Abbott, Paul Phillpott, Nathan Hart, Rob
Osborne, Jon Gray, Tony Gray, Andy Cawdary,
Alastair Roberts (G/K).
Regards,
Alastair.
|
Match Review12/09/2008
Sussex County Senior
League.
Wednesday 10th
September 2008
Worthing 22, Brighton
5. (Quarter Scores: 7-2, 5-2, 1-0, 9-1)
This was a
satisfactory victory against an improving Brighton
senior team which the Worthing seniors dominated
throughout.
The first quarter saw Worthing
quickly taking control playing tactically to the
shot clocks and scoring regularly from the change
of possession.
The match continued in the
pattern of the first quarter and the final
score was kept down because in third period
the team managed not to score for 7 minutes contriving
to miss many simple chances.
The full squad of 13
enjoyed a good amount of water time and the team
continued to dominate proceedings regardless of
which 7 players were playing.
Scorers: Matt White 7,
Elliott Ellison 3, Richard Hooper 3, Scott Martin
3, Paul Phillpott 3, Sam Abbott 1, Ed Holden
1, Nathan Hart 1.
Exclusions: Scott
Martin 3, Jon Gray 1.
Squad In Full: Ben
Alcorn (GK), Jon Gray, Elliott Ellison, Richard
Hooper, Sam Abbott, Matt White, Dominic Cranford,
Scott Martin, Ed Holden, Rob Osborne, Tony Gray,
Paul Phillpott & Nathan Hart.
Regards,
Alastair.
|
Match Review22/08/2008
Sussex Senior League.
Hastings 5, Worthing
15. (Quarter Scores: 1-1, 8-2, 4-0, 2-2)
Thursday 21st August
2008.
Our senior team made
the long trip to Hastings to play the county
league fixture that was unusually played in August
when the season has normally taken a mid-year
break.
We were missing a
number of our senior squad but we were still able
to dominate the match after we recovered from
falling behind early on.
All of the squad
played their part in a satisfactory performance
which included the luxury of a missed penalty.
The match was decided
during the second quarter which we dominated
and won 8-2 and this meant that the rest of the
match became a relative formality. Late on we controlled
the possession and allowed the clock to run down
until the final whistle.
Scorers: Richard
Hooper 5, Ed Holden 3, Paul Phillpott 3,
Dominic Cranford 1, Ben Brazier 1, Nathan Hart 1,
Ben Alcorn 1.
Exclusions: Jon Gray
1, Ben Brazier 1.
Squad in Full: Ben
Alcorn, Jon Gray, Richard Hooper, Rob Osborne,
Dominic Cranford, Ben Brazier, Ed Holden, Nathan
Hart, Paul Phillpott & Alastair Hardinge.
Regards,
Alastair.
|
Match Review20/07/2008
Sussex County Senior
League.
Aquarena, Wednesday
16th July 2008.
Worthing 26, Hastings
5. (Quarter scores, 7-3, 7-1, 9-1,3-0)
This was a workman
like performance from our senior team who
outclassed an enthusiastic opposition in the
latest county league fixture.
We actually contrived
to fall behind in the opening seconds of the match
as a result of some comical defending but the team
were soon on top and started to score goals
regularly.
The match was really
over as a contest at the end of the first quarter
as we eased to a 7-3 advantage with many of the
goals coming as a result of turnovers forced by
the oppositions inability to cope with the 30
second shot clocks.
The game was notable
because 12 of our squad of 13 scored and also 3
players took a turn in goal as a result of Ben
Alcorn being unavailable through illness and Joel
Abbott still away at the Grantham water polo
academy. Matt White helped himself to 9 goals and
Ed Holden struck 6 as we dominated proceedings but
most of the goals were simple finishes created by
good team play.
Scorers: Matt White 9,
Ed Holden 6, Ziggy Tate 2, Elliott Ellison 1,
Richard Hooper 1, Stuart Stirling 1, Adrian Irbe
1, Scott Orchard 1, Scott Martin 1, Jon Gray 1,
Rob Osborne 1, Paul Phillpott 1.
Exclusions: Rob
Osborne 2, Stuart Stirling 1, Scott Orchard 1, Jon Gray
1, Ed Holden 1.
Squad in Full: As per
goal scorers + Nathan Hart.
Regards,
Alastair.
|
Match Review12/07/2008
Basingstoke
Tournament.
Under 16 (Born 1993 +
Younger)
Saturday 12th July
2008.
Having won this event
last year we traveled to Basingstoke with a much
younger and in-experienced team this year but
still hopes of defending our title.
A number of our
squad were playing in their first competitive
water polo tournament but we were still able to include
experienced players including Alexander Cranford
and Sam Maloney.
The individual match
reports are as follows:
1. Worthing 6,
Basingstoke "A" 4.
This was a closer
match than it really should have been which we
dominated but we were particularly guilty of
conceding a number of goals that should have been
easily avoided. We always looked in control but
the final margin should really have been greater.
All the boys played
well and Sam Wildman made 1 excellent save on his
debut in goal.
Scorers: Alexander
Cranford 3, Sam Maloney 2, Peter Flynn 1.
2. Worthing 7,
Winchester 5.
The second match was
very similar to the first one with some poor
defending costing the team a number of avoidable
goals. In attack we always caused the
opposition problems but we missed a number of
chances that we really should have scored from.
All the squad played
well but it was obvious that we would have to play
better than this if we were to win the title.
Scorers: Alexander
Cranford 3, Sam Maloney 3, Oliver
Rainford 1.
3. Final: Worthing 3,
Andover 7.
It is always
disappointing to lose but we were particularly
upset at the manner of the defeat because we never
really played as well as we are capable of.
We had a plan which was developed to
deal with the strength of the opposition but
unfortunately we failed to play the way we hoped
and we quickly conceded 3 goals.
As a result we were
always chasing the game and we never really
looked as though we would get back into the match.
It was a shame that we
didn't really do ourselves justice in this final
but we could have no complaints because the
better team had deserved to win.
Scorer: Alexander
Cranford 3.
Squad in Full: Sam
Wildman (G/K), Alexander Cranford, Sam Maloney,
Peter Flynn, Max Felton, Kwok Ho Wan, Joe
Hazeldine, Oliver Rainford.
Although we were
disappointed to lose in the final we were pleased
with the efforts of all of the squad and it was
nice to see a number of new youngsters playing for
the first time. It will be a challenge to develop
these boys into good water polo players over the
coming years but the potential is undoubtedly
there if we all work hard. We also have a number
of other youngsters (both boys and girls) who are
also now playing and so the future is still
encouraging for our junior squads.
Alastair Roberts.
|
Match Review7/07/2008
London League
Junior Boys (Born 1990 +
Younger) Championship.
Tournament 3, Whitgift
School, Croydon.
Sunday 6th July 2008.
The London league has
long been recognized as the premier club competition for
water polo teams in the South-east.
Attracting entries from
the leading clubs from this region, the competition
really acts as the unofficial club championship and
as a result is a highly prized title.
This years event is for
boys who were born in 1990 or later and our squad is
made up entirely of players born in 1991, 1992
and 1993 with the exception of Dan Gibb who is in
his final year at this age group. Although we have a
young team it features an exceptional number of
talented athletes who are improving all the time and
some of the play was of a very high standard.
At this final tournament
we were faced with demanding program of 4 matches
against good quality opposition and these are the
individual match reports.
1. Worthing 7, Croydon
Amphibians 4. (H/T 2-1)
This was a high quality
match between the two leading teams in the
South-east and it proved to be a highly exciting and
typically competitive affair.
We played some excellent
water polo at times and Croydon struggled to deal
with the strength and skill of Joel Abbott who
scored 6 times from the centre forward position. To
score 6 of the 7 goals is a fair achievement but is
even more remarkable because Joel is normally our
first choice goalkeeper who plays occasionally
outfield. The team worked hard to create the chances
and Alexander Cranford played an excellent game in
goal in what was a fine win.
Scorers: Joel Abbott 6,
Ziggy Tate 1.
Exclusions: Elliott
Ellison 1, Scott Martin 1.
2. Worthing 2, Croydon
Amphibians 3. (H/T 1-0)
The second match against
Croydon ultimately ended in disappointment as we
struggled to repeat the dominance of the previous
match. That said, Croydon played well in this match
and we failed to take many of the chances that we
created. Joel had a quieter game and a degree of
indiscipline didn't help the team's efforts.
This was another good
quality match which could have gone either way but
we realized that we hadn't produced quite enough
to deserve a win.
Scorers: Elliott Ellison
1, Sam Abbott 1.
Exclusions: Scott Martin
3, Dominic Cranford 1, Tim Brazier 1.
3. Worthing 7, West
London Penguin 1. (H/T 3-0)
A match that we
dominated throughout but was close until the second
half because of too many missed chances.
We again played some
good quality water polo and the teams defending was
particularly effective in reducing the opposition to
a small number of chances. Joel was again in
excellent form scoring 5 times but the high quality
of our play created many of the chances.
Scorers: Joel Abbott 5,
Tim Brazier 1, Ziggy Tate 1.
Exclusions: Scott Martin
1.
4. Worthing 10,
Beckenham 4. (H/T 2-1)
The final match of the
day saw the team make a slow start which was
probably due to a degree of fatigue after a busy
program.
Although we led at
half-time, Beckenham scored two quick goals to give
them the lead but we found our game and eventually
ran out comfortable winners. Once again, the quality
of some of the play was of a high standard and the
final score gave a fair indication of the difference
between the teams.
Scorers: Joel Abbott 3,
Ziggy Tate 2, Scott Martin 2, Elliott Ellison 1,
Dominic Cranford 1, Alastair Hardinge 1.
Exclusions: Elliott
Ellison 1, Rob Osborne 1.
As a
result of these results we were confirmed as winners
of this competition for the first time in the clubs
history. The team were presented with the trophy and
we should be very pleased with this outstanding
achievement which is the culmination of a great deal
of hard work from all of the squad. The club has
backed the junior water polo development program
over the past few years and the first win in this
competition is an excellent achievement.
Squad in Full:
Alexander
Cranford. The youngest member of the team at the
final tournament, his goalkeeping was exceptional
and he has great potential both in this demanding position
and outfield.
Elliott Ellison. Much
improved left-hander who scores important goals and
is befitting from hard work in training.
Ziggy Tate. Trains at
the National Academy at Grantham and improving all
the time. Close to national team selection, his
chances are improving all the time.
Dominic Cranford:
Powerful forward who has improved hugely. Trains
regularly with the senior squad and will get better
and better.
Rob Osborne: Much
improved defender who is beginning to show his
potential.
Scott Martin: GB team
member and hugely talented left-hander who is
benefiting from much improved fitness as a
result of a disciplined training regime.
Tim Brazier: Solid
defender who is still improving but is strong
in the tackle and reads the game well.
Dan Gibb: The only
"1990" player. Strong and committed
Dan keeps things simple and adds to the teams hard
work.
Joel Abbott: Also at
Grantham,a terrific presence in goal (Where he plays
for GB) and out on the pitch. Still learning the
game out field, he will only get better.
Sam Abbott: Joel's
younger brother is greatly improved in all aspects
of this demanding sport which is as a result of his
hard work in training.
Alastair Hardinge: A
natural swimmer and particularly sprinter, now
playing some much improved water polo. Will only get
better.
Stuart Stirling: Quick,
strong and a good all-round team player
improving all the time. Has the potential to be an
excellent player.
The following boys
are also part of the squad: Sam Maloney, Kevin Chan
and Luke Helmer.
The squad is coached by
Richard Hooper, Ben Alcorn and myself and all are
now training as part of our senior squad.
Alastair Roberts.
|
Match Review16/05/2008
British Army Senior
Men's Tournament.
Aldershot Sports Centre.
Sunday 29th June 2008.
We always look forward
to the annual Army tournament which is played
in the excellent 50 metre pool at the Aldershot
sports complex. It gives us a chance to play against
a variety of teams who we don't regularly play
against and it is always a popular fixture with our
squad.
This year the standard
of the competition had improved with the inclusion
of teams from Weymouth & Portland and Ealing,
both of whom play in the national league. Added to
this were Invicta Marlins who were recently promoted
to Division 2 of the national league, Basingstoke
and the home team. The format split the teams into
two groups of three with the top two in each
league progressing to the semi-finals. We were drawn
in what looked to be the harder group with
Basingstoke and Ealing and these are the individual
match reports.
1. Worthing 10,
Basingstoke 4. (H/T 5-2)
This was a good
performance against a strong opposition who were
competitive in a closely contested first half.
The second period saw us take control and by the end
we were well on top. The opposition always
struggled to cope with the speed of our
counter-attacking and the power of our centre
forward play from mainly Matt White and Ed Holden. A
satisfactory win but the only disappointment
was the unnecessary dismissal of Richard Hooper
in the first half.
Scorers: Matt White 3,
Richard Hooper 2, Ed Holden 2, Nathan Hart 1, Scott
Martin 1, Sam Abbott 1.
Exclusions: Richard
Hooper 3, Ed Holden 1, Nathan Hart 1.
2. Worthing 7, Ealing 1.
(H/T 3-1)
Another exciting match
against a physical and strong Ealing team. We always
looked the better side but it was the oppositions
indiscipline that probably cost them the match. They
were constantly struggling to deal with our strong
centre forward play and as a result they kept having
players dismissed for committing exclusion fouls. We
converted the majority of the opportunities that
were presented as a result of these exclusions and
we eventually ran out easy winners.
Scorers: Matt White 5,
Ed Holden 1, Scott Martin 1.
Exclusions: Scott Martin
2, Jon Gray 1.
As a result of the two
wins we topped the group which meant a semi-final
against the runners up from the other pool.
3. (Semi-final) Worthing
16, The Army 2. (H/T 8-2)
A straightforward win
against the tournament hosts who really had no
answer to our all-round play.
Our pressing game
successfully turned the ball over to our advantage
on many occasions and this resulted in many of the
goals that we scored. All of the squad played a
good amount in this match which gave us the
opportunity to rest some players prior to the final.
Scorers: Matt White 5,
Scott Martin 5, Ed Holden 2, Richard Hooper 1,
Nathan Hart 1, Paul Phillpott 1, Stuart Stirling 1.
Exclusions: Jon Gray 1.
4. (Final) Worthing 5,
Invicta Marlins 2. (H/T 2-1)
An exciting climax to
the competition resulted in a hard fought win
against a talented Invicta Marlins team.
We went behind early on
but we fought back well with two goals before the
half-time break. The second period saw us score
three more goals before a late goal from the
opposition near the end.
The match was close and
we saw Ben Alcorn in goal make a number of excellent
saves at crucial times. Paul Phillpott played
an excellent game marking the opposition centre
forward and his contribution helped keep their
scoring opportunities to a minimum.
Scorers: Matt White 2,
Richard Hooper 2, Scott Martin 1.
Exclusions: Sam Abbott
1, Paul Phillpott 1.
Overall Statistics:
Squad in Full: Paul
Phillpott, Ed Holden, Richard Hooper, Matt White,
Jon Gray, Ben Alcorn (G/K), Scott Martin, Stuart
Stirling, Rob Osborne, Nathan Hart & Sam Abbott.
Scorers: Matt White 12,
Scott Martin 8, Richard Hooper 5, Ed Holden 5, Nathan
Hart 2, Sam Abbott 1, Paul Phillpott 1, Stuart
Stirling 1.
Exclusions: Richard
Hooper 3, Scott Martin 2, Ed Holden 1, Nathan
Hart 1, Jon Gray 1, Paul Phillpott 1.
This was a highly
enjoyable event that we were delighted to win. The
team put in consistent performances against all the opponents
and all of the squad played well on the day. We were
also missing a number of our senior squad players
and this shows that we now have a real strength in
depth.
Regards,
Alastair.
|
European Qualifier News16/05/2008
This is a quick update
on the progress of the GB boys youth team who are
playing in the European qualifying tournament in
Sofia, Bulgaria.
The team features
Worthing members Scott Martin and goalkeeper Joel
Abbott and is faced with a tough group of six in
which the top two qualify.
The first match on
Thursday evening was a disappointment with GB
falling behind 0-3 and then missing chance
after chance against Belgium before losing 4-5.
Friday was always going
to be tough with a match against a talented Poland
team at lunchtime and then a game against the host
nation in the early evening. GB had lost to Poland
in a warm-up event two weeks before this tournament
but on this occasion played some excellent water
polo to record a 10-5 win.
The match against
Bulgaria proved to be a highly physical affair
in front of the home crowd but the GB boys did
enough to win 11-8.
GB now face matches
against the pre-tournament favorites Spain and Moldova
to decide the group but they have given themselves a
chance of qualification for the finals which take
place in the Serbian capital Belgrade at the
end of July.
|
Match Review11/05/2008
Sussex Senior League.
Brighton 15, Worthing
17. (Quarter Scores: 3-1, 5-3, 6-5, 3-6)
Prince Regent Pool,
Brighton. Friday 9th May 2008.
This was an exciting
match that the Worthing senior team really should
have won by a wider margin but a combination of
factors saw the final score remain close.
We always find it
difficult to play to our normal standard in the
Prince Regent pool which is both shallow and
narrower than we are used to. We were also not
helped by some idiosyncratic refereeing which
resulted in Brighton scoring a number of disputed
goals.
That said, we never
really played to our full potential and we were
guilty of missing a large number of chances when we
would have expected to score and defensively we
conceded a number of goals that really should have
been avoided.
On a more positive note,
we played all of our squad of 13 and this included 5
junior players all who performed well. This was
highlighted by an excellent goal from Rob Osborne
who scored with a long range shot into the top
corner of the shallow end goal during the second
quarter.
The final quarter saw
the opposition score a number of goals that made the
final result look closer than perhaps it should have
been but the Worthing team knew that this had
been a slightly below par performance.
Scorers: Richard Hooper
8, Ed Holden 3, Stuart Stirling 2, Paul Phillpott 2,
Rob Osborne 1, Alastair Hardinge 1.
Exclusions: Tony
Gray 2, Rob Osborne 1, Richard Hooper 1, Adrian Irbe 1.
(Brighton conceded 10 Exclusions)
Squad in Full: Ben
Alcorn (G/K), Richard Hooper, Jon Gray, Paul
Phillpott, Adrian Irbe, Andy Cawdary, Tony Gray,
Ed Holden, Stuart Stirling, Rob Osborne, Dominic
Cranford, Alastair Hardinge, Sam Abbott.
Regards,
Alastair.
|
Match Review11/05/2008
Sussex Senior League.
Wednesday 30th April
2008.
Worthing 17, Crawley 3.
(Quarter Scores: 3-1, 4-0, 3-1, 7-1)
This was an entertaining
fixture against a vastly improved Crawley team who
had already beaten Brighton in this years
competition.
We were without several
of our senior squad with Nathan Hart, Matt White,
Ben Brazier and Ziggy Tate away at various
universities and colleges and Joel Abbott and Scott
Martin away in Poland with the GB juniors training
in advance of the European qualifiers.
It is testimony to our
strength in depth that we were able to field a
full squad of 13 still leaving out other
talented senior players.
The match was of a
reasonable standard but our attacking play always
caused Crawley problems. Defensively we were
probably not at our best and Ben Alcorn produced a
number of fine saves to keep the opposition score
down.
All of our squad played
well and we again took the opportunity of using 5 of
our current junior squad. All the boys played well
and will benefit from having played in another
senior match.
Scorers: Richard Hooper
6, Ed Holden 3, Andy Cawdary 2, Stuart Stirling 2,
Paul Phillpott 2, Scott Orchard 1, Alastair Hardinge
1.
Exclusions: Scott
Orchard 1, Paul Phillpott 1.
Squad in Full: Ben
Alcorn (G/K), Ed Holden, Elliott Ellison, Richard
Hooper, Rob Osborne, Jon Gray, Scott Orchard, Adrian
Irbe, Andy Cawdary, Stuart Stirling, Dominic
Cranford, Paul Phillpott & Alastair Hardinge.
Regards,
Alastair.
|
Picture from Slowianka Cup 200805/05/2008.jpg)
This is a picture of the GB boys
youth squad taken in Poland during a warm-up
tournament for the European qualifiers which are being
played at the end of May in Bulgaria.
The two Worthing members are
Scott Martin (front row on the far left) and Joel
Abbott (back row 5th
from the right).
|
Match Review05/05/2008
Sussex Senior League.
Wednesday 30th April
2008.
Worthing 17, Crawley 3.
(Quarter Scores: 3-1, 4-0, 3-1, 7-1)
This was an entertaining
fixture against a vastly improved Crawley team who
had already beaten Brighton in this years
competition.
We were without several
of our senior squad with Nathan Hart, Matt White,
Ben Brazier and Ziggy Tate away at various
universities and colleges and Joel Abbott and Scott
Martin away in Poland with the GB juniors training
in advance of the European qualifiers.
It is testimony to our
strength in depth that we were able to field a
full squad of 13 still leaving out other
talented senior players.
The match was of a
reasonable standard but our attacking play always
caused Crawley problems. Defensively we were
probably not at our best and Ben Alcorn produced a
number of fine saves to keep the opposition score
down.
All of our squad played
well and we again took the opportunity of using 5 of
our current junior squad. All the boys played well
and will benefit from having played in another
senior match.
Scorers: Richard Hooper
6, Ed Holden 3, Andy Cawdary 2, Stuart Stirling 2,
Paul Phillpott 2, Scott Orchard 1, Alastair Hardinge
1.
Exclusions: Scott
Orchard 1, Paul Phillpott 1.
Squad in Full: Ben
Alcorn (G/K), Ed Holden, Elliott Ellison, Richard
Hooper, Rob Osborne, Jon Gray, Scott Orchard, Adrian
Irbe, Andy Cawdary, Stuart Stirling, Dominic
Cranford, Paul Phillpott & Alastair Hardinge.
Regards,
Alastair.
|
Match Review20/04/2008
London League (Ladies
Championship)
Tournament 1.
Whitgift School, South
Croydon.
Sunday 27th April, 2008.
Our ladies team played
two matches at the first tournament of this
years championship.
Due to a number of
reasons we were only able to take a squad of 8
players which is not ideal when playing
demanding matches in an all deep-water pool.
All the girls who played
gave 100% but a lack of any warm-up matches and a
lack of preparation at the tournament proved to
be significant handicaps.
The reports are as
follows:
Match 1.
Worthing 1, Southampton
University 5. (H/T 0-3)
A disappointing result
in a match when we probably had as many scoring
opportunities as our opponents but we failed to take
our chances. To be fair, all aspects of our play
were below our normal standard and the coaches felt
that we really hadn't done ourselves justice.
We played our best
water-polo at the start of the match but
crucially we missed some chances which would have
possibly changed the course of the match. The squad
reacted well to the post-match meeting and were
determined to play better in the second game.
Scorer: Rebecca
Anderson.
Exclusion: Emma Piper.
Match 2.
Worthing 3, Penguin 3rds 3.
(H/T 2-0)
An exciting match when
we played a much better standard than the first
game. All aspects of the play had improved and our
defending, particularly early on, reduced the
opposition to a small number of chances. Jenny
Willett scored 2 good goals and we looked much more
positive when attacking. With the small squad and
with Rachel Piper feeling unwell we were unable to
sustain the initial high standard of play and
Penguin scored twice to equalize. Undaunted, we went
back on the attack and Sian Fogerty gave us the
lead again with a cool finish.
We were unable to
hang-on and we conceded a late equalizer with almost
the last shot of the match.
This had been a much
better performance and all the squad played well and
we were unlucky not to win.
Scorers: Jenny Willett
2, Sian Fogerty 1.
Exclusions: None.
Squad in full:
Kayley Alcorn (G/K), Emily Tilzey, Vicki Sayers,
Sian Fogerty, Emma Piper, Rachel Piper, Jenny
Willett & Rebecca Anderson.
The second tournament is
back at Whitgift on Sunday 18th May.
Regards,
Alastair.
|
Match Review20/04/2008
London League Junior
Boys Competition (1990 + younger)
Tournament 1.
Whitgift School, South
Croydon.
Sunday 20th April 2008.
This was the first
tournament of the summer London League season played
at the deep water pool at Whitgift School.
We were due to play 3
matches against Basingstoke, Beckenham and Penguin
which is a demanding program but we were fortunate
to have available a good squad of 10 including Ziggy
Tate who was home from the water polo academy
at Grantham. We were however, missing first choice
goal-keeper Joel Abbott but Alexander Cranford took over
this position and produced a number of fine saves in
all of the matches.
The individual reports
are as follows:
Match 1. Worthing 14,
Basingstoke 1. (Half-time 8-1)
A satisfactory win
against a team that is new to this level of
competition. We were always dominating proceedings
but the opposition played with a great deal of
spirit and defended well throughout. We gave little
away defensively and we were slightly disappointed
not to keep a clean sheet.
We had 8 different goals
and we scored a number of excellent goals. The final
score was a good indication of the difference
between the two teams.
Scorers: Ziggy Tate 3,
Alastair Hardinge 3, Elliot Ellison 2, Sam Abbott 2,
Scott Martin 2, Dominic Cranford 1, Stuart Stirling
1.
Exclusions: None.
Match 2. Worthing 13,
Beckenham 2. (Half-time 8-1)
Another good performance
against a fair standard of opposition who never came
to terms with our strong defensive play and the
speed of our counter-attacking.
Again, the goals were
shared by a good number of players and the quality
of some of our attacking play was of a really good
standard.
Beckenham kept going and
we had to defend well to only concede the 2 goals.
Scorers: Ziggy Tate 3,
Dominic Cranford 3, Sam Abbott 2, Stuart
Stirling 2, Elliott Ellison 1, Scott Martin 1,
Alastair Hardinge 1.
Exclusions: Tim Brazier
2, Elliot Ellison 1.
Match 3. Worthing 13,
West London Penguin 3. (Half-time 7-2)
The final match was
against a well organized and physical Penguin
team who have a number of talented players.
Once again we played
some really good water-polo and some of the goals we scored
were of a high standard. Our defending again limited
the opposition to a small number of chances and we
were slightly disappointed to finally concede 3
goals.
Scorers: Scott Martin 5,
Ziggy Tate 4, Stuart Stirling 1, Dominic Cranford 1,
Sam Abbott 1, Elliott Ellison 1.
Exclusions: None.
Squad in Full: Alexander
Cranford (G/K), Stuart Stirling, Dominic Cranford,
Rob Osborne, Ziggy Tate, Scott Martin, Sam Abbott,
Alastair Hardinge, Tim Brazier & Elliott
Ellison.
This was a successful
first tournament and again indicated the
competitiveness of our squad in this age group. All
the boys played well and some of our team play was
of a really high standard.
The next tournament is
not until July 20th when we hope to continue our
unbeaten record.
Regards,
Alastair Roberts.
|
Waterpolo news19/04/2008 Link to West Sussex Gazette website where article and
photo can be found |
Match Review7/04/2008
South-East Region Men's
Championships
K2 Crawley, Sunday 6th
April 2008.
This was an exciting
afternoon at the excellent deep water pool at
Crawley with semi-finals and finals being played in
front of a large and enthusiastic crowd.
Worthing had qualified
to play in the finals as a result of the two
tournaments played at Basingstoke and in Jersey but
we knew that we faced two tough matches if we
were to take the title.
Our semi-final would be
against Hythe from the Kent coast who were last
year's winners and if successful in this match we
would play the winners of Jersey and Hailsham match.
The match reports are as
follows:
Semi-Final, Worthing 10,
Hythe 9.
Quarter Scores: 1-1,
1-3, 4-1,4-4.
A match that could have
gone either way saw the Worthing team snatch victory
by the narrowest of margins.
Neither team played to
their best and Hythe in particular were guilty of
missing several chances to score. This was partly
due to an excellent display in goal from Ben Alcorn
which ultimately was the difference between the
teams.
Worthing struggled
throughout the match with their attacking play and
were guilty of losing possession on far too many
occasions.
Undoubtedly this was a
match that we played poorly in but still managed to
win but all the squad were aware that we would need
to play a great deal better in the final to take the
title.
Scorers: Richard Hooper
5, Paul Phillpott 3, Ed Holden 1, Scott Martin 1.
Exclusions: Richard
Hooper 2, Scott Orchard 1.
Final, Worthing 9,
Hailsham 10.
Quarter Scores: 3-4,
0-2, 4-2, 2-2.
This was another
nail-biting match that saw the two teams trade goals
throughout but ultimately we lost by the narrowest
of margins.
As in the semi-final, we
never quite played to our normal standard
but once again Ben Alcorn was in fine form in goal making
a number of "one on one" saves.
After a poor first two
quarters we finally came to life in the third period
playing our best water polo of the day.
Having got back into the match it was disappointing
that we didn't take a number of the chances that we
created in the final period which might have given
us victory.
Ultimately the squad
knew that we hadn't done quite enough and although
it was disappointing to lose we all realized that we
hadn't really deserved to take the title.
It was no disgrace to
finish runners-up to a talented Hailsham team who
include 2 players who are training full time at the
National High Performance centre based in
Manchester.
Scorers: Scott Orchard
2, Richard Hooper 2, Ed Holden 2, Joel Abbott 2,
Ziggy Tate 1.
Exclusions: Ziggy Tate
2, Scott Orchard 1.
The squad was: Ben Alcorn (GK), Richard Hooper, Paul Phillpott, Ben Brazier, Ed Holden, Scott Orchard, Scott Martin, Ziggy Tate, Stuart Stirling, Joel Abbott & Rob Osborne.
Although we were
disappointed not to win we didn't quite do enough to
take the title and it is still a good result to be
the second best team (by a 1 goal margin!) from all
of the South-East region.
We thoroughly enjoyed
our participation in this competition and the two
qualifying tournaments and the finals at K2 were
well organized and gave us the chance to play
against a number of teams that were "new"
to us.
All the squad
enjoyed the experience and it was good to see the
number of our junior players making significant
contributions to the teams performance.
Regards,
Alastair.
|
Worthing Boys in GB Squad7/04/2008
Hi Guys,
Just a quick message to
say that congratulations should go to Joel Abbott
and Scott Martin who have been selected as part of
the squad of 13 boys who will represent GB at the
European Championship Qualifiers in Bulgaria in May.
Ziggy Tate has been unlucky to miss out on this
final selection this time but he will remain in the
larger squad of 21 and hopefully he will gain
selection at future events.
For the club to have 2
players in the final 13 is a remarkable achievement
and we should be delighted that we have such a
talented group of players in this junior age group.
A full report will
follow later of today's South-east region senior
finals at K2, Crawley.
In an exciting afternoon
Worthing edged past Hythe in the semi-final 10-9
before losing an equally close final to Hailsham by
the same score.
Regards,
Alastair.
|
Match Review30/03/2008
SOUTH-EAST & LONDON REGION WATER POLO
JUNIOR BOYS (1990 + YOUNGER) TOURNAMENT CROWBOROUGH, SUNDAY 30TH MARCH 2008 Sussex ASA hosted this year’s junior inter-county tournament at the excellent deep-water facility at the Goldsmith’s Leisure centre, Crowborough. Four county teams from Surrey, Middlesex, Kent and the hosts played a “round robin” of matches after a draw was made prior to the competition. As a result Sussex played Middlesex followed by Kent and finally Surrey in what was always going to be a demanding program. The matches were 4 quarters of 5 minutes and all of the Sussex squad of 11 played a significant part in all of the games. The match reports are as follows: Match 1. Sussex 12, Middlesex 5 (Quarter scores: 4-0, 1-2, 4-1, 3-2) A satisfactory win against the weakest team in the competition indicated that we had a competitive squad but we didn’t play at our best for long periods of the match. The first quarter saw the team dominate but we did not sustain this level and the boys were particularly disappointed by some of our set plays, particularly the man-ups, when the opposition had players excluded. We were however, always in control, and only some poor finishing kept the final score down. Scorers: Scott Martin 4, Dominic Cranford 3, Tim Brazier 1, Ziggy Tate 1, Tom Rooke 1, Stuart Stirling 1. Exclusions: Stuart Stirling 1, Rob Osborne 1, Elliott Ellison 1. Match 2 Sussex 6, Kent 2 (Quarter scores: 0-0, 2-1, 3-1, 1-0) A really exciting match played in front of a noisy and enthusiastic crowd. The first quarter was a tense affair with both teams defending well resulting in a minimum of chances being created. Slowly Sussex started to gain control and it was Scott Martin who began to dominate proceedings with 5 of the goals. The Sussex defending was always good and when the opposition did create some chances Alan Benton produced a number of fine saves. Towards the end of the match we knew that we had done enough but a spirited opposition had made the team play some of their best water polo. Scorers: Scott Martin 5, Ziggy Tate 1. Exclusions: Ziggy Tate 1, Tim Brazier 1, Tom Rooke 1, Dan Gibb 1, Alastair Hardinge 1. Match 3 Sussex 7, Surrey 14 (Quarter scores: 2-3, 3-2, 0-4, 2-5) Another hugely entertaining match that would decide the title as both teams had won their previous two matches. We knew that we would have to play at our best to win and we also had the added disadvantage of having to play this match immediately after the Kent game with no rest Both teams played an excellent standard in a fluctuating first two periods and we took the lead from an excellent “man-up” goal following a time out just before the half-time break. Unfortunately we conceded a poor equalizer just before the end of the period and the second half of the match saw the effects of playing the two matches take its toll. The team kept going to the end and the final score didn’t fairly reflect quite how close the match had been. Scorers: Tim Brazier 3, Ziggy Tate 2, Tom Rooke 2. Exclusions: Tim Brazier 1. Sussex Squad in Full: 1.Alan Benton (G/K), Hailsham SC 2.Ziggy Tate, Worthing SC 3.Elliott Ellison, Worthing SC 4.Rob Osborne, Worthing SC 5.Tim Brazier, Worthing SC 6.Tom Rooke, Hailsham SC 7.Dominic Cranford, Worthing SC 8.Scott Martin, Worthing SC 9.Stuart Stirling, Worthing SC 10.Dan Gibb, Worthing SC 11.Alastair Hardinge, Worthing SC The tournament ran very smoothly and the Sussex team played well to finish as runners-up to a talented Surrey squad who contained a number of players who are in the national junior squad (1989/1990 age group) We are encouraged by this result because our squad only contained two boys (Dan Gibb and Tom Rooke) who will be too old to play in the 2009 event, Tournament Organizer: Roger Edmondson, (Sussex ASA) Referees: Roger Edmondson, Paul Bryan (Middlesex), Chris Martin (Surrey), Tony Murphy (Kent). Table Officials: Trevor Hyde (Middlesex), Dave & Jill Alcorn (Sussex) Overall, an excellent event which was enjoyed by all those involved. Alastair Roberts Sussex ASA Coach. |
Match Review16/03/2008
Sussex County Junior
& Senior Knock-Out Finals.
Crowborough, Saturday
15th March 2008.
The two county knock-out
finals were played at the deep water pool at the
Crowborough leisure centre which is a neutral venue
for all the teams involved.
In the junior match the
Worthing youngsters played against Hailsham and the
senior match saw our men's team play against
Crawley. Both matches would prove to be challenging:
the junior matches against Hailsham at this age
group are always highly competitive and the senior
match looked to be particularly difficult because of
the 10 goal advantage that Crawley received as
part of the handicap in this competition.
The two match reports
are as follows:
1. Worthing 9, Hailsham
6 (Quarter scores, 3-2, 0-2, 4-1, 2-1)
An exciting match which
was enjoyed by a large and noisy crowd who gave
great support to both teams.
The first quarter was a
cagey affair with both teams defending well and
looking to give little away. We took an early 2 goal
lead through Ziggy Tate and Joel Abbott before
Hailsham scored twice to level the match. Alexander
Cranford scored just before the period ended with an
excellent breakaway goal to give us the narrowest of
leads.
The second period saw us
struggle to deal with Hailshams quality players and
at the half-time break we trailed 3-4.
The third period saw the
Worthing youngsters start to play some of their
better water polo and after conceding again we
struck back with goals from Stuart Stirling, Joel
Abbott and a brace from Ziggy Tate. With a 7-5
advantage at the start of the final period
against a tiring opposition we looked favorites
and an early goals from Ziggy and Stuart made the
game safe. Hailsham scored a late consolation but
they were denied another goal when Alexander
Cranford made an excellent penalty save.
All the squad played
well but Sam Abbott and Alexander Cranford shared
the goalkeeping and both made important saves. This tactical
decision gave us the opportunity to play normal
first choice goalkeeper Joel Abbott out on the pitch
and he always caused the opposition problems.
Scorers: Ziggy Tate 4,
Joel Abbott 2, Stuart Stirling 2, Alexander Cranford
1.
Exclusions: Joel Abbott
1, Tim Brazier 1, Alastair Hardinge 1, Sam
Abbott 1.
Squad in Full: Joel
Abbott, Ziggy Tate, Robert Osborne, Kevin Chan, Sam
Abbott, Dominic Cranford, Tim Brazier, Stuart
Stirling, Alexander Cranford, Dan Gibb &
Alastair Hardinge. (Scott Martin and Elliott Ellison
were unavailable).
2. Worthing 16, Crawley
14 (4 + 10 Handicap) (Quarter scores, 3-2, 2-1,
4-0, 7-1)
Another highly
entertaining and exciting match which was again
enjoyed by the big crowd.
We knew that over
turning a 10 goal deficit would not be easy but our
task was made harder by the surprising strength of
the Crawley team who contained a number of new
quality players.
The Worthing team was
missing a number of our normal senior squad but we
were able to use a number of our junior players who
had played in the previous match.
The match was relatively
close in the early stages but our superior fitness
became evident the longer the match went on.
The first quarter saw
Crawley take an early lead before Matt White,
Richard Hooper and Ed Holden on his competitive
Worthing debut score to give us the advantage.
The second period saw Richard score twice
before we conceded just before half-time. From this
point we totally dominated the match with
Crawley only scoring again with 15 seconds of
the match left.
The third period saw
goals from Paul Phillpott with Matt scoring
twice and Richard grabbing his fourth of the
match. This still meant that we started the
final period with an aggregate score of 9-13 but we
had the momentum and we knew a good quarter would
probably give us victory. The team played some
excellent water polo and Crawley were unable to deal
with the strength of our defending and the speed of
our counter-attacks. Richard found the back of the
net 3 times in quick succession and goals from Ed, Ziggy,
Matt and Joel completed what was a fine
performance.
All the squad played
well but Ben Alcorn had a fine game in goal which
included a penalty save and Paul Phillpott marshaled
the defence limiting the oppositions scoring
opportunities.
Scorers: Richard Hooper
7, Matt White 4, Ed Holden 2, Ziggy Tate 1, Joel
Abbott 1 & Paul Phillpott 1.
Exclusions: Adrian Irbe
2, Dominic Cranford 2, Paul Phillpott 2, Ed Holden
2, Richard Hooper 1.
Squad in full: Ben
Alcorn (G/K), Jon Gray, Matt White, Richard Hooper,
Rob Osborne, Adrian Irbe, Dominic Cranford, Ed
Holden, Ziggy Tate, Stuart Stirling, Joel Abbott,
Paul Phillpott & Alastair Hardinge.
Regards,
Alastair.
|
Match Review4/03/2008
London Winter League
Under 16 Championship
(Born 1992 + Younger)
Tournament 3: Whitgift
School, Croydon
Sunday 2nd March
2008
In an exciting climax to
this years competition, the Worthing youngsters
secured what is the unofficial South-east
and London region championship at the deep water
pool at Whitgift school.
The competition features
all the leading teams from around the region and it
is an excellent achievement to take the title
after three hard tournaments. We are
handicapped by having to travel to Croydon for all
of the tournaments but all of the coaching staff are
agreed that this type of competition is of
great benefit to our teams development.
We knew that the final
event would feature 3 tough matches against the
teams who made up the top 4 of the championship and
this certainly proved to be the case.
The individual reports
are as follows:
Match 1. Worthing 8,
Croydon Amphibians 7. (H/T 4-2)
The final score
indicates that this match was closer than it really
have should have been and at one stage we held a
comfortable 8-4 lead. Towards the end we probably
relaxed having thought the match was won and Croydon
scored 3 goals without reply which made the final
result look closer than it really should have
been.
We played well at
the start of the match and Croydon struggled to deal
with the speed of our counter attack and the
strength of our defending. All the squad had some
water time and we knew that we would need to play to
a higher standard in the 2 remaining matches.
Scorers: Scott Martin 5,
Sam Abbott 2, Kevin Chan 1.
Exclusions: Alastair
Hardinge 1, Kevin Chan 1.
Match 2. Worthing 10,
Sutton & Cheam 2. (H/T 4-0)
An excellent win against
a talented and well organized opposition who never
came to terms with our all-round play. The basis
of the win was some excellent defending particularly
by Scott Martin and Alastair Hardinge who completely
nullified the threat of the opposition
centre-forward.
As in the match against
Croydon, our counter attacking play caused the
opposition all sorts of problems and we scored a
number of excellent goals.
Scorers: Scott Martin 4,
Alexander Cranford 3, Alastair Hardinge 2, Sam
Abbott 1.
Exclusions: Alastair
Hardinge 1.
Match 3. Worthing 1,
West London Penguin 3. (H/T 0-2)
Our only defeat in 10
matches came in the final game against a
physical and uncompromising opposition who played to
their strengths. This was always going to be a
difficult match because we had no rest after the
match against Sutton but we never played at our best
and missed too many chances that normally we would
expect to score from.
We were slightly
unfortunate to concede 2 of the 3 goals but our
problem was with our attacking play which never
really functioned as well as we have come to
expect.
Ultimately the result
didn't change the final result of the competition
but all the squad was disappointed not to have won
the title with an undefeated record.
Scorer: Scott Martin 1
Exclusions: Rachel Piper
1, Alastair Hardinge 1.
Squad in Full:
Alastair Hardinge: Much
improved, his defending and speed on the counter are
his strengths.
Alexander Cranford:
Shared the goal-keeping making a number of good
saves. Strong outfield scoring a number of important
goals.
Sam Maloney: Strong in
the tackle, plays mainly mid-pool and makes many
assists in the goals scored.
Kevin Chan: Left-handed,
good finisher and brave in defence. Good passer of
the ball on the counter.
Sam Abbott: Shared the
goal-keeping, also making good saves. Plays at
centre-forward outfield and is always a threat
scoring a number of goals.
Luke Helmer: Vastly
improved recently, reads the game well and is an
excellent passer of the ball.
Scott Martin: Probably
the most talented player of his age in the UK, he is
one of a handful of 1992 born players in the
1991/1992 age group GB squad. Organized the team and
scored a number of vital goals at crucial times.
Rachel Piper: Our only
girl in the squad, brave and strong and really quick
on the break. Great attitude and never worried about
playing against the boys.
Peter Flynn: Relatively
new to the team, shows great promise and will have
benefited from playing at this level.
Max Felton: New to the
squad, making great progress and will only get
better.
Kwok Wan: Also new to
the squad but again showing great promise.
We were delighted to win
the overall title and this again indicates that we
have an exceptional group of players at both the
1991 and 1992 age group. All the squad members train
hard and our overall fitness was far better than any
other team in the competition and our swimming speed
was the backbone of this success.
Our next competition
will be the summer league for our under 18 (Born
1990 and younger) squad which starts at the end of
April.
Regards,
Alastair.
|
Match Review24/02/2008
South East Region
Men's Championship.
Tournament 2.
Jersey, 23rd and 24th
February 2008
Having played the
first tournament at Basingstoke three weeks
previously, we traveled with a full squad, and an
excellent number of supporters, to the second
event in Jersey.
This was an exciting
opportunity for all of the party who traveled
to enjoy a chance to play or watch some
water polo along with the normal tourist
activities.
Rather than travel on one
flight, the party arrived at various times
with a large majority staying at the Metropole
hotel in St Helier.
The tournament would
see a repeat of the fixtures played at Basingstoke
with matches scheduled against the home club,
Basingstoke, Southampton, Oxford and
Cranleigh. This would prove to be a demanding
program particularly as the matches were due to be
played in a pool with a shallow end rather than a
deep water facility.
The match reports are
as follows:
Match 1. Worthing
18, Cranleigh 6
Quarter Scores: 3-0,
5-3, 5-1, 5-2
After a fairly slow
start we managed to get our game together and
record a satisfactory win against an improved
Cranleigh team.
We struggled to come
to terms with the shallow end,
particularly when attacking, but all the squad
made good contributions and we were never really
put under a great deal of pressure. The final
score was a fair reflection of our dominance.
Scorers: Richard
Hooper 8, Scott Orchard 3, Paul Phillpott 3, Ziggy
Tate 2, Elliott Ellison 1, Joel Abbott 1.
Exclusions: Elliott
Ellison 2, Scott Orchard 1, Sam Abbott 1, Joel
Abbott 1.
Squad in Full: Ben
Alcorn (GK), Scott Orchard, Richard Hooper, Paul
Phillpott, Andy Cawdrey, Jon Gray, Anthony Gray,
Ziggy Tate, Scott Martin, Joel Abbott, Sam Abbott,
Rob Osborne & Elliott Ellison.
Match 2. Worthing 18, Basingstoke
8
Quarter Scores: 5-0,
6-1, 1-4, 6-3
A good performance
when we dominated the early part of the match
scoring a number of excellent goals. Again, all
the squad made good contributions and it was nice
to see that we had 8 different scorers.
Our counter attacking
game always caused the opposition problems and
they struggled to deal with our speed and superior
fitness. This was highlighted by Ziggy Tate
scoring a hat-trick of goals in a number of
minutes during the third period all on the counter
attack.
Scorers: Ziggy Tate 5,
Scott Orchard 3, Richard Hooper 2, Scott Martin 2,
Sam Abbott 2, Paul Phillpott 2, Andy Cawdery 1,
Joel Abbott 1.
Exclusions: Andy
Cawdery 2, Richard Hooper 1, Scott Orchard 1,
Scott Martin 1, Joel Abbott 1, Paul Phillpott 1.
Squad: As previous
match but with Nathan Hart for Rob Osborne.
Match 3. Worthing 10,
Jersey 10
Quarter Scores: 1-1,
2-4, 3-4, 4-1.
A match packed with
incident, some of it of a highly unpleasant
nature, saw the team recover from a seemingly
hopeless position to nearly record an unlikely
win.
The home team
exploited the shallow pool and inconsistent
refereeing and we really struggled to cope with a
very physical opposition. Our discipline was poor
as we reacted to several key incidents and Scott
Orchard was dismissed for dissent and Joel Abbott
for violent conduct as tempers flared.
At the start of the
final period we faced a daunting prospect of a 3
goal deficit attacking the shallow end goal which
is always difficult to score into. The team
somehow managed to get back into the match and
Paul Phillpott scored 3 fine goals all with
excellent shots from distance and Scott Martin's
cool finish gave us the lead late on.
The home team put us
under pressure and a late exclusion gave them the
opportunity to equalize with 1 second of the match
remaining.
A noisy crowd added to
the atmosphere but all the squad realized that
this was a poor performance that was well below
our normal standard.
Scorers: Paul
Phillpott 3, Richard Hooper 3, Scott Orchard 2,
Ziggy Tate 1, Scott Martin 1.
Exclusions: Scott
Orchard 3, Joel Abbott 3, Scott Martin 2,
Richard Hooper 1, Paul Phillpott 1, Rob Osborne 1.
Squad: As previous
match but with Rob Osborne for Sam Abbott.
Match 4. Worthing vs.
Southampton.
Conceded to Worthing.
Unfortunately,
Southampton decided to pull out of this fixture
because they didn't want to play at the early
start time of 8.15 am.
The tournament
organizers were understandably upset at this and
they can look forward to a significant fine
for their actions.
Even though we were
really disappointed not to play the match all
the squad joined in an hour long training
session.
Match 5. Worthing 12,
Oxford 10
Quarter Scores: 4-2,
2-3, 2-4, 4-1
Our final match was a
potentially difficult encounter against a talented
Oxford team. This proved to be the case and we
were never really in control until the
final minute when we scored to gain a two goal
advantage.
All of our squad
played well in the match and some of our problems
were uncountable caused by tiredness after a busy
program.
Again, a certain
amount of indiscipline crept into our play and
Scott Martin was excluded late on for dissent.
Scorers: Richard
Hooper 4, Scott Martin 3, Ziggy Tate 2, Nathan
Hart 1, Joel Abbott 1, Paul Phillpott 1.
Exclusions: Scott
Martin 3, Joel Abbott 1.
Squad: As match
against Jersey but with Rob Osborne for Scott
Orchard.
Overall this was an
enjoyable weekend and I hope that all the squad,
families and friends thought that the effort was
worthwhile.
The standard of the
water polo didn't always make a great spectacle
but we showed a great deal of resilience,
particularly in the match against Jersey.
As a result of our
unbeaten record in both tournaments we have
qualified to play in the regional finals which
will be held at K2, Crawley at the start of April.
Regards,
Alastair.
|
Worthing Boys in GB Youth Squad17/02/2008
Hi Guys,
I thought that you would
all be interested in the following news.
The GB Youth squad that
is now training towards the European championship
qualification tournament to be held in May in
Bulgaria met this weekend for a training camp.
All the boys in the
squad of 35 had been told that the squad was going
to be significantly reduced in size to a smaller
group that would then work towards the May
tournament.
The squad now numbers 20
and I am pleased to report that the 3 Worthing boys: Ziggy Tate, Scott Martin and goal-keeper Joel
Abbott, all gained selection to this
"elite" group.
The 3 of them now face
an intensive program as they build up to the final
selection of a squad of 13 to play in the Bulgaria
qualifiers. If successful, the GB team will play in
the European Championship finals which will take
place in Belgrade, Serbia in August.
All three boys deserve
great credit for working hard to gain selection for
this squad and I obviously hope that all of them go
on to represent GB in Bulgaria.
Regards,
Alastair.
|
Match Review9/02/2008
History was made last
Wednesday (30th January) when the club played 2
fixtures at 2 different venues at the same time. At
9.00 pm our ladies team played a home match against
Hastings and at the same start time our senior men's
team commenced an away fixture at Kent league
Sevenoaks. The reports are as follows:
Ladies Friendly Match.
Worthing 12, Hastings 3.
(Quarter scores: 4-1, 3-0, 2-2, 3-0).
This was an entertaining
match at the Aquarena against a Hastings senior
ladies team that featured a number of players with
national league experience along with some
inexperienced youngsters.
The Worthing team
featured 6 junior girls in a squad of 9 and we were
missing a number of our established squad members
for a variety of reasons.
We always controlled the
match and Hastings struggled to deal with the speed
and skill of our attacking play. Our defending was
sound and Kayley Alcorn made a number of good saves
when called upon.
The scoring was
dominated by Jenny and Rebecca but all the girls
played well and enjoyed the chance to play to play a
home match at the Aquarena. We hope to play the
return game at Hastings in the next few months.
Scorers: Jenny Willett
5, Rebecca Anderson 5, Rachel Piper 1, Charlotte
McMahon 1.
Exclusions: Rachel Piper
2, Sian Fogerty 1, Jade Boiling 1.
Squad in Full: Kay
Alcorn (GK), Sian Fogerty, Rebecca Anderson, Jenny
Willett, Rachel Piper, Charlotte McMahon, Emma
Piper, Emily Tilzey & Jade Boiling.
Men's Friendly Match.
Sevenoaks 8, Worthing
14. (Quarter Scores: 2-4, 2-4, 3-3,1-3).
We took a squad of 10 to
Sevenoaks for this fixture including 3 of our
current juniors. The match was played in the
small and shallow Leisure centre pool which is not
an ideal venue for water polo but we still managed
to play to a good standard.
Ed Holden made his debut
for us in this match and scored 3 goals in a good
all-round performance but all the squad played well
and we were always the better team.
Scorers: Paul Phillpott
5, Richard Hooper 3, Ed Holden 3, Jon Gray 1,
Alastair Hardinge 1, Rob Osborne 1.
Exclusions: Tony Gray 1.
Squad in Full: Adrian
Irbe, Andy Cawdary, Ed Holden, Richard Hooper, Paul
Phillpott, Rob Osborne, Alastair Hardinge, Sam
Abbott, Jon Gray & Tony Gray.
Regards,
Alastair
|
Match Review27/01/2008
South-East Region Men's
Championship.
Tournament 1.
Basingstoke, 26th/27th
January 2008.
The ASA South-east
region introduced a new senior men's
championship last year and in 2008 we have been
invited to play in the 2 qualifying tournaments.
This report is for the 1st event played at the
Aquadrome deep-water pool in Basingstoke and
the second event takes place in Jersey at the end of
February.
With six teams entered
in the competition, we are due to play 5 matches at
each weekend which is a demanding program. With
this in mind, we were delighted to have a full squad
of 13 for all of the matches and this meant that we
were always able to rotate the players to keep
everyone as fresh as possible.
The individual match
reports are as follows:
Match 1. Worthing 15,
Jersey 8. (Quarter Scores: 2-1, 3-3, 7-2, 3-3)
We knew in advance that
this was likely to be one of the hardest matches and
this prediction proved to be accurate in a demanding
and good quality match.
The first half was
very competitive and we were behind early on before
taking the lead just before the mid-point. We
dominated the second half of the match and
eventually secured a comfortable win. All the squad
played well and the match finished with Ben
Alcorn scoring from our goal with a shot that
traveled the length of the pitch.
Scorers: Paul Phillpott
7, Scott Orchard 4, Matt White 1, Richard
Hooper 1, Joel Abbott 1, Ben Alcorn 1.
Exclusions: Scott
Orchard 3, Richard Hooper 2, Scott Martin 2, Paul
Phillpott 1.
Squad in Full: Ben
Alcorn, Scott Orchard, Richard Hooper, Paul
Phillpott, Matt White, Joel Abbott, Adrian Irbe, Sam
Abbott, Scott Martin, Alastair Hardinge, Rob
Osborne, Stuart Stirling, Alastair Roberts.
Match 2. Worthing 31,
Cranleigh 7. (Quarter Scores: 10-2, 6-2, 6-3, 9-0)
This was a dominant
performance where the opposition struggled to come
to terms with our high quality defending and the
speed and skill of our attacking play. All the squad
had a good amount of water time and we continued to
keep scoring regularly regardless of the personnel
in the water. Remarkably, for the second match
running, our goalkeeper scored with a shot which
traveled the length of the pitch. On this occasion
the scorer was Joel Abbott who had taken over the
goalkeeping duties for the second-half of the match.
Scorers: Richard Hooper
8, Matt White 6, Scott Martin 5, Stuart
Stirling 3, Joel Abbott 3, Sam Abbott 2,
Rob Osborne 2, Dominic Cranford 2.
Exclusions: Adrian Irbe
1, Rob Osborne 1, Stuart Stirling.
Squad: As previous match
but with Dominic Cranford for Alastair Roberts.
Match 3. Worthing 17,
Basingstoke 13. (Quarter Scores: 3-5, 5-1, 5-2, 4-5)
This was a bad tempered
affair with many exclusions for both teams. As a
result we struggled to find our normal
fluency as we got involved in an over physical style
of play. After a poor first quarter when we fell
behind, we eventually managed to exploit the
oppositions lack of swimming speed and fitness and
we ran out comfortable winners.We hadn't played well
and conceded 14 exclusions which is far too many. 2
of our players were dismissed for dissent which is
an unnecessary and avoidable way to be excluded.
Scorers: Matt White 5, Scott
Orchard 4, Paul Phillpott 3, Richard Hooper 2,
Scott Martin 1, Stuart Stirling 1, Joel Abbott
1.
Exclusions: Scott
Orchard 3, Rob Osborne 3, Stuart Stirling 3, Paul
Phillpott 2, Adrian Irbe 1, Richard Hooper 1,
Alastair Hardinge 1.
Squad: As previous
match.
Match 4. Worthing 10,
Southampton 4. (Quarter Scores: 1-0, 2-1, 5-2, 2-1)
A match when we
struggled to turn our domination into goals mainly
as a result of numerous missed opportunities. To be
fair, the oppositions young goalkeeper made a number
of excellent saves but we missed far too many
relatively simple chances that we would expect to
score. As a result, the match remained close for a
lot longer than it really should have but we were
always in control because of our excellent
defending. We were however particularly wasteful
from the 14 "man-up" plays as a
result of the oppositions exclusions.
Scorers: Richard Hooper
3, Matt White 2, Scott Orchard 2, Scott Martin 2,
Joel Abbott 1.
Exclusions: Jon Gray 2,
Rob Osborne 1, Matt White 1, Scott Orchard 1, Scott
Martin 1.
Squad: As previous match
but with Jon Gray for Dominic Cranford.
Match 5. Worthing 16, City
of Oxford 4. (Quarter Scores: 6-0, 3-1, 2-1, 5-2)
A satisfactory win in
the final match of a busy weekend. Our defending
again limited the opposition to a small number of
chances and we always looked likely to score
either on the fast break or from set attacking
positions. Ben and Joel shared the goalkeeping
duties and both produced a number of fine saves. The squad
were showing a few signs of tiredness but we always
controlled the match and ran out easy winners.
Scorers: Richard Hooper
5, Scott Orchard 4, Scott Martin 2, Joel Abbott 2,
Adrian Irbe 1, Stuart Stirling 1, Matt White 1.
Exclusions: Scott
Orchard 1, Rob Osborne 1, Sam Martin 1.
Squad: As previous
match.
This was an excellent
return and we were delighted to have remained
unbeaten in the five matches played. We played a
good quality of water polo for long periods and it
was good to see all the squad members play in
all of the matches.
Our squad contained a
good mix of our established senior players along
with 7 members of our junior squad (Scott Martin,
Rob Osborne, Dominic Cranford, Joel Abbott, Sam
Abbott, Alastair Hardinge & Stuart Stirling).
Joel had traveled back from the National Water Polo
Academy at Grantham to play and it was good to see
the improvement in his play after only one
term. Ziggy Tate, who is also at Grantham, was
unavailable due to illness and we were also missing
some of our other squad members for a number of
reasons.
The Jersey tournament
weekend is February 23/24 when the fixtures repeat
and we hope to maintain our 100% record.
Regards,
Alastair.
|
Match Review20/01/2008
London Winter League
(1992 + younger)
Whitgift School, South
Croydon.
Sunday 20th January
2008.
The second tournament of
the current winter league under 16 competition saw
the Worthing juniors record three satisfactory wins.
We are now unbeaten
against all the teams in this competition and the
title will be decided at the final tournament in
March.
All the squad enjoyed a
good amount of water time and these are the
individual match reports.
Match 1. Worthing 6,
Sutton & Cheam 1. (H/T 3-1)
An excellent performance
against a talented opposition who have a number of
good players in this age group. We made a steady if
unspectacular start but we always looked in control.
The team were slightly unlucky to concede a goal
after a strange refereeing decision but we soon
regained our composure and eventually ran out
comfortable winners. Scott Martin scored 4 of the
goals, 1 of which came at a crucial time just before
half-time and was set up with an excellent pass from
Luke Helmer. All of the squad played well and our
strong defending limited the opposition to a small
number of chances.
Scorers: Scott Martin 4,
Alastair Hardinge 2.
Exclusions: Luke Helmer
1, Scott Martin 1.
Match 2. Worthing 9,
Hailsham 0. (H/T 5-0)
Another good performance
against our south coast rivals in the Sussex
"derby" match.
We again defended with
great ability and application and we managed to
turn over possession to our advantage on many
occasions. From the resulting counter-attacks we
always looked dangerous and these opportunities
resulted in several of our goals. At other
times we took time to shoot from the attacking
arc and Rachel Piper scored in spectacular
fashion with one excellent shot into the far
corner from 7 metres.
Scorers: Scott Martin 3,
Sam Abbott 2, Kevin Chan 1, Rachel Piper 1,
Alexander Cranford 1, Alastair Hardinge 1.
Exclusion: Luke Helmer.
Match 3. Worthing 13,
Clissold 1. (H/T 6-0)
An easy win in our final
match against a young team who are relatively new to
this standard of competition. We were in
control throughout the match and we took the opportunity
to "rotate" all the squad members to give
all of them a good amount of playing time. The
opposition kept going and scored a late consolation
goal which was reward for their efforts.
Scorers: Sam Maloney 4,
Sam Abbott 3, Scott Martin 2, Alastair Hardinge 2,
Alexander Cranford 1, Kevin Chan 1.
Exclusions: None
Squad in full: Alastair
Hardinge, Alexander Cranford, Sam Abbott, Rachel
Piper, Sam Maloney, Luke Helmer, Kevin Chan, Scott
Martin, Peter Flynn & Max Felton.
This was another
excellent event for our junior squad and the result
against Sutton & Cheam indicated that we have an
excellent chance of taking the overall title. The
team played some good quality water polo and it was
pleasing that all the squad played their part in all
of the wins. Scott Martin was outstanding in
marshalling the team and it was good to see some of
our younger players make significant contributions.
Max Felton and Peter Flynn played well, Rachel
Piper was at her combatative best and Sam Abbott and
Alexander Cranford both made good saves when sharing
the goalkeeping.
Regards,
Alastair.
|
Match Review14/01/2008
This is the report of
yesterdays event.
London Winter League
Tournament. (1990 & Younger)
Whitgift School, Sunday
13th January 2008.
The second tournament of
this years Winter league again saw our squad due to
play 3 demanding matches.
Unfortunately we were
without 4 of our leading players with Tim
Brazier studying for exams, Ziggy Tate ill, and Joel
Abbott and Kevin Chan away. We knew that would
make the matches even harder for us but the squad of
8 all played well.
Match 1. Worthing 16,
Sevenoaks 4.
A good start in the
first match saw our boys win comfortably against an
inexperienced Sevenoaks team. All the squad played
well and in Joel's absence we played Sam Abbott and
Alexander Cranford in goal for a half each. The
goals were shared round the squad with 7 out of 8
players scoring.
Scorers: Scott Martin 5,
Dominic Cranford 5, Sam Abbott 2, Elliott Ellison 1,
Stuart Stirling 1, Alexander Cranford 1, Alastair
Hardinge 1.
Exclusions: None.
Match 2. Worthing 2,
Beckenham 2.
A slightly disappointing
result in a match that we really should have won. We
had a perfectly good goal ruled out when the ball
clearly crossed the line but we missed far too many
chances to secure the victory that we deserved.
We did well to recover from a falling behind to
2 early goals but all the squad realized that this
was a match that we should have won.
Scorers: Rob Osborne 1, Sam
Abbott 1.
Exclusions: None.
Match 3. Worthing 3,
Croydon Amphibians 6.
A match that was
spoilt by weak refereeing that saw both teams escape
punishment for a number of major fouls that went
unpunished. The better team won but our squad
still competed well and we kept attacking up to
the final whistle and we were unfortunate not to
score more goals.
Scorers: Sam Abbott 1,
Scott Martin 1, Dominic Cranford 1.
Exclusions: None.
Squad in full: Sam
Abbott, Alexander Cranford, Dominic Cranford,
Elliott Ellison, Scott Martin, Alastair
Hardinge, Rob Osborne, Stuart Stirling.
The winter league
continues next Sunday with the second tournament for
the 1992 age group.
Regards,
Alastair.
|
Match Review11/01/2008
This is the first report
of what will probably be another very busy year.
London Winter League.
Junior Division (born
1990 + younger)
Tournament 1, Sunday 6th
January
Whitgift School, South
Croydon.
This was the first event
of the year and our junior boys team were due to
play 3 matches in a busy program.
Our young team is made
up entirely of boys at least 1 year younger than the
1990 age group but we are always competitive with
the group of players that we have.
Both Ziggy Tate and Joel
Abbott were available taking time to play between
the National squad training at Walsall on Saturday
(where they were joined by Scott Martin), and
their return to the water polo academy at Grantham
college later on Sunday evening. We were missing Tim
Brazier who had exams on Monday morning but the team
still put on some excellent performances.
Match 1. Worthing 15,
Sevenoaks 0. (H/T 5-0)
This was an easy win
against a young and inexperienced opposition who
nevertheless always played with a commendable
spirit. We were always in control and we took the
opportunity to play Joel Abbott (our normal first
choice goalkeeper) on the pitch in the second half
and he helped himself to 5 well taken goals.
All the squad played
well in this match and the defence limited the
opposition to only a small number of half-chances.
Scorers: Joel Abbott 5,
Alastair Hardinge 2, Dominic Cranford 2, Ziggy Tate
1, Elliott Ellison 1, Kevin Chan 1, Scott Martin 1,
Stuart Stirling 1 & Alexander Cranford 1.
Exclusion: Robert
Osborne.
Match 2. Worthing 8,
Beckenham 3. (H/T 5-1)
An exciting match
against a strong and physical Beckenham team. After
a slow start we took control and scored a
number of excellent goals both from the
centre-forward position and from our
counter-attacking play.
The defending was again
of a good standard until we conceded 2
poor goals late on but this never put the result in
any doubt.
Scorers: Ziggy Tate 2,
Dominic Cranford 2, Scott Martin 2, Alastair
Hardinge 1 & Elliott Ellison 1.
Exclusions: None.
Match 3. Worthing 3,
Croydon Amphibians 5. (H/T 0-3)
A cracking match against
our traditional rivals saw our boys come back from a
poor start when we missed some chances before
conceding (by our high standards) 3 avoidable goals
before half-time.
The second period saw
the Worthing team play much better and we had
the opposition defending for long periods but
we had left ourselves too much to do.
It was a disappointing
result but we were playing against a team who
featured a number of boys who are a year older than
our squad and we were unlucky with a number of the
"key plays" that on another day could have
gone our way.
Scorers: Ziggy Tate 2,
Scott Martin 1.
Exclusions: Dominic
Cranford 2, Alastair Hardinge 2, Elliott Ellison 1.
Squad in Full: Joel
Abbott, Sam Abbott, Ziggy Tate, Scott Martin,
Elliott Ellison, Stuart Stirling, Dominic Cranford,
Alexander Cranford, Rob Osborne, Kevin Chan &
Alastair Hardinge.
This was another
exciting tournament for the squad and they have the
chance to avenge the defeat this coming Sunday (13th
Jan) in the second tournament when we will play the "return"
fixtures.
Regards,
Alastair.
|
Alastair Roberts
Water Polo Secretary