Match report
20/12/2016
This is the final water polo match report of 2016.
London Winter League
Under 14 Championship (Born 2003 & younger)
Whitgift School, South Croydon
Sunday 18th December 2016
We travelled to the last water polo tournament of the year with
all of the squad looking forward to the chance to play matches
against Croydon and Beckenham.
It was decided that because of the young age of the teams
playing that the format would see each team playing each other
twice in matches of 7 minute halves.
With a squad of 10 we knew that we had the fitness and swimming
speed to exploit the opposition and all of our boys and girls
(with one exception) had benefitted from playing in the inter
regional competitions over the previous two weekends.
The individual reports were as follows:
Match 1. Worthing 6, Croydon 3.
We made a hesitant start and soon found ourselves 0-2 behind but
we soon turned this around and we eventually ran out comfortable
winners.
After the slow start our defending eventually started to
dominate the opposition and we scored on a number of counter
attacks.
Match 2. Worthing 4, Beckenham 3.
Another slow start again resulted in an early deficit but we
slowly turned the game round and a strong second half
performance saw the squad take control and eventually a deserved
win.
Match 3. Worthing 10, Croydon 4.
A dominant performance when our superior fitness and speed
exploited a tiring Croydon team.
Once again our high press defence created many opportunities
when we gained possession and we scored a number of good quality
goals.
Match 4. Worthing 12, Beckenham 4.
In the final match we were beginning to play some really
impressive water polo and Beckenham had no answer to our speed
on the counter attack.
We dominated the game from start to finish and the final score
was a fair reflection of how we had controlled the match.
This was an excellent event for the squad and it was obvious to
see the improvement that has been made in the short time since
the first tournament. As I previously mentioned, virtually all
of the boys and girls involved have trained and played with the
under 14 south east regional teams the previous weekends and the
it was easy to see how beneficial this has been.
The results have guaranteed that we will play in the top four
play off tournament that will be played at the end of January.
Finally, all of the squad made significant contributions in all
of the games and the goal scoring was shared around all of the
players.
Squad in full: Owen Street, William Cavanagh, James Croud, Ben
Bolton, Josh Coulson, Jamie Bond, Caitlin Silk, Grace Byford,
Matt Hall & Mattie Smith.
Kind regards,
Alastair |
Match report & news
12/12/2016
1. The following is a report on the final home match of 2016.
Sussex Senior League, Wednesday 1st December.
Worthing 14, Crawley 8.
Quarter Scores: 2-2, 5-1, 4-2, 3-3.
The last Sussex league game of the year was an interesting
affair where we never really managed to play to our best.
That said, a predominantly youthful Crawley offered a decent
opposition and always made it difficult for us to control the
match.
After a cagey first period we played our best water polo of the
match during the second quarter when we scored a number of good
goals are our defending nullified the Crawley attack.
The second half of the match became increasingly scrappy but we
were always in control of the match and the final score was
probably a fair reflection of the difference between the teams.
It was good to see four juniors play in this match. Ben Curtis
has been involved with our senior squad for a while but he was
joined by Archy, Joe and Akos and all of them made significant
contributions.
Scorers: Peter 5, George 3, Ben C 3, Matt 2, Richard 1.
Exclusions: Archy 2, Akos 1, Richard 1, Peter 1.
Squad in full: Ben Alcorn, Adrian Irbe, George Wood, Richard
Hooper, Peter Benedek, Matt White, Archy Burnell, Akos
Haukesnecht, Jon Bedder, Ben Curtis, Joe Brennand & Alastair
Hardinge.
2. Three Worthing junior girls will make their debut this coming
weekend for the South east squad that is playing in the ASA
national inter region under 14 competition at Walsall.
Caitlin Silk, Grace Byford and Ruby Rosser are all looking
forward to playing in this event and they will gain a great deal
of experience competing against girls from the other regions
from around the UK.
Ruby, at just over 11 years of age, becomes the youngest
Worthing member to have played in a regional competition.
3. Worthing will also be well represented in South east boys
squad that will play in the under 14 inter region competition
which is also being played Walsall over the weekend of 10/11
December.
Josh Coulson, Jamie Bond, Mattie Smith, Oli Hodges and Ben
Bolton have all worked hard to be selected for the regional team
and they are also looking forward to playing in this prestigious
event.
Kind regards,
Alastair |
Match report
12/12/2016
British Water Polo League Division 2
Sunday 20th November
National Pool, Swansea
Worthing 6, Croydon 6.
Quarter Scores: 1-1, 2-2, 1-1, 2-2.
This was not a classic, it was a slow and low intensity match
that just drifted along with neither team able to take the
initiative.
Croydon made it incredibly difficult for us throughout the whole
match not committing to attack for long periods to make sure
that we couldn't make any quick counter attacks. As a result the
match was low scoring with defences very much on top.
Marc did make a number of good saves and on some occasions we
came up with some good attacking play, but we were again guilty
of not taking our chances.
In a game of few highlights, Ben scored two fine goals to add to
the one from yesterday and he put in a fine all-round
performance. Our defending was always of a high standard but
this was not a match that will live long in the memory.
We now don't play again until mid January when the second phase
of the competition commences with the first tournament at
Gloucester.
Scorers: Joao 2, Ben 2, George 1, Richard 1.
Exclusions: Joe 3, Richard, Peter, Joao, Toby, Philippe.
Squad in full: Marc Guimera, Gregg Candy-Wallace, Philippe
Kirsanov, George Wood, Richard Hooper, Peter Benedek, Jacob
Nash, Ben Curtis, Joao Martins, Matt White, Alastair Hardinge,
Joe Hazeldine & Toby Underwood.
Kind regards,
Alastair Roberts |
Match report
12/12/2016
British Water Polo League Division 2
Saturday 19th November
National Pool, Swansea
Worthing 5, Sutton & Cheam 7.
Quarter Scores: 1-1, 3-3, 1-2, 0-1.
We made the long trip to West Wales to face another demanding
two game weekend, both against teams from South London. On
Sunday we face Croydon but the Saturday match was against a
talented Sutton team that now includes two new recruits who were
part of the 2012 GB Olympic team.
This was obviously going to be a very tough fixture, but we
discussed at length how we could best deal with the obvious
threat form the opposition with a disciplined defensive plan.
For long periods our defensive play worked really well and we
frustrated Sutton on many occasions forcing them to shoot from
distance when Marc made a number of excellent saves.
We were struggling in attack against a very physical and tight
defence but Philippe gave us the lead mid-way through the first
quarter. The two teams traded goals through the remainder of the
first half and the game was tied at 3-3 at the mid point.
We took the lead at the start of the first quarter when Ben
scored with an excellent finish on an extra man play but Sutton
scored twice and we started the final period 5-6 down.
The start of the final period proved to be crucial with our
defence working well and our counter-attack starting to cause
problems for Sutton. We missed a number of opportunities when we
probably should have scored and we really should have equalised
on more than one occasion. As time was running out Sutton scored
a late goal and this was very hard on us after such a brave
performance.
We don't like losing games but this really was a fine
performance for long periods and we made a talented team work
really hard to finally secure a victory.
Scorers: Joao 3, Philippe 1, Ben 1.
Exclusions: Philippe 3, Joe 2, Peter 1, Jacob 1, Ben 1.
Squad in full: Marc Guimera, Gregg Candy-Wallace, Philippe
Kirsanov, George Wood, Richard Hooper, Peter Benedek, Jacob
Nash, Ben Curtis, Joao Martins, Matt White, Alastair Hardinge,
Joe Hazeldine & Toby Underwood.
I will forward the report from the Sunday match against Croydon
later tomorrow (Sunday).
Kind regards,
Alastair Roberts |
Match report
14/11/2016
British Water Polo League Division 2.
Weekend 2
Gloucester, 29/30 October 2016
After two close and ultimately frustrating defeats at Sheffield
in the first matches of the 2016 national league campaign, we
travelled to Gloucester for a very busy three match weekend.
This format is always very demanding and all of the squad we
aware that we would be playing three very demanding games.
These are the individual match reports:
Match 1
Saturday 29th, 13.00
Worthing 10, Exeter 7
Quarter Scores: 4-2, 3-0, 2-3, 1-2
This was a good start to the weekend and we very much deserved
to win a match that we controlled for the majority of the time.
We made a good start and played particularly well in the first
two quarters building a 7-2 lead by half time. We didn't play
quite as well in the third and fourth periods but we managed the
game well and we eventually held on for a relatively comfortable
win. Joe and Matt led the scorers with 3 each but this was
really a good all round team performance where all of the squad
made a good contribution.
Scorers: Joe 3, Matt 3, George 1, Peter 1, Joao 1, Toby 1.
Exclusions: Joao 2, Joe 2, George 1, Peter 1, Jacob 1.
Match 2
Saturday 29th, 18.00
Worthing 7, Welsh Wanderers 12
Quarter Scores: 1-2, 1-5, 2-2, 3-3
This was a very tough match against a well organised and
physical Welsh Wanderers team who are always a tough opposition.
The first quarter was a cagey affair without many clear cut
chances for either team and we were slightly unfortunate to be
1-2 behind at the end of the period. The match was really
decided in the second quarter when we made a number of unforced
errors which were punished by the opposition and as result we
trailed 2-7 at half time. We worked hard throughout the
remainder of the match but the damage had been done and we were
unable to force our way back into the game. We did work hard to
break down the opposition defence and we won a number of
exclusions but we didn't take enough of the opportunities that
we created.
Overall we didn't play that badly and our defending was of a
good standard for most of the match but we struggled in attack
against a press defence.
Scorers: Joe 3, Joao 2, Peter 1, Ben 1.
Exclusions: Peter 2, George 1, Richard 1, Joao 1, Nathan 1.
Match 3
Sunday 30th, 10.30
Worthing 4, Team Northumbria 12
Quarter Scores: 2-3, 0-4, 2-4, 0-1
A similar match to the one the previous evening when we
struggled to deal with a very strong defence and failed to take
enough of the chances that we created.
We actually made a very positive start and we soon led 2-0 with
goals from Joe and Alastair but Northumbria got back into the
game and we trailed 2-3 at the end of the first quarter.
The second period proved to be decisive part of the match and we
made a number of errors in defence that were punished by the
opposition.
Out attack was struggling against a very physical opposition but
we were guilty of not taking some chances that we really should
have converted. To only score 4 goals throughout the match was
disappointing but we were very unlucky at times and we should
have scored more. Ben did come up with an excellent goal that
showed what was possible but this had proved to be a very tough
encounter.
Scorers: Joe 1, Joao 1, Alastair 1, Ben 1.
Exclusions: George 2, Dave 1, Peter 1.
Squad in full: Marc Guimera, Peter Benedek, Richard Hoper, Matt
White, Ben Curtis, Joao Martins, George Wood, Sam Abbott, Nathan
Hart, Jacob Nash, Joe Hazeldine, Dave Hinder, Toby Underwood,
Alastair Hardinge.
Obviously 1 win and 2 defeats was not what we had hoped for from
the weekend at Gloucester but the two defeats were against good
quality opposition. The final first phase weekend is at Swansea
in three weeks time and we will play our final two fixtures.
The squad are determined to keep working hard and we hope that
we will record 2 positive results at Swansea.
Kind regards,
Alastair |
Match report
11/10/2016
This is the report of the first national league weekend of the
2016/2017 season.
British Water Polo League Division 2.
Weekend 1, Ponds Forge, Sheffield.
8th/9th October 2016
Having finished that last national league campaign with our
highest ever finish we were looking forward to the new season
which started at possibly the best venue in the UK.
We travelled with a full squad of 13 players and we faced two
tough matches against talented opposition.
These are the individual match reports:
Match 1, Saturday 8th October, 17.05
Worthing 6, London Polytechnic 10
Quarter Scores: 4-0, 1-4, 1-3, 0-3
This was a remarkable match against a very talented team who we
all realised would be a very difficult opposition.
We started the game playing some quality water polo at a high
tempo that Poly struggled to cope with. As a result we raced
into a 4-0 lead at the end of the first quarter and we soon
extended this to 5-0 early in the second period.
Unfortunately the game began to change as Poly began to take
control and we really struggled to defend against a well
organised team. We were also finding it difficult to create much
in attack but when we did we were guilty of missing a number of
chances. This was particularly true of a number of the "man up"
plays when Poly had a player excluded and we really should have
made more of the chances that came our way.
All of the squad and coaches were disappointed to lose this game
but we had shown enough early on to indicate that we are capable
of playing to really good standard. The challenge is to maintain
a high level of consistent play at this level.
Scorers: George 3, Joao 1, Ben 1, Matt 1.
Exclusions: George 2, Ben 2, Sam 1, Joao 1, Joe 1, Matt 1
Match 2, Saturday 9th October, 12.05
Worthing 8, West London Penguin 9
Quarter Scores: 2-3, 1-2, 3-3, 2-1
The Sunday match was against a very strong Penguin team who now
feature a large number of talented foreign players who play a
physical game.
The game proved to be a pulsating affair when we were always
behind but came incredibly close to securing what would have
been a very well deserved draw.
Penguin always looked dangerous in attack and they now have a
number of excellent outside shooters who kept Marc in goal very
busy and he produced a number of quality saves that kept us in
the game.
In attack we always looked threatening and our quick counters
resulted in the opposition committing a high number of exclusion
fouls, Unfortunately, we carried on from the Saturday missing
far too many of the chances this presented.
We were never behind by more than two goals and at the start of
the final period we were trailing 6-8. Joe reduced the margin to
a single goal from a tight angle and then we were unfortunate to
concede another goal which restored Penguin's two goal
advantage.
In a thrilling climax to the game Joe scored again with just
over two minutes left from probably our best "man up" play of
the weekend. Penguin had a couple of opportunities but in the
final few seconds we managed to win the ball in the middle of
the pool and on the counter attack we really should have scored
to tie the game. Unfortunately we didn't convert the opportunity
and Penguin held on to win by the narrowest of margins.
Although this was a second defeat the squad should take a great
deal from the way that we came so close to a positive result
against a very talented opposition.
Scorers: Joao 2, Matt 2, Joe 2, Alastair 1, Richard 1.
Exclusions: George 1, Richard 1, Peter 1, Dave 1.
Squad in full: Marc Guimera, Richard Hooper, Dave Hinder, Jack
Payne, Alastair Hardinge, Joe Hazeldine, Ben Curtis, Peter
Benedek, George Wood, Sam Abbott, Matt White, Toby Underwood,
Joao Martins.
Coach: Alastair Roberts, Assistant Coach: Ben Alcorn, Team
Manager: Gregg Candy-Wallace.
This was really tough weekend but we should take a number of
positives from the two matches. We know what we need to improve
on and we will be working hard over the next three weeks as we
build up to the next matches that will be played at Gloucester.
Kind regards,
Alastair |
Match report
11/10/2016
Worthing Under 13 ( 2003) Water Polo
On Sunday 9th October 2006 the following players represented
Worthing in the London League 2003 and younger Water Polo
competition at Whitgift School , Croydon:
1. Owen STREET ( Crawley) - Goalkeeper.
2. Josh COULSON
3. Ben BOLTON - Captain
4. Matty SMITH
5. James CROUD (Hythe)
6. Tom BROADBRIDGE ( Hythe)
7. Jamie BOND
8. Ruby ROSSER
9. Grace BYFORD
10. Catlin SILK
11. Ollie HODGES.
With the withdrawal of Bexley WP on the day of the competition
Worthing had to play 2 full length back to back games against
the more experienced teams from Beckenham and Croydon. For 5 of
the Worthing team - this was their first competitive game.
Worthing - v - Beckenham lost 8 - 10
Beckenham were unable to cope with the tight press defence from
Worthing and quick counter attack in the first 2 quarters of the
game and Worthing were 5 - 4 up at the half way point. Josh took
responsibility for tight marking of the Beckenham pit attacker.
Owen made a string of excellent saves, and Matty and Ben worked
tirelessly up and down the wings.
At half time, Beckenham changed to marking Jamie with 2 players
in the second half, this slowed Worthing's pace of attack. In
the end, Worthing were unlucky to lose by 2 goals, having
unfortunately missed a few scoring opportunities in the 2nd
half.
Scorers: Jamie - 5, James - 2, Josh - 1.
Majors : Jamie - 2, Tom -1.
Worthing -v- Croydon won 6-5
Whilst everyone had the opportunity to play in the first game,
in this game all the 'new ' players really showed the skills
they have picked up in training. Ollie won 2 out of the 3 swim
offs he went for and he, Catlin and Grace worked hard to move
from defence to attack and were unlucky not to score their first
goals having got into shooting positions. Josh was a rock again
in defence, his uncompromising style meant that he had collected
3 majors by half time. Matty took over , marking the pit
attacker. Ben took over responsibility for taking the ball from
defence to attack. With Jamie being tightly marked, often by
more than 1 player, James and Tom took scoring opportunities by
well placed shots from the ark. Ruby marked players obviously
much older and bigger , by keeping excellent body positioning so
to get early tackles in. The final score slightly flattered
Croydon as Jamie and Owen, conspired to score a goal for the
opposition just before the end.
Scorers: James - 3, Jamie - 2, Tom- 1.
Majors: Josh - 3, Matty -1, Ruby - 1.
All in all, a very successful afternoon of water polo for
Worthing. At the Team meeting, each player was given a role and
without exception they all worked hard to defend hard and play a
quick counterattacking game.
This team play again on the 18th December and it is anticipated
that most of the players will get the opportunity of
representing SE at the Inter Regional tournaments in early
December.
Steve Bond
|
Match report
19/7/2016
Just a quick report on the 2001 age group boys inter regional
championship that was played at Millfield school last weekend.
The South east region team featured Worthing members Joe
Brennand, Akos Hausknecht and Josh Coulson.
The team eventually finished 9th out of a full complement of 11
teams that entered and they had a good win against the North
west Ravens and a very creditable draw against Scotland.
The attached picture of the squad includes Akos (2nd from the
left in the front row), Josh (3rd from the left in the front
row) and Joe (centre of the back row).
Team Picture Ben Alcorn
coached the team and Dave Alcorn was team manager.
Kind regards,
Alastair |
Match report
19/7/2016
Sussex County ASA London & South East Junior Boys
Water Polo Tournament White Oaks Leaisure Cntre Swanley 2nd
July 2016
Report here.
The Sussex squad pictured with county president Tim Pearce.
Back row (L-R) George Wood, Adam Pearson, James Blything, Toby
Underwood, Jacob Nash, Alastair R (coach)
Front row (L-R) Robbie Scott, Ben Chegwin, Tim Pearce, Archy
Burnell, Ben Curtis, William Allgar
Kind regards,
Alastair |
Match report
27/6/2016
The following is a report of yesterdays water polo matches at
Splashpoint.
South East Region Men's Water Polo Championship
Saturday 25th June 2016
Splashpoint, Worthing.
Having won both of the first two matches in this championship at
the end of May at Portsmouth, we were looking forward to playing
the remaining two fixtures at our home pool. The following are
the individual match reports:
Match 1. 16.15
Worthing 26, Crawley 6.
Quarter Scores: 9-1, 1-3, 4-0, 12-2
This was a relatively easy win against a very young Crawley team
who put up a brave performance but were ultimately well beaten.
We played well in the first quarter of the match and it was
obvious that Crawley would not cause us too many problems and we
were particularly effective on the counter attack. All of the
squad had a good amount of water time and 9 of the squad of 12
were on the score sheet with Joao and Joe leading the scorers
with 6 each.
It was a satisfactory win that hopefully would act a good warm
up for the match later in day against Southampton.
Scorers: Joe 6, Joao 6, Alastair 4, George 3, Ben C 2, Ben A 2,
Richard 1, Matt 1, Sam 1.
Exclusions: George 3, Ben A 1, Adrian 1, Richard 1, Ben C 1, Joe
1, Robbie 1, Jack 1.
Match 2, 19.45
Worthing 14, Southampton 8
Quarter Scores: 5-3, 5-2, 2-1, 2-2
This was an exciting match to conclude the competition with the
two outstanding teams playing in front of a large and
enthusiastic crowd.
Southampton are a vastly improved team and have benefitted
greatly from playing in third division of the national league.
We made a strong start and soon led 2-0 after George scored from
a man up attack and Ben Curtis took his chance on a quick
counter attack.
Southampton were always causing us problems in attack and at the
end of the first period we led 5-3. The second quarter really
changed the game and we played some quality water polo scoring a
number of excellent goals and at the half time break we led
10-5.
In comparison, the second half of the match was relatively dull
with both teams tiring but we still controlled most aspects of
the game, Ben made a number of good saves but our lead was never
seriously threatened and we eventually secured a good win.
All of the squad put in good performances and the final score
was a fair reflection of our dominance but we know that we can
play better having missed a number of chances, as well as
conceding a number of goals that we really should have avoided.
Scorers: George 3, Ben C 3, Matt 3, Joe 2, Sam 1, Joao 1, Robbie
1.
Exclusions: Richard 3, Jack 3, Matt 2, Sam 1, Joe 1.
Squad in full: Ben Alcorn, Adrian Irbe, George Wood, Richard
Hooper, Ben Curtis, Sam Abbott, Joao Martins, Matt White, Joe
Hazeldine, Robbie Scott, Jack Payne, Alastair Hardinge.
Overall this was a successful and satisfactory defence of the
South East regional title that we have held for the past few
years. We played well at times but we will need to work on a
number of things, not least our fitness levels, as we build up
to the national league campaign that starts at the end of
September.
Kind regards,
Alastair |
Match report
18/6/2016
Sussex County Senior League.
Thursday 16th June 2016
Hastings 7, Worthing 20
Quarter Scores: 2-5, 2-4, 2-4, 1-7
We travelled to Hastings with a seriously depleted squad with
exams, holidays and work commitments resulting in a number of
our players not being available.
Hastings is the furthest trip that we make in the county league
and the small, shallow pool is always a challenge for us. This
has now been exacerbated by a recent facelift with the
introduction of new lighting. The only problem with this is that
it is so dark it makes it impossible to see what is going on in
the gloom.
We actually played quite well at times in the match and we
scored a number of excellent goals, particularly with a number
of excellent outside shots. Joe was particularly prolific
scoring 8 times and he was well supported by Alastair who scored
5 and Richard who netted on 4 occasions.
The longer the match went on the more we dominated proceedings
and the final quarter saw the opposition tire and we scored 7
times while conceding only once.
Overall this was a satisfactory win which the quality of our
play very much deserved.
Scores: Joe 8, Alastair 5, Richard 4, Ben Curtis 1, Ben Alcorn
1, Robbie 1.
Exclusions: Adrian 2, Joe 1, Richard 1, Ben 1.
Squad in full: Ben Alcorn, Adrian Irbe, Ben Curtis, Robbie
Scott, Richard Hooper, Alastair Hardinge, Joe Hazeldine &
Alastair Roberts.
Kind regards,
Alastair |
Water polo costume
6/6/2016
We have finally organised a new girls water polo costume which
is based on the same design as the boys trunks which were
introduced last year.
Could you publicise the designs on the club website?
The trunks cost £20, the girls costume £30, and anyone
interested should contact me either at Splashpoint or via my
e-mail.
Girls water polo costume
Boys water polo costume
Kind regards,
Alastair. |
Match report
24/5/2016
A busy few days for the senior men's squad saw the team in
action in the Sussex county league and the SE regional
championships.
These are the individual match reports:
Friday 20th May, Prince Regent Pool Brighton.
Brighton 3, Worthing 12.
Quarter Scores:
This was not a great advert for water polo as a result of the
shallow and now badly lit Prince Regent pool. With most players
able to stand in virtually all areas of the pool the match was
never going to easy to referee and Brighton seemed intent on
challenging seemingly every decision. Brighton had a player
dismissed for a clear act of brutality but we didn't really take
enough advantage of playing with an extra man for 4 minutes.
Overall we controlled the match and our defensive play stopped
the opposition form creating many chances. When they did, Ben
was his normal reliable self in goal. We possibly should have
scored more but we were happy to take the win and move on. The
only downside was an injury to Joe late on in the game which
would rule him out for the games at the weekend.
Scorers: Peter 3, Richard 3, Matt 2, Ben C 2, Jacob 1, Archy 1
Exclusions: Richard 1, Peter 1, Adrian 1, Joe 1, Jacob 1
Squad in full: Ben Alcorn, Matt White, Richard Hooper, Peter
Benedek, Adrian Irbe, Joe Hazeldine, Ben Curtis, Jacob Nash &
Archy Burnell.
Sunday 22nd May, Mountbatten Centre Portsmouth.
Match 1.
Worthing 26, Basingstoke 4.
Quarter Scores: 4-0, 6-2, 10-2, 6-0.
We travelled to Portsmouth with a strong squad of 12 but missing
Joe who had sustained the injury on Friday in the Brighton
match.
The match against Basingstoke was a relatively easy win and our
combination of a press defence and a direct counter attack was
always too much for the opposition.
Ben and Marc shared the goalkeeping and both put in good
performances when playing out on the pitch.
All of the squad played a good amount in this win which gave us
a chance to work on the number of things that we have practiced
in recent training sessions.
Scorers: Peter 8, George 4, Ben C 4, Alastair 3, Richard 2, Matt
2, Adrian 1, Jacob 1, Marc 1.
Exclusions: Matt 2, Sam 1, Peter 1, Adrian 1, Jacob 1, Marc 1.
Match 2.
Worthing 16, City of Oxford 11.
Quarter Scores: 4-2, 2-6, 7-2, 3-0.
Because of the late withdrawal by Crawley we had two play the
two full matches with only a half hour break between them and
that is always a demanding proposition.
We tried to change our defensive shape at the start of the match
and although this was fairly successful in the first quarter we
struggled badly in the second period and as a result we trailed
by a couple of goals at half time. We then reverted to the
tactic that had worked well in the Basingstoke game and as a
result we totally dominated the third quarter.
We were not helped by the loss of Alastair who received an
accidental bang to the head and as a result missed over half of
the game. He also ended up in A & E where he was treated for the
concussion that he had suffered.
Our third quarter dominance took the game away from Oxford and
we controlled the final period and as a result secured a
satisfactory if unspectacular win.
This was a tough game and Oxford were a well organised and hard
working opposition who pushed us hard but ultimately we were
well worth our second win of the day.
Scorers: George 6, Matt 5, Peter 3, Richard 2
Exclusions: George 2, Matt 2, Sam 1, Arian 1, Ben 1.
Squad in full at Portsmouth: Ben Alcorn, Marc Guimera, Matt
White, Richard Hooper, Peter Benedek, Adrian Irbe, Ben Curtis,
Jacob Nash, George Wood, Sam Abbott, Robbie Scott, Alastair
Hardinge.
The two wins at Portsmouth were well deserved and set us up for
the two remaining fixtures which will be played at Splashpoint
on Saturday 25th June. This should be an exciting proposition
and we would encourage as many people as possible to come along
and support the team.
Kind regards,
Alastair. |
Match report
21/4/2016
The following is a quick report on the much delayed 2015 Sussex
senior knock out final that was played at Splashpoint last
Wednesday.
Worthing 22, Brighton 6 + 2 handicap = 8.
Quarter scores:
This was a satisfactory win in a match that we dominated
throughout but became an increasingly bad tempered affair.
Brighton struggled to create many chances against our well
organised defending and we always looked dangerous on the
counter attack.
The small number of chances that they did create were mainly
well dealt with by Ben in goal but we were always in control.
The final score was probably a fair reflection of the difference
between the teams and as a result we successfully retained the
trophy.
Scorers: Joao 5, George 4, Peter 4, Ben 3, Joe 3, Richard 3.
Exclusions: Joe 2, Richard 1, Jacob 1, Robbie 1.
Squad in full: Ben Alcorn (g/k), Robbie Scott, Ben Curtis, Joe
Hazeldine, Jacob Nash, Jon Bedder, Richard Hooper, Peter
Benedek, Joao Martins, George Wood and Alastair Hardinge.
Kind regards,
Alastair. |
Sussex Girls Report
20/4/2016
Just a quick note on the recent Sussex girls under 19 squad who
won the London/SE regional championship with a 9-2 win against
Kent at Swanley last Saturday.
The squad of 11 featured 6 girls who are Worthing members and
train in our sessions on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.
Sussex controlled the match throughout and always looked the
dominant team and probably should have won by a greater margin.
All of the Worthing girls made a significant contribution and
Daisy and Lara both scored twice.
In the attached picture Gemma Coulson in in the back row on the
right hand side. The middle row features Annah Bowles, Daisy
Hazeldine and Alice Mantle (L-R) to the right of the picture.
Abby-Lou Rocky and Lara Partridge are at the front.
Kind regards,
Alastair
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5hCSO3ILhWEbHQ4bm1UenhpUWd0OVl6VnlTcGZBa05GZTNF/view?usp=sharing
|
Joe's selection for the GB junior water polo team
23/3/2016
Article regarding Joe's selection for the GB junior water polo
team which will play in the European qualifiers from the ASA
website.
We are all delighted that Joe has been selected but it is very
much deserved because he has been working incredibly hard over
the past few months.
Kind regards,
Alastair.
---- from ASA website ----
Squad selected for men’s U19 European Junior Champs qualifiers
A squad of 15 English players has been named as the British team
travelling to Turkey for the Men’s European U19 Water Polo
Championships 2016 qualification tournament.
Taking place from 4 – 8 May, the event will see Great Britain
aiming to finish in the top two in their group to qualify for
the finals in Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands from 11 – 18
September.
The Brits have been draw in Group B of the Men’s European U19
Water Polo Championships 2016 qualification stage, and will take
on Montenegro, Israel, Belgium and hosts Turkey in Istanbul.
The squad includes City of Manchester goalkeeper Dylan Green,
who was namedEngland Water Polo Athlete of the Year in 2015, as
well as six members of last year’sEnglish Schools’ Swimming
Association (ESSA) team.
Speaking after the squad announcement, U19 head coach Tim
Dunsbee said: “This section was very difficult as all our under
19 players have been working very hard and there is a real unity
between them.
“Our final preparations are well underway with four further
training events prior to the qualification tournament, including
our pre-tournament camp in Malta.”
TEAM SELECTED FOR MEN’S EUROPEAN U19 WATER POLO CHAMPIONSHIPS
2016 QUALIFICATION TOURNAMENT:
Aaron Winstanley (captain) – City of Manchester
Dan Paddon (vice-captain) – City of Manchester/Chelmsford
Dylan Green – City of Manchester
Joe Hazeldine – Worthing
Ben Riding – City of Manchester
Chris Ray – City of Manchester
Matt Kelly – Solihull
Kameron Powell – Exeter
Matt Madden – Solihull
Joel Leighton – City of Sheffield
Jordan Elliot – Solihull
Ashley Castle – Bristol Central
Peter Pickford – Watford
Rob Gourley – City of Manchester (reserve)
Rudi Polster – Cheltenham (reserve)
|
News
6/3/2016
Just a quick message regarding the 1999 age group ASA
inter-regional competitions that were played last weekend.
The girls tournament was played at the new Northampton school
pool and the South East team featured Worthing members Annah
Bowles, Alice Mantle and Charlie Bond.
The boys made the long trip to the Manchester aquatic centre and
and the South East team featured Worthing's Ben Curtis, who was
named the squads MVP, and Archy Burnell. The boy's were coached
by Ben Alcorn.
I have attached a squad
picture and Ben Curtis is in the front row 3rd from the left
and Archy is next to him 4th from the left. Kind regards,
Alastair |
Match report
3/2/2016
This is the final report of the 20115-2016 British Water Polo
League season.
BWPL Championship 2
30th/31st January 2016
National Pool, Swansea.
After a very demanding series of 11 matches we travelled to
Swansea to play the final 3 fixtures in our national league
campaign.
We a place in the second division already guaranteed for next
season we were looking forward to playing three very tough
matches over the weekend.
All season we have been able to play with a full squad of
thirteen players and we actually took 14 to Swansea with three
of the squad playing two of the three matches.
These are the individual match reports:
Saturday, 13.10
Worthing 6, Sheffield 12
Quarter Scores: 1-5, 1-2, 2-1, 3-2
Sheffield are a talented team who started this season in
division 1 and they feature ex-Worthing junior Joel Abbott who
played against younger brother Sam in this match.
We knew that this would be a tough game against a well organised
opposition and although we didn't play that badly we finished
the first quarter 1-5.
Although we never looked in a position to win the game we kept
going well and the the final score was probably a slightly harsh
reflection of how we had played.
We struggled a little in attack and we did miss a few chances
that we probably should have taken but the performance was no
disaster and we could take a number of positives from the way we
played.
Scorers: Peter 2, George 2, Tom 1, Richard 1.
Exclusions: George 2, Richard 1, Joao 1.
Saturday, 14.40
Worthing 7, Polytechnic 9.
Quarter Scores: 2-0, 0-4, 1-2, 4-3
This was an exciting match against a Poly team who had only
beaten us 5-4 in our previous meeting in Sheffield back in
September.
We made an excellent start and soon led 2-0 after excellent
goals from Joe and Peter. We switched off a little in the second
period and our normally reliable defending wasn't up to it's
normally high standard and this allowed Poly back into the game.
At the start of the final period we trailed 3-6 but we scored
twice at the start of the quarter and at 5-6 we looked like the
team who had the momentum. Poly scored next to make it 5-7 but
Alastair scored from an excellently worked man-up to cut the
deficit to one goal. In a really exciting climax we had a number
of opportunities to equalise but we didn't take our chances and
then Poly restored the two goal margin. George scored to make
the score 7-8 and we again had chances to equalise but we were
finally undone by a defensive mix up that resulted in Poly
scoring a late penalty.
Scorers: Joe 3, George 2, Peter 1, Alastair 1.
Exclusions: Tom 2, George 2, Sam 1, Richard 1, Joao 1, Joe 1,
Ben 1.
Sunday, 12.30
Worthing 14, Croydon 13.
Quarter Scores: 4-2, 4-3, 4-4, 2-4.
This was a terrific game to finish the BWPL season and we played
with a really high tempo throughout which always caused Croydon
problems. Our attacking play was much better and we scored a
number of excellent goals both on the counter attack and from
set attacking positions. Our swimming game always made it
difficult for the opposition and we always felt that our fitness
and strength on the bench would give us an advantage over all of
the match.
Our defending was not quite at it's best and we were slightly
disappointed to concede 13 goals but one of these was in the lat
second of the match and by then the points had been secured.
All the squad put in strong performances and Joao and Joe led
the scoring but the win again highlighted the importance of
having a full bench who are all able to come in and make
significant contributions.
Scorers: Joao 4, Joe 3, Matt 2, Tom 1, Richard 1, Peter 1,
Nathan 1, George 1
Exclusions: Joe 3, Ben 2, Tom 1, Toby 1, Nathan 1.
Squad in full: Marc Guimera (g/k), Tom Kane, Sam Abbott, Richard
Hooper, Peter Benedek, Matt White, Joao Martins, Toby Underwood,
Joe Hazeldine, Nathan Hart, Ben Curtis, George Wood, Alastair
Hardinge, Jacob Nash.
Coach: Ben Alcorn, Assistant Coach: Alastair Roberts, Team
Manager: Gregg Candy-Wallace.
We never like losing games but overall this was another good
weekend for us. The win against Croydon has secured a 6th place
finish in Championship 1 and as a result we are now ranked as
the 11th best team in the country. This is a remarkable
achievement for a team that plays prominently in the Sussex
league but all of the squad realise that with hard work we still
can make further improvement. We have an excellent combination
of experienced players and some talented juniors and we will be
looking to make a further improvement in the next BWPL campaign.
Finally, we owe a vote of thanks to the loyal bunch of parents
and supporters who have followed us around the country during
the past few months and also to Roffey Homes who are our
principal sponsor.
Kind regards,
Alastair |
Match report
14/1/2016
The following is a report of the latest BWPL weekend.
British Water Polo League
Championship 1
Salt Ayre, Lancaster, 9/10 January 2016
We made the long journey north to Lancaster for the second time
this season to play the latest round of matches in our British
water polo league campaign.
Having qualified for championship 1 after a very successful
first phase of the season we are playing quality teams in every
game and at Lancaster we faced fixtures against Northumbria and
Solihull.
These are the individual match reports:
Saturday 9th January, 15.45.
Worthing 8, Northumbria 7.
Quarter Scores: 0-2, 3-2, 2-1, 3-2.
This was a pulsating match when we came from behind to record an
excellent win.
Northumbria are one of the 3 first division teams in
Championship 1 and we realised that we would be in for a very
tough match against a talented opposition.
We had discussed at the pre-match meeting how we wanted to play
and how important it was that we made a good start in the match.
We actually did start positively and we were unfortunate to be
0-2 behind at the end of the first quarter. Our attacking play
was struggling against a well organised defence but we did
create a number of opportunities but we missed on a few
occasions when we probably should have scored.
As the match went on we started to gain a degree of control and
by the end of the third quarter we had drawn level at 5-5.
The final quarter was a roller coaster and we soon fell behind
again at the start of the period but Richard soon equalised.
With just over 4 minutes left Matt scored to give us the lead
for the first time in the match and we looked fairly comfortable
in defence but unfortunately we conceded an equaliser with 40
seconds left. In a frantic finish Northumbria had a player
excluded with 19 seconds left and 7 seconds later Richard scored
with an excellent finish to give us the lead again.
The drama wasn't quite over and in the remaining few seconds Joe
was harshly excluded and with the last shot of the match
Northumbria hit the post when they probably should have scored.
This was an excellent win against a team that started this
season in division 1 and it indicates the progress that the
squad has made
Scorers: Richard 2, Joao 2, Matt 2, Toby 1, Joe 1.
Exclusions: Joe 3, Nathan 2, Jacob 1.
Sunday 10th January, 09.00.
Worthing 4, Solihull 10.
Quarter Scores: 1-2, 1-3, 0-1, 2-4.
After the excitement of the match on the Saturday it was always
going to be tough to raise our game early on Sunday morning
against a talented and physical Solihull team.
This was exactly how it proved to be and we struggled to get
going form the start of the match. We didn't play badly but we
were never at our best and we were also unlucky to lose Joao at
half time for a technical offence. Our defending was reasonably
good and we frustrated the opposition on many occasions by
stopping service to the centre forward. Unfortunately we were
mainly struggling in attack where the tough defending from the
opposition was proving really difficult to break down. We also
were well below par when playing "man up" when Solihull had
players excluded and we wasted most of the opportunities that we
were presented with.
The final score is possibly a little harsh but we hadn't been at
our best and we never really did enough to secure a positive
result. That said, this was another tough match that will
definitely help with our development as we move forward.
Scorers: Richard 2, Peter 1, Matt 1
Exclusions: Joao 3, Nathan 2, Jacob 1, Alastair 1
Squad in full: Marc Guimera (g/k), Tom Kane (Sunday), Gregg
Candy-Wallace (Saturday), Richard Hooper, Peter Benedek, Matt
White, Joao Martins, Toby Underwood, Jacob Nash, Joe Hazeldine,
Nathan Hart, Ben Curtis, Sam Abbott, Alastair Hardinge.
Overall this was another good weekend for the squad and although
we never like to lose matches we can take a great deal of credit
from how we played. The 600 mile round trip makes it a long way
to play two matches but we played with a full squad and we
received excellent support form the large number of friends and
family who travelled to support the team.
We finish our BWPL season with a busy three match program in
Swansea in three weeks time and we hope to continue the
development that the squad is undoubtedly making.
Kind regards,
Alastair |