Issue 1247 - The Courier

42.sportBUCS
Tuesday 6 March 2012 Th eCourier
Polo opposites: mixed results in
MEN’S WATER POLO
By Tom Connolly
at SPORTS CENTRAL
ROUND ROBIN
1. SHEFFIELD 6pts
2. NEWCASTLE 3pts
3. NOTTINGHAM 2pts
4. ST ANDREWS 0pts
Before the men’s Waterpolo team
could turn their attentions to Stan
Calvert, last weekend they had BUCS
Semi-finals held as a round robin
in Newcastle. After winning their
group and securing promotion, they
met in the semis with second placed
St Andrews and from the other tier
two Northern league group winners
Sheffield and Nottingham who had
finished second. With a spectacular
recent run of form in which they had
dispatched of tier one Leeds in a local
league match 20-12, they entered
the tournament confidently and eager
to rectify last year’s mistakes as they
crashed out against the odds at this
stage of the competition.
Friday evening saw the first of the
three matches, in which they faced
Nottingham, whom they had defeated
in last season’s semi-finals. The
Royals started nervously, as Notts
quickly got off the mark, a sin bin for
Michael Grantham then gave them an
opportunity for a second and rapidly
Newcastle were put on the back foot.
Newcastle reacted in emphatic style,
individual brilliance from Grantham
who scored a hattrick gave the royals
the lead going into the second quarter.
The visitors fought back with two
of their own to regain the lead and
neither team could take advantage of
a man up powerplay before Cypriot
Alexis Georgiou levelled the scores
seconds before halftime.
With a big support behind the Royals
and with them looking to put a
message out to the other teams they
knew they had to push on, none
more than club veteran Luke Watkins
who scored early on, spurred on by
the knowledge that in his nine years
at the club, he had never made the
BUCS finals.
A heated battle at the back earned
captain Stuart Mac Manus a sin bin,
however, solid defence meant the visitors
could not convert. At the other
end Grantham took the chance to add
to his tally making the score 6-4. Nottingham
once again hit back to level
the scores but Newcastle soon pulled
away again. From here on ultra fit
Newcastle took advantage of the lagging
Nottingham and a fourth quarter
hattrick for Mac Manus and two
for national league partner Georgiou
took the Royals to a 13-8 victory.
The other match of the evening between
Sheffield and St Andrews was
a very closely fought affair with the
final score at 7-6 thanks to a last minute
winner from the Sheffield skipper.
As Newcastle had already beaten St
Andrews comprehensively this season
they knew Sheffield would be a
crucial match and perhaps the tournament
decider. So they entered the
first match of the day tentatively. The
first quarter started slowly however
a sin bin for Terry Clarke gave the
Yorkshire side chance to break the
deadlock and take the lead. Plenty
of attacks but unbeatable defence
for both sides saw out the rest of the
quarter out without any score however
Clarke picked up another sin bin,
as did Georgiou providing a sign of
things to come.
With confidence lacking through
being goalless the Royals continued
to concede as the Sheffield captain
stole the ball during a Newcastle man
up and swam the full length to make
it 2-0 at the other end. Another man
up for the home side connected with
the woodwork and Sheffield made it
3-0 before halftime.
A stern word from captain Mac
Manus brought the Royals back into
action however it took a captains goal
to get them off the mark. This was followed
up by reliable veteran Clarke
who poached one for himself. Five
seconds before the end of the penultimate
quarter with Newcastle on the
comeback a questionable decision
saw Georgiou excluded for violent
conduct in the form of an accidental
high foot. With the Cypriot ruled out
of the rest of the match and the home
side a man down for four of the five
minutes left in the game it was a huge
ask for the Royals to get back into it.
A courageous effort saw Newcastle
come close but the equaliser but the
goal proved to be illusive. A devastated
side left the pool knowing they
deserved more.
Meanwhile there was another very
tight match between Nottingham and
St Andrews who scored at the death
to win 7-6.
Newcastle entered their last game
against St Andrews knowing they had
a point to prove. It was Georgiou who
struck with a vengeance early in the
first quarter to give the Royals a two
goal start however this was equalled
by the Scots to level the scores. Mac
Manus who could see an early lead
was vital bagged twice himself getting
on the end of a pinpoint pass from
Watkins, whose unrelenting assists
have been vital to the side’s success
this season. Knowing they must fight
back the visitors scored two quick
goals at the start of the second quarter
to level the match once more at 4-4.
Grantham scored from a long range
effort and Mac Manus took advantage
of a man up to regain the two goal
lead. Clinical attack from the Scots
brought them back level pegging but
Mac Manus struck again to make it
7-6 at halftime.
Unfotunately the next three goals
went against the Royals and the team
once again turned to Mac Manus to
reduce the deficit leaving them one
goal adrift with a quarter to play. The
Scots were the first to strike in the
fourth but ex-GB Grantham kicked
up a gear and nicked another. A sin
bin for Connolly gave the visitors
chance to score again and Newcastle
found themselves two goals down
with only minutes to play. Georgiou,
with a point to prove, pounced on an
opportunity to score and in the dying
seconds of the match it fell to future
captain Grantham to seal the draw.
Emphatic scenes at Sports Central
and a superb display for University
Waterpolo and the Royals felt they
could have topped the group, howev-
Women
just miss
out on
finals in
Leeds
WOMEN’S WATER POLO
By Lauren Wilson
at LEEDS
ROUND ROBIN
1. LEEDS 6pts
2. CARDIFF 4pts
3. NEWCASTLE 2pts
4. BIRMINGHAM 0pts
After four long years, many exhausting
hours in the pool and gruelling
matches against stiff competition, the
Newcastle Ladies Water Polo team
finally returned to the BUCS Semifinals,
putting in commendable performances
against tough opposition.
Although a win against Birmingham
was sandwiched by defeats to Cardiff
and hosts Leeds.
This was a proud achievement for
the Royals as only one team veteran,
Lauri Simikiss, had seen the Semis
before. The finals were held in Leeds
on the weekend of 25 February, and
the Royals were pumped and prepared
for the forthcoming matches.
They arrived in Leeds primed for
their first game against Cardiff. Undeterred
by a difficult first quarter
against the aggressive side, the Royals
bounced back in the second quarter.
Impressive defending from Catherine
Freeman and leaps of glory from
goalkeeper Emily Fairbrother allowed
the Cardiff side only one goal, while
the Royals’ Nicola Powley, Katrina
McDowell and Lauri Simikiss put
three impressive goals in the back of
Cardiff ’s nets.
An inspiring speech at half time
from Captain Fairbrother kept the
team in high spirits allowing them to
score from a textbook perfect set play,
but Cardiff began to dominate and
took a hold of the game with six goals
of their own. The Royals held their
heads high in the fourth quarter and
allowed Cardiff only one more goal,
but were unable to prevent an 11-5
defeat to the Welsh side.
Preparations for the second day of
the tournament were hampered by
an injury to Lauren Wilson, but as
the team prepared for their second
match against Birmingham, inspiring
speeches from coaches Stuart Mac
Manus and Michael Grantham set
the Royals up for a win. The team entered
the pool in a positive mind-set
despite their earlier defeat and gained
the lead in the first quarter with a
striking goal scored on a counter attack
by Katrina MacDowell.
The second quarter saw Birmingham
step up to the challenge set by
the Royals by pulling the score back
to 2-2. However, determined not to
be defeated, despite dubious decisions
from the referees resulting in
the red card of novice player Christina
Sanchez, Newcastle bounced back
scoring five goals in the third quarter
and one in the fourth, securing an 8-4
win.
Newcastle had a long wait before
their final match against Leeds, but
any friendliness formed between the
two sides was lost as soon as costumes
hit the water, with both teams clamouring
for a win. Despite valiant efforts
from centre-back Freeman and
goalkeeper Fairbrother, Leeds took
the lead in the first quarter with a