Both title-favourites to win the men’s and women’s British Water Polo Championships were defeated in what was a fantastic day first day of the British Water Polo Championships in Manchester.

City of Manchester knocked out title-favourites Lancaster in the semi-final of the in what was a great performance by all the squad as their opponents looked for their seventh consecutive win.

Lancaster took an early lead in the first quarter with a goal from Chris Gilbertson and extended that through a Colin Burgess shot to make 2-0.

Manchester pulled one back in what was the only goal of the second quarter when Mick Bourne struck in the final 30 seconds.

Some fantastic passing in a quick attacking move saw Manchester take the lead for the first time in the match when Sean Ryder hit the back of the net in the third period.

However, Lancaster responded quickly with a second goal from Chris Burgess to take it to 3-3.

With 46 seconds of the third quarter remaining, Jonny Kirk gave Manchester back their lead but were caught after the restart when Ryan Pinnington scored to take it to 4-4 as both teams headed into the fourth and final quarter.

Lancaster were unable to convert any of their chances in the final period of play and a second goal for Sean Ryder and Charles Booth booked City of Manchester’s place in tomorrow’s final.

It was the first time in Manchester’s history that the men’s team progress into the finals weekend, and coach Tim Dunsbee was pleased with their performances.

“We went in to the match as underdogs despite knocking out national league winners Bristol in the preliminary round,” said Dunsbee.

“We have a squad a good players at Manchester and went in with a plan that we stuck with an it paid off for us. Our preparation leading up the championships was good and that showed in the performance today.”

The squad will take on Rotherham Metro who played West London Penguins in their semi-final.

Penguins took an early lead after 90 seconds of play when Banhidy struck, however Chris Kirby soon equalised for Rotherham.

Rotherham took the lead within a minute through Mark Wade and this was extended further 30 seconds later when Richard Leighton made it 3-1.

Penguins attacked quickly after the restart and took themselves within one goal of their opponents with a shot from Beard.

Rotherham tried to re-establish their two-goal lead and did so successfully with a shot from Neilson Rutherford.

An eventful first quarter saw Penguins pull another goal back through a second goal for Banhidy to make it 4-3.

Goals from Elder, Montfort (Penguins) and Mark Wade and Neil Swainson (Rotherham) took the teams into the third quarter at 7-5 in Rotherham’s favour.

Neilson Rutherford grabbed another goal to add to his tally to take Rotherham’s lead to 8-5, but Penguins re-grouped and Montfort got his second goal of the game to make it 8-6.

In the final 90 seconds of play, Andrew Scholefield took Rotherham’s lead to three goals when he hit the back of the net as the teams ended the third quarter.

Rotherham dominated the final eight-minutes of play, scoring three goals in the final two-minutes after Penguins got their final goal of the game early in the fourth quarter,

In the women’s semi-finals, City of Manchester will take on Penguins A Ladies in the final after both teams made it through their respective semi-final matches.

Penguins took on City of Liverpool taking the game 13-4 to set up their final clash tomorrow.

Liverpool began strongly and took the lead via Siobhan Winter after 85 seconds after some patient play in front of goal.

Penguins pulled one back quickly when Rebecca Donaghue hit the net but Liverpool did not rest on their laurels and soon regained the lead through Kathryn Dacre.

Liverpool extended their lead further with controlled passing and movement in the opposition half with Fiona McCann the goal-scorer.

With 20 seconds of time in the first quarter remaining, Penguins pulled themselves within one goal of Liverpool through Louisa Lickess.

During the break before the teams headed into the second quarter, Penguins gathered themselves and took the second period 3-1 to head into the final half of the match leading 5-4.

The London team were unstoppable in the third quarter and goals from Charlotte Hanson (2), Eleanor Thomas (2) and Rebecca Donaghue sent them into the final quarter 10-4 and possibly out of reach for the Liverpool team.

Penguins continued their domination of the final half of play in the final quarter, scoring another three goals through Eleanor Thomas to give her a third goal of the match and Charlotte Hanson (2) to take her tally to 4.

City of Manchester took a win against City of Sheffield 10-5 in a match which saw Manchester’s physical power both defensively and during attacking phases over-power the Yorkshire team.

In a close first and second quarter, and following good periods of play from both teams, Manchester went into the final half 4-2 leaders.

Sheffield were unable to break Manchester’s strong defence in the third quarter and were unable to convert any of their attacking plays into goals.

Manchester through Chloe Wilcox, Sarah Pimblett and Jemma Bury took their lead to 7-2 as they broke for the final quarter.

Sheffield were caught out by great start by Manchester who converted their first chance of the quarter with a goal from Wilcox for her third.

Sheffield were able to pull one back through Bernice Cowton but less than 20 seconds later Wilcox struck again.

Sheffield pulled two goals back with shots from Laura Evans and Victoria Ibbertson to take the score to 5-9 but Manchester had the final goal of the game when Victoria Hawkins found the back of the net.

Those teams which missed out on their respectively finals will battle for third and fourth place tomorrow.

-ENDS-

For further details contact  Steph West, British Swimming Media Assistant, on 07917 876 459 or email stephanie.west@swimming.org

British Swimming is the National Governing Body for Swimming, Diving, Synchronised Swimming, Water Polo and Open Water in Great Britain.  It is responsible internationally for the high performance representation of the sport. The members of British Swimming are the three Home Countries national governing bodies of England (Amateur Swimming Association), Scotland (Scottish Amateur Swimming Association) and Wales. (Welsh Amateur Swimming Association)  British Swimming seeks to enable its athletes to achieve gold medal success at the Olympics, Paralympics, World Championships and Commonwealth Games.

About Speedo® Synonymous with swimwear, the iconic brand celebrates 80 years of dominance creating revolutionary new technologies, designs and innovations.  In the 1920s Speedo® made history with the Racerback: the worlds first non-wool suit. In 2008 Speedo® redefines swimwear again with Fastskin® LZR RACER®  - the fastest and most technologically advanced swimsuit ever created; meanwhile designer collaborations with Comme des Garçons put Speedo® at the cutting edge of design. As the worlds leading swimwear brand, Speedo® is passionate about life in and around the water, supporting swimming from beginners through to elite level, including the phenomenal Michael Phelps.  Speedo® is owned by Pentland Brands and distributed in over 170 countries around the world; to find out more visit: www.speedo.com. SPEEDO, the ARROW device, LZR PULSE and LZR RACER are registered trade marks of Speedo Holdings B.V. The LZR RACER suit has worldwide design rights and patents pending.