Manchester Water Polo continued its meteoric rise with three out of four victories at the ASA Championships on home turf at the Manchester Aquatics Centre last weekend (26-27 April).

Manchester was only halted in its domination of the Youth (15 and under) and Junior (17 and under) events by identical twins from Dunfermaline who scored 10 goals between them in the close fought final of the Youth event.

Played in a full sized pitch in the main pool, the final score of 12-13 featured 10 goals from the brothers as well as three from Zach Thompson (15).

The game also featured a never-say-die attitude from the Manchester players, who continued to come back into the game every time they slipped behind.

Coach Brian Campbell was keen to comment on the teams performance.

'The Manchester players were generally bigger and stronger than everyone else. We were ahead from the start but they kept coming back. We lost one player with cramp for two quarters, who fortunately came back into it for the final quarter.'

'The game was excellent to watch and the big pitch suited us. The bigger the pitch the better for us. We insist that all our players have to swim as well as train for water polo,' said Cambell

'This team has been together for a few years to gain experience and we knew we would be strong. The twins were our main attackers but they can’t do that without the support of the whole team. Our goal keeper was great with some long throws that were right on target. This team has been four years in the making, so it was good to get there and win.'

'I think we are the first Scottish team to have won at this age group. Our youngest player over the weekend was just 11, so we’re already blooding players for the next team. It was a great competition and really exciting to win, despite a nail biting man up against us right at the end!'

Dunfermaline beat Sutton and Cheam on their route to the final. The other team to feature was the City of Birmingham, who finished 3rd in the play off with a score line of 10-6.

The men’s and women’s Junior and women’s Youth matches were all won by the City of Manchester. An awesome achievement for the side that also won the senior women’s title and finished runners up in the men’s final at the British Championships in February. Had they had the opportunity to compete here, Manchester could have added to their tally of victories.

Manchester overcame Liverpool in the final of the Youth women’s event. They overcame Birmingham 12-7 to make it to the final. Birmingham played off against Carlisle in the 3rd/4th placed final, with the midlands side coming out on top with a 5-3 victory.

Manchester’s route to the final in the Junior women’s event saw a tight semi final against Liverpool. The home side had a narrow 4-3 victory to put them into the final against Sheffield. They won convincingly 12-2. City of Birmingham beat Liverpool 7-4 in the 3rd/4th place play off.

The final Manchester win saw a 5-7 win over Carlisle in Junior boys event. They had to beat Invicta in a tight 11-9 game to reach the final, and Invicta had another tight game to finish in 3rd place over the City of Birmingham with a score line of 12-11.

The same year groups are set to compete next year, ensuring that rivalries from the 2008 championships can be revisited next year. Senior players will also able to resume the competition that was started over one hundred years ago.

2008 senior champions may not have been crowned, but the reduced age group format has given a taste of what to expect in the future.

Winners

Youth Men (15 and under)

City of Manchester 12 v 13 Dunfermline

Youth Women (15 and under)

Liverpool 2 v 10 City of Manchester

Junior Women (15 and under)

City of Manchester 12 v 2 Sheffield

Junior Men (15 and under)

Carlisle 5 v 7 City of Manchester

-ENDS-