BELGIUM 7 TURKEY 19

Turkey comfortably defeated Belgium for their second win of the LEN European Nations Trophy in the final group game of the event at the Manchester Aquatics Centre.

Belgium, who would not have climbed off bottom spot even if they had won, were outplayed despite Turkey opting to rotate key players such as captain Halil Beskardesuer, with the squad players getting more time off the bench.

Turkey, who finished fourth in Group A behind Belarus, will have a rest day tomorrow before playing for 7th to 10th place in the competition.

Aytag Yegin opened the scoring after Belgium captain Tom Van Oost was excluded. Michael De Boever replied before Turkey took the lead once more, this time when Sezai Kiziltan found the back of the net. Van Oost received his second personal foul and Ali Can Gagatay scored from the 6-on-5 before Niels Verhegge pulled one back. Anil Sonmez extended Turkey’s lead to three  before the end of the period.

Ruso Yakimouig restored the three-goal advantage before De Boever grabbed his second. But Gagatay scored for a three-goal half-time lead.

Berk Gunkut grabbed his first of the game after Verhegge was excluded early in the second half and Omer Yaman converted an extra-man attack when Sammy Claes was sent out. Turkey scored again through Sonmez, before Gunkut got a second of the quarter. Emre Coskun scored on the fast break and then Niels Vanderlinden conceded a penalty which Gunkut scored for a third goal of the period.

Beskardesuer was excluded early in the final period and Claes scored from the right wing from the 6-on-5. Coskun scored his second before Gunkut fired in his fourth of the match. Belgium replied through Verhegge after Sonmez had been excluded. De Boever conceded a penalty which Hakan Hatipoglu converted from the five-metre line. De Boever scored again after Yaman had been excluded. Yegin, Yaman (two) and Gunkut scored, with Cedric Grammens replying to complete the scoring.

Result: 7-19 (2-4; 1-2; 0-6; 4-7)

Belgium: 1 Pieter Van Snick, 2 Stefen Van Tieghem, 3 Kevin Chavepeyer, 4 Thomas Delorge, 5 Niels Verhegge (2 goals), 6 Ken De Wilde, 7 Samuel Gomez, 8 Michael De Boever (3), 9 Cedric Grammens (1), 10 Tom Van Oost, 11 Sammy Claes (1), 12 Niels Vanderlinden, 13 Michael Callens

Turkey: 1 Atila Sezer, 2 Ali Can Gagatay (2 goals), 3 Omer Yaman (3), 4 Anil Sonmez (2), 5 Ruso Yakimouig (1), 6 Hakan Hatipoglu (1), 7 Sezai Kiziltan (1), 8 Berk Gunkut (5), 9 Aytag Yegin (2), 10 Emre Coskun (2), 11 Halil Beskardesuer, 12 Can Guven, 13 Tan Diptas

UKRAINE 9 GREAT BRITAIN 10

Great Britain qualified for the quarter final of the LEN European Nations Trophy with a tense 10-9 victory over Ukraine.

Ukraine fought back from a three-goal deficit with 49 seconds remaining in the first half and took the lead for the first time with five minutes 32 seconds left of the match. Britain equalised before Ukraine went ahead once more. But Britain went ahead for a final time when Tom Curwen scored his second of the game – his 21st of the tournament.

Goalkeeper Ed Scott made a number of crucial interventions, including denying Vladyslav Soslovskiy twice in the dying moments. Soslovskiy scored five in the game.

Craig Figes scored from a man-up but Tymur Shylin replied before Matthew Thresher put Britain ahead again. However, Ukraine levelled once more, Soslovskiy equalising. Andrew Squires put Britain ahead, but the period finished level when Shylin grabbed his second of the game.

Scott Carpenter won a penalty for Britain and Curwen converted for his sixth successful five-metre penalty of the competition – a 100 percent record. Curwen then turned provider, firstly setting up Mark Banwell and then Scholefield. Shylin completed his hat-trick to pull one back.

Soslovskiy scored a thunderous shot from seven metres to pull Ukraine within one goal, but Carpenter grabbed his first to restore a two-goal lead. Thresher was excluded and Soslovskiy scored his third with 45.8 seconds left of the third period.

Kostyantyn Shevchenko threaded the ball into Scott’s top corner when allowed to shoot by Carpenter as Ukraine levelled less than 90 seconds into the final quarter. And Soslovskiy grabbed his fourth from the left wing to put Ukraine ahead for the first time in the match.

Alex Parsonage grabbed his first on the fast break to pull the scores level once more. But Soslovskiy found the back of the net for the fifth time for Ukraine to edge ahead.

Shylin was excluded for a foul on Carpenter and Eelco Uri called a time out with 4:17.3 remaining. Britain moved the ball for Curwen to shoot, but he hit the bar. The ball fell to Scholefield who prodded home to level again.

Curwen scored the decisive goal when Britain broke and two Ukraine players chose not to retreat to put his side ahead with 1:51 remaining.

Scott denied Yevgen Obedinskyy and Soslovskiy, before Soslovskiy hit the bar when through one-on-one. He was denied again by Scott on the buzzer for Britain to finish second in the group behind France.

Result: 9-10 (3-3; 1-3; 2-1; 3-3)

Ukraine: 1 Denys Volonchuk, 2 Kostyantyn Shevchenko (Capt, 1 goal), 3 Tymur Shylin (3), 4 Vadym Kozlov, 5 Volodymyr Voytenko, 6 Roman Olefirenko, 7 Denys Kolesnikov, 8 Vladyslav Soslovskiy (5), 9 Sergiy Pantyukov, 10 Yevgen Obedinskyy, 11 Igor Piperko, 12 Serhiy Grishyn, 13 Petro Radivilov

Great Britain: 1 Ed Scott, 2 Sean Ryder, 3 Mark Banwell (1 goal), 4 Scott Carpenter (1), 5 Craig Figes (Capt, 1), 6 Andrew Squires (1), 7 Alex Parsonage (1), 8 Tom Curwen (2), 9 Rob Parker, 10 Adam Scholefield (2), 11 Chris Gilbertson, 12 Matthew Thresher (1), 13 Matthew Birch

FRANCE 24 ISRAEL 3

France stormed through to Saturday’s semi-final after demolishing Israel in game three of Day Five of the LEN European Nations Trophy at the Manchester Aquatics Centre.

France romped to their fifth win in five days and top Group B to earn a rest day on Friday. Captain Frederic Audon was once again sublime, scoring seven times – often with nonchalance – whilse seemingly trying to assist all of his team-mates to trouble the scorers. All bar Arnaud Jablonski obliged. Yann Clay needed no such assistance, scoring five himself.

France scored 11 times without reply before Israel finally registered on the score-sheet midway through the second period.

An eight-goal lead was established with strikes from Audon (two), Clay (two), Remi Saudadier, Jean Baptiste Favry, Romain Blary and Yann Vergeade as Israel imploded in the first eight minutes.

Audon completed his hat-trick with a goal on the break before centre forward Mickael Bodegas claimed his first of the game. Clay grabbed his third before Yann Vernoux was excluded and Israel registered through Gil Lunliner. Audon hit back soon after and Saudadier got his second as France took a 13-1 half-time lead.

Quentin Chipotel scored his first of the game with a man-up goal before Itamar Schwartz claimed Israel’s second. Clay got his fourth when Ori Raz was excluded and Bodegas converted a penalty after Favry had been fouled by Or Keren. Vernoux got in on the act with his first goal, and Clay scored his fifth.

Audon levelled with Clay before surpassing him in the fourth with his fifth and sixth goals, but then Maoz Gaver responded for Israel. Marc Amardeilh hit straight back with his first goal of the match. Blary scored France’s fourth of the quarter with four minutes left. Saudadier got his hat-trick from an extra-man after Navot Luria had been sent out. Audon scored his seventh on the fast break – taking his tally in the competition to 34 – before Shy Hemed was given his third personal foul.

Result: 24-3 (8-0; 5-1; 5-1; 8-1)

France: 1 Jonathan Moriame, 2 Romain Blary (2 goals), 3 Arnaud Jablonski, 4 Frederic Audon (Capt, 7), 5 Yann Vergeade (1), 6 Remi Saudadier (3), 7 Mickael Bodegas (2), 8 Jean Baptiste Favry (1), 9 Yann Vernoux (1), 10 Yann Clay (5), 11 Marc Amardeilh (1), 12 Quentin Chipotel (1), 13 Soufien Riabi

Israel: 1 Itamar Inbar, 2 Shy Hemed, 3 Ofir Golombek, 4 Navot Luria, 5 Maoz Gaver (1 goal), 6 Or Keren, 7 Gil Lunliner (1), 8 Amit Seker (Capt), 9 Ayal Keren, 10 Ori Raz, 11 Dolev Koifman, 12 Itamar Schwartz (1), 13 Alex Malkis

POLAND 16 IRELAND 5

Poland secured their second win of the competition – inflicting Ireland’s fifth defeat from five matches in the process – to finish the preliminary round with seven points.

Poland continued the good form they showed in the nail-biting 9-8 defeat over Great Britain on Wednesday as they beat the men from the Emerald Isle in every quarter.

Tomasz Rozycki, Adam Perka, Robert Sekula and Piotr Wojcik each scored three for Poland, with Graham Fogarty replying with a hat-trick for Ireland.

Sekula opened the scoring but Ireland levelled through Graham Fogarty after Sekula’s exclusion. But Ireland’s Eoin Nolan was excluded before the period was out and Rozycki put Poland ahead.

Poland romped through the second quarter, with four unanswered goals. Wojcik got his first of the game before Marek Debski. Sekula and Wojcik completed the scoring for the half.

Sekula completed his hat-trick to open the second-half scoring, but Ireland replied quickly when Jonathan Kirk won a penalty at the expense of Wojcik. Graham Fogarty converted from the five-metre line. Debski and Nolan exchanged strikes before Perka scored. Radoslaw Haraczko scored to extend Poland’s lead and Wojcik scored with 0.2 seconds of the quarter left.

Rozycki scored again early in the third before Wojcik received his third personal foul. Graham Fogarty converted from the 6-on-5 reducing the deficit to eight with his hat-trick strike. Rozycki claimed his second of the period from a man-up when Graham Fogarty was sent out. Ireland’s Jonathan Donnelly scored after Marcin Scierwicki was excluded to make it 2-2 for the quarter, but then Haraczko scored his second of the game. Perka scored twice more to secure his hat-trick and a comfortable win.

Result: 16-5 (2-1; 4-0; 5-2; 5-2)

Poland: 1 Michal Diakonow (Capt), 2 Marcin Scierwicki, 3 Piotr Michalski, 4 Adam Perka (3 goals), 5 Marek Debski (2), 6 Pawel Ulchurski, 7 Tomasz Rozycki (3), 8 Michal Bar, 9 Radoslaw Haraczko (2), 10 Robert Sekula (3), 11 Piotr Wojcik (3), 12 Wojciech Leszek, 13 Rafal Wocik

Ireland:  1 Christopher Hodgkinson (Capt), 2 Alan Fogarty, 3 Eoin Nolan (1 goal), 4 Kevin Thornton, 5 Graham Fogarty (3), 6 Patrick Lowery, 7 Darren McHugh, 8 Jonathan Donnelly (1), 9 Ciaran Walshe, 10 Jonathan Kirk, 11 Michael Kelleher, 12 Stephen Murphy, 13 Eoin Doyle

MALTA 10 MACEDONIA 14

Macedonia secured second place in Group A with victory over Malta in the second game of Day Five of the LEN European Nations Trophy at the Manchester Aquatics Centre.

Vladimir Kreckovic and Marko Basic each scored four for Macedonia, with Matthew Zammit scoring three for Malta. Captain Paul Privitera was excluded three times for Malta, while Marko Micic getting three personal fouls for Macedonia.

Macedonia opened the scoring when Privitera was sent out and Risto Maljkovic converted. Ivan Vuksanovic then doubled the lead before receiving his first personal foul. From the resulting 6-on-5 Steve Camilleri opened Malta’s account. Vuksanovic was excluded for a second time but Malta could not equalise and centre forward Basic used all his power to beat two defenders and score.

Kreckovic opened the second-quarter scoring to extend the lead to three. Macedonia captain Saso Popovski then conceded a penalty, which Malta failed to convert and Macedonia scored at the other end through Basic. Zammit replied with a man-up goal for Malta after Marko Micic was sent out.

Maljkovic extended the lead to five at the start of the second half, but Malta scored twice through John Soler and Karl Montfort. Malta moved to within two when Zammit fired home, but Macedonia replied through Basic and Kreckovic. A man-up goal from Clint Mercieca reduced the deficit before Camilleri conceded a penalty. Vuksanovic scored. Zammit claimed his second of the period for Malta to move three behind.

Micic grabbed his first goal of the game before Kreckovic and Basic made the difference six. Montfort grabbed his second of the game, but Macedonia scored again when Maljkovic completed his hat-trick.

Michele Stellini and Soler scored before the end, but it was too late for Malta, who fell to their fourth defeat of the competition.

Result: 10-14 (1-3; 1-3; 5-5; 3-3)

Malta: 1 Josie Cachia, 2 Niki Lanzon, 3 Paul Fava, 4 Paul Privitera (Capt), 5 Mark Meli, 6 John Soler (2 goals), 7 Steve Camilleri (1), 8 Jurgen Borg, 9 Karl Montfort (2), 10 Matthew Zammit (3), 11 Clint Mercieca (1), 12 Michele Stellini (1), 13 Ian Bugeja

Macedonia: 1 Milos Urosevic, 2 Sava Isakovski, 3 Ivan Vuksanovic (2 goals), 4 Risto Maljkovic (3), 5 Nenad Ivanovski, 6 Saso Popovski (Capt), 7 Marko Micic (1), 8 Vladimir Kreckovic (4), 9 Nenad Petrovic, 10 Marko Basic (4), 11 Radislav Kocovski, 12 Bobi Kuzmanovski, 13 Darko Stosic

BELARUS 5 MONTENEGRO 14

Montenegro will proceed to the semi-finals with a 100 percent Group A record following a demolition of Belarus in the opening game of Day Five of the LEN European Nations Trophy at the Manchester Aquatics Centre.

Montenegro earned a rest day on Friday after cruising to their fifth victory of the competition and look unstoppable in their pursuit of the Gold medal.

The tournament favourites have five players who were members of the Serbia and Montenegro side which won gold at the FINA World Championships in Montreal in 2005 – centre forward Boris Zlokovic, goalkeeper Zdavko Radic, Nikola Janovic, Predrag Jokic and Vladimir Gojkovic – and that quality was the difference as they combined to see off a valiant effort from Belarus.

Montenegro captain Veljko Uskokovic scored four, while Zlokovic scored a hat-trick.

Gojkovic opened the scoring inside 30 seconds before doubling the advantaged when Alexcei Zalugnyi was excluded. Jokic scored to take the score to 3-0 before Vladimir Basic pulled one back following Mladan Janovic’s personal foul. Vjekoslav Paskovic found the back of the net to finish the scoring for the quarter.

The second quarter saw one goal and four exclusions. Nikola Janovic scored his first of the game when Basic was excluded, and Montenegro failed to score again despite having two man-up opportunities when Basic and then Armenaic Elizbaran were excluded.

Left-handed Uskokovic scored a man-up goal to open the third, before Zlokovic scored. Uskokovic added his second before Basic hit back with a goal 9.8 seconds from the end of the period.

A minor resurgence from Belarus saw them score twice to open the fourth, firstly through captain Dzmitry Vankevich and then Ivan Kulakov. Montenegro retaliated with strikes from Uskokovic and Gojkovic before Zalugnyi scored.

Aleksandar Ivovic claimed his first of the game before Zlokovic grabbed two extra-man goals. Uskokovic completed the scoring.

Result: 5-14 (1-4; 0-1; 1-3; 3-6)

Belarus: 1. Mikhail Yazerski, 2 Ivan Kulakov (1 goal), 3 Aliaksandr Andrayuk, 4 Dzmitry Kulik, 5 Alexcei Zalugnyi (1), 6 Armenaic Elizbaran, 7 Aliaksandr Navumenka, 8 Dzmitry Vankevich (Capt, 1), 9 Siarhei Fralou, 10 Aleksey Kuzmenko, 11 Uladzimir Martyniuk, 12 Vladimir Basic (2), 13 Kanstantsin Kavaleuski

Montenegro: 1 Zdavko Radic, 2 Drasko Brguljan, 3 Vjekoslav Paskovic (1 goal), 4 Damjan DaniLovic, 5 Nikola Janovic (1), 6 Milan Ticic, 7 Mladan Janovic, 8 Veljko Uskokovic (Capt, 4), 9 Aleksandar Ivovic (1), 10 Boris Zlokovic (3), 11 Vladimir Gojkovic (3), 12 Predrag Jokic (1), 13 Milos Scepanovic