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Match Review
16/12/2007And finally......................
The 2007 water polo season finished with a senior match against Crawley and the ladies tournament at Basingstoke.
This has been the busiest year ever for the water polo section at the club with teams competing at under 14, under 16, under 18, junior girls, senior women's and men's matches and tournaments. Our teams have always been highly competitive and we have traveled many miles to venues around England to play in various competitions.
We now have a short break over Christmas before we start again in 2008 with the boys London winter league on 6th January at Whitgift school in Croydon.
These are the reports from the final two events:
1. Sussex Senior League.
Friday 14th December.
Crawley 6, Worthing 20.
Quarter Scores: 5-2, 7-2, 4-1,4-1.
This was a satisfactory win in our final senior match of 2007 against a competitive Crawley team.
Played at the excellent K2 50 metre deep water pool we were able to take a full squad of 13 players. With 6 of the squad being senior squad members and 6 from our junior team we were able to alternate the players regularly. As a result the team in the water were always able to play at a tempo which the opposition found difficult to deal with.
We fell behind to an early goal but the team soon found it's rhythm and we eventually ran out easy winners.
Scorers: Matt White 5, Dominic Cranford 5, Stuart Stirling 3, Scott Martin 3, Richard Hooper 2, Scott Orchard 1 & Elliott Ellison 1.
Exclusions: Elliott Ellison 1, Andy Cawdary 1.
Squad in Full: Alastair Roberts (GK), Jon Gray, Elliott Ellison, Richard Hooper, Rob Osborne, Matt White, Scott Orchard, Scott Martin, Dominic Cranford, Stuart Stirling, Adrian Irbe, Andy Cawdary & Alastair Hardinge.
2. Basingstoke Ladies Tournament
Saturday 15th December.
We traveled to Basingstoke to defend the trophy that we have won for the past 2 years. Unfortunately we were missing some of our established girls but we still took a competitive squad of 9 who were looking forward to playing matches against the home team, London based Otter and Southampton University. The results were as follows:
Match 1.
Worthing 6, Basingstoke 2. (Halftime 4-1)
An excellent display against the home team saw our girls take an early 3-0 advantage and always control the match.
Playing an aggressive "full press" defence and a quick counter attack we scored some excellent goals. All the squad made good contributions and the result and the way that the team played indicated that we would be competitive throughout the event.
Scorers: Jenny Willett 3, Mel Hart 2, Rebecca Anderson 1.
Exclusions: None.
Match 2.
Worthing 4, Southampton University 3. (Halftime 1-2)
An exciting match saw our girls come from behind to win by the odd goal against a good quality opposition.
This two teams were very well matched and we had to be at our best to secure the win by the narrowest of margins. We fell behind early on but soon equalized before a goal just before half-time saw the opposition retake the lead.
The second period was equally exciting but we managed to take the lead with just over a minute to play. The drama was not quite over and Kayley produced an excellent save late on to secure a hard earned win.
Scorers: Mel Hart 2, Rebecca Anderson 1, Rachel Piper 1.
Exclusions: Rachel Piper 2, Mel Hart 1.
Match 3.
Worthing 4, Otter 8. (Halftime 3-4)
Another exciting match saw our girls finally run out steam against an Otter team that featured several players who currently play in their squad who play in the second division of the national league.
The Worthing girls made a terrific start and at one stage led 3-1 but the opposition fought back and eventually led 4-3 at the break.
In the second period our young team struggled to find the energy to compete with an older and stronger team but we were still able to score an excellent late goal from Rebecca Anderson.
Scorers: Rebecca Anderson 2, Jenny Willett 1, Emma Piper 1.
Exclusions: Rianna Poppeliers.
Squad in full: Kayley Alcorn (GK), Rebecca Anderson, Mel Hart, Jenny Willett, Debbie Willett, Emma Piper, Rachel Piper, Rianna Poppeliers & Chrissy Pilcher.
It was a shame not to successfully defend the trophy but all the girls played really well and could not be faulted for the efforts that they made. To loose to a team with players who are playing at a high standard in national competition was no disgrace and all the squad should be happy with the efforts that they made.
The squad of 9 included 5 girls who are 18 or under all who have come through our junior development program and this indicates that we are still continuing to produce good quality players.
Regards,
Alastair.
Match Review
3/12/2007London Winter League
Under 16 Division (Born 1992 + younger)
Tournament at Whitgift School, Croydon.
Sunday 2nd December 2007
The first tournament of this years under 16 Winter league saw the Worthing team play 4 exciting matches at the excellent deep water pool at Whitgift school.
With seven of our squad of ten players having been involved with the Sussex team that won the South-east inter county tournament in October, we knew that we would have a competitive team at this age group. The results were as follows:
Match 1. Worthing 13, Sevenoaks 1.
A satisfactory win in the first match against a young and inexperienced opposition. The team played well and our press defence resulted in many breakaway goals.
All the squad had a good amount of water time and the goalkeeping was shared by Sam Abbott and Alexander Cranford.
Scorers: Scott Martin 5, Sam Abbott 3, Alastair Hardinge 2, Kevin Chan 2, Rachel Piper 1.
Exclusion: Scott Martin.
Match 2. Worthing 6, Beckenham 0.
A slightly below par performance in all respects with the enthusiastic opposition defending well and helped by the Worthing teams poor finishing. We were always in control but the team knew that this was a long way below our normal standard of play.
Scorers: Sam Abbott 3, Scott Martin 2, Alexander Cranford 1.
Exclusions: None.
Match 3. Worthing 5, Croydon Amphibians 0.
After the previous match the team re-grouped knowing that this would be a tough match against our traditional rivals. The team were determined to make a strong start and this proved to be the case with 3 quick goals. The defending was sound and Sam Abbott made a number of fine saves to keep the clean sheet.
The all-round team play was of a high order with our attacking play always causing the opposition problems.
This was a fine win against a good quality of opposition and gave a good indication of our teams potential.
Scorers: Scott Martin 2, Alexander Cranford 2, Sam Maloney 1.
Exclusions: Alastair Hardinge 2.
Match 4. Worthing 3, West London Penguin 1.
The previous win seemed to have taken it's toll on our squad who put in a labored performance in beating an over-physical opposition. We dominated possession but again missed far too many of the chances that we created. The win was never really in doubt but this was not our finest performance.
Scorers: Scott Martin 2, Alastair Hardinge 1.
Exclusion: Kevin Chan.
The four wins were well deserved but the performances were definitely up and down.
All the squad played well but mention should be made of Scott Martin who captained the team and led by example, Rachel Piper who never shied away from the physical challenges, and Max Felton and Kwok Wan who made their first appearances at this type of tournament.
Squad in Full: Scott Martin (Capt), Sam Abbott, Sam Maloney, Alexander Cranford, Kevin Chan, Alastair Hardinge, Rachel Piper, Luke Helmer, Kwok Wan and Max Felton.
Regards,
Alastair.
Match Review
16/11/2007Sussex County Under 16 Tournament 4.
St Bedes School Pool.
This was the final event of the county under 16 tournament program played throughout 2007.
The Worthing team for this event was missing 3 of our regular players with Scott Martin away playing in the men's national league, Alexander Cranford absent through illness and Luke Helmer unavailable because of a prior engagement.
As a result, we took the opportunity of playing 3 of our younger squad members and Max Felton, Kwok Wan and Oliver Rainford all enjoyed a good amount of water time and will have benefited from the experience.
As a result of Haywards Heath withdrawing from this event, it was decided to that the 3 remaining teams (Worthing, Eastbourne and Hailsham) would play each other twice each and the results were as follows:
Worthing 4, Hailsham 3. (H/T 1-2)
Our youngsters had to come from behind to record a win against a spirited opposition.
Scorers: Sam Abbott 2, Sam Maloney 2.
Worthing 5, Eastbourne 1. (H/T 3-0)
A satisfactory win against a much improved Eastbourne team who defended well throughout the match.
Scorers: - Sam Abbott 2, Kevin Chan 1, Rachel Piper 1, Sam Maloney 1.
Worthing 4, Hailsham 2. (H/T 1-0)
A slightly more comfortable win than the previous match against the same opposition. On this occasion we were always in control and even managed to miss a penalty in the second half of the match.
Scorers: Sam Abbott 2, Kevin Chan 1, Rachel Piper 1.
Worthing 5, Eastbourne 2. (H/T 3-0)
A similar performance to the previous match against Eastbourne saw the Worthing team always in control but wasteful finishing kept the score closer than it might have been.
Scorers: Alastair Hardinge 2, Sam Abbott 2, Kevin Chan 1.
Squad in Full: Rachel Piper, Sam Abbott, Sam Maloney, Alastair Hardinge, Kevin Chan, Peter Flynn, Kwok Wan, Oliver Rainford, Max Felton.
The win at this tournament secured our under 16 team their third consecutive Sussex county title and again indicates that we are continuing to produce talented junior players. The 2008 event will see the Worthing team feature a good number of the younger players who have just started playing and so it will be an interesting challenge to develop a relatively inexperienced squad for these tournaments
Regards,
Alastair.
Match Review
16/11/2007Sussex County Junior League.
Worthing 22, Hastings 2. (Quarter Scores: 5-1, 4-1, 7-0, 5-0)
This was a comfortable win for our junior team against an enthusiastic but inexperienced Hastings junior side.
With Ziggy Tate and Joel Abbott away at the national water polo academy in Grantham, and with Tim Brazier unavailable due to illness, we took the opportunity to play a number of our less experienced players along side some of our first choice squad members.
The match itself was never really close after a first quarter which saw the Worthing youngsters take a 5-1 advantage. The remainder of the match saw the team continue to dominate and it was nice to see the goals shared around 9 of the outfield players.
We were particularly pleased to see 4 of our junior girls play in this match. Emma Piper and Rebecca Anderson were among the scorers and Rachel Piper and Sian Fogerty both put in solid performances.
Scorers: Scott Martin 5, Stuart Stirling 5, Alastair Hardinge 4, Elliott Ellison 2, Dominic Cranford 2, Sam Abbott 1, Alexander Cranford 1,Emma Piper 1 & Rebecca Anderson 1.
Exclusion: Scott Martin 1.
Squad in Full: Sam Abbott, Sian Fogerty, Rebecca Anderson, Robert Osborne, Emma Piper, Rachel Piper, Dominic Cranford, Scott Martin, Alastair Hardinge, Stuart Stirling, Elliott Ellison & Alexander Cranford.
Regards,
Alastair.
Match Review
12/11/2007Sussex County Junior Friendly.
Sunday 11th November 2007
Haywards Heath 3, Worthing 9. (Quarter scores, 3-1, 3-1, 1-1, 2-0) This was an interesting match played at the all deep water pool at the triangle centre in Burgess Hill.
We decided to take a young team to play in this match to give them some much needed experience and all the squad enjoyed the chance to play in a competitive fixture in an excellent pool for water polo.
All the squad played well and it was nice to see the 9 goals shared between 7 different players. The team defended well for most of the match but lack of concentration led to Haywards Heath scoring their 3 goals.
Scorers: Rachel Piper 2, Sam Abbott 2 (1 pen), Kevin Chan 1, Rob Osborne 1, Peter Flynn 1, Luke Helmer 1 & Alastair Hardinge 1.
Exclusions: Rachel Piper 1, Kevin Chan 1.
Squad in Full: Goal scorers + Emma Piper and Sam Maloney.
Regards,
Alastair.