The men’s team travelled to Antwerp for an international tournament hosted in an amazing out door pool on the banks of the river in Antwerp. Travel on Friday was extremely smooth and the chaps got their tents set up and headed to the beer tent to meet the teams and sample the local refreshment.
Saturday saw the first match at a very civilised start time of 12.30. Warrington faced a French team, Calypso and despite a valiant effort and a cameo 1 minute appearance from the worse for wear Ian Musgrove the team lost 10-6.
The second game was a much better result and Warrington came out 5-7 winners against De Mechelen 2. The 3rd game was another good performance and the team were growing into the tournament this time coming out 6-7 winners against De Zuidwesthoek in a close game. The final match of the day at 5pm saw Warrington cruise to victory 2-9 against Waregem B. It was clear performance improved as the effects from the previous night subsided.
This put Warrington joint top of our group on 9 points with two other teams. The tournament rules stipulated in a such a case positions should be decided by results between the teams but this also left them equal, having all beaten each other. The standings were then decided on goal difference in the games between the equal teams. Despite Warrington having the best overall goal difference we came third in this case, therefore we would play off for 5-6th the next day. This was tough as we could easily have been playing for 1st-2nd.
Never the less the team did not lose heart and dived into the sumptuous and plentiful barbecue, continuing into the night with the beers and disco Bryn and Ben being the stalwarts of the team until the bitter end.
The next day Warrington arose to play their final game in probably their worst performance of the weekend. Warrington lost 11-6 to Gentse and finished 6th overall.
All in all a fantastic weekend helped by the gorgeous weather and Warrington hope to return next year 2nd-4th September 2017!
