Warrington 16 Manchester Icebergs 7 (14&u)

Warrington’s 14 & under recorded their first win of the season in the Manchester & District League when they faced Manchester Icebergs. Warrington had a full squad which consisted of five players aged 14, two 13 year olds and the rest 12 & under.  The first three minutes of the game saw goal after goal for Warrington with Adam Farini leading the way with an excellent goal. Sam Cooper scored two more goals as Warrington attacked the shallow end with his favourite lob shot from 5 metres out. Next against the run of play Tom Pye relaxed in goal a little too much with his foot in the trough and Icebergs were awarded a penalty which they converted.  Within two minutes Icebergs had pinched another goal to make it 3-2, but with less than a minute to go Connie Gregson hit back with a goal from the centre forward position. The quarter ended 4-2 but Warrington could look forwards to attacking the deep.

In the second quarter Tom Pye came out of goal and played as an outfield player with Adam Farini dropping into goal. In this quarter Warrington dominated with Sam Cooper on fire! Sam opened the scoring but then Warrington had an exclusion as did Icebergs but neither team took advantage of the power play. After three minutes Tom Costello got Warrington back on track with a goal. Sam Cooper continued to show great skill in attack with two further goals to make it three for the quarter and five in the match. Icebergs could not contain him! Connie Gregson again dominating at centre forward scoring another goal before the end of the quarter.  By then end of the second quarter Warrington led 10-3 and we had already started rotating the younger players with Amelia and Elena FORDE playing their first competitive match.

The third quarter saw Tom Pye back in goal and making some excellent saves. However from the restart Warrington won the ball and Jacob Wass always putting the work in for the team got a goal after 21 seconds. Unfortunately after 26 seconds Icebergs scored but no need to panic it was 11-4. We continued to rotate the players giving the younger players some experience of a competitive match. It didn’t make any difference to Sam Cooper with two further goals making a total of seven by the end of the third quarter with Warrington leading 13-5.

The fourth and final quarter into the deep end was much the same excellent play by all Warrington players with you know who finishing off some excellent moves. Yes Sam Cooper added two more to his tally before I took him out for a rest. That’s a rest for the opposition! Connie Gregson scored her fourth of the match and Warrington conceded two against an Iceberg team who worked hard until the end.  The final score was 16-7.

Sam Copper was player of the match for a glorious NINE goals! The referee was later to call DR Boyle to let him know what excellent junior players Warrington have coming through.

In summary an excellent team performance well done to the whole team.

My thanks go to Peter Fisher and his young assistant who came from Chester at short notice to referee and refused to except any expenses.

Warrington Squad included Tom Pye, Megan Dorman, Tom Costello, Adam Farini, Jacob Wass, Matt Williams, Connie Gregson, Sam Cooper, Ben Daily, Abigail Collins, Amelia Forde, Elenor Forde, Emily Bowater and Max Harrison.

Manchester Icebergs 10 Warrington 6 (14&u)

Our 14 & under side played their first competitive game of the season at the Wright Robinson College Pool in Gorton, East Manchester. With several players missing we managed to get 6 players to the pool and borrowed three players from Icebergs. Warrington played really well and I would estimate the best seven players in the pool included 6 from Warrington. Icebergs had an excellent centre forward who scored three quick goals in the first quarter with a player from Icebergs in our goal. Jacob Wass was given the job of marking this player who barely had a chance for the rest of the game. Sam Cooper received the ball just inside the oppositions half and swim fast towards goal taking on and beating the defender and opting for his favourite lob shot which he executes so well. Tom Pye and Stanley Mainwaring linked up well with some clever passing moves resulting in some excellent goals.

Although we lost the game two things became clear:-

1. We need more matches because everbody including the players, parents and the coach really enjoyed the game and so much can be learnt by the players just by playing games.

2. We have some really good players developing all of whom have played water polo for 12months or less the future looks bright for junior water polo at Warrington. The RTC coach was present and wants to visit our sessions to look for more up and coming talent.

The team include Tom Costello, Sam Cooper, Adam Farini, Stanley Mainwaring, Tom Pye, and Jacob Wass.