CHRISTCHURCH and New Milton Seagulls have wrapped up their first Dorset water polo league title of the season with a match to spare – and are still on course for a hat-trick of silverware.

The club’s juniors cruised to a 14-2 trouncing of an under-strength Bridport Barracudas side at Two Riversmeet.

Seagulls, whose dominance is underlined by their goal difference of plus-107, remain unbeaten and cannot be caught in the race for the Dorset Junior League crown.

With the club’s Key Stage 3 team returning to the top of the KS3 League following a 13-6 win over Barracudas and their Novice team also topping their league table, Seagulls remain on course for a title-winning treble.

Coach Rob Webber said: “To take our first title with a game to go is a great achievement.

“The junior squad have played together for five years and that has showed all season.

“Next season looks good too, as we lose only one player from the squad because of age.”

Seagulls started brightly and led 4-0 after the first quarter.

The second quarter followed a similar pattern with Seagulls forcing Bridport back into their own half for long periods and taking the score to 9-0 by half-time.

In the third and fourth quarters, Seagulls opted to give their least experienced players an opportunity.

Bridport pushed the home side hard and scored twice, but Seagulls still increased their lead to complete the 14-2 scoreline.

Earlier, Seagulls’ KS3 squad launched a series of excellent counter-attacks at the start of their match to shoot into a 3-0 lead from which Barracudas KS3 never recovered.

The scoreline progressed to 4-1 by the end of the first quarter and 8-3 by half-time.

In the third quarter, Seagulls fielded their youngest players – with an average age of 11 – and Barracudas took advantage to win the quarter 2-1.

But the home team rallied to take the final quarter and the match 13-6.

Webber added: “This was a strong performance from our Academy squad, who put some recent lacklustre performances behind them. The treble stays on!”

Seagulls teams (goals in brackets) – Junior: David Gallagher (2), Charles Elderfield, Joe Foale-Groves (1), Taylor Priest (3), Ali Rogers, James Rogers, Connor Sleightholme (2), Anand Vaithilingham, Sam Webber (3), Elliot Wilks (2), Stefan Wyper (1).

KS3: George Bukvic (2), Kyle East, Megan Fletcher (2), Peter Gallagher, Beth Kingsley, Mikey Kingsley (4), Cianan Mann (2), Jackson Mullins (2), Ben Radford, Charlie Roberts (1), Chloe Roxburgh, James Stephenson, Natasha Webber.