Water Polo: Seagulls edged out at Winchester (From Bournemouth Echo)

Water Polo: Seagulls edged out at Winchester

5:16pm Wednesday 20th January 2010 in

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Christchurch and New Milton Seagulls’ junior water polo squad blew away the Christmas cobwebs at the Winchester New Year under-19s tournament – but they couldn’t quite blow away all their opponents.

The young Seagulls won two of their three matches against mostly older opponents only to miss out on an overall tournament victory by the narrowest of goal differences.

The opening match in the four-team round robin tournament saw Seagulls against Cranleigh College, whom they had never faced before in their history.

Seagulls’ usual organisation deserted them and they were chasing the game from the outset as Cranleigh raced into a 2-0 lead.

The Christchurch club regrouped at half-time and took the game to their rivals, reducing the deficit to 2-1, only for Cranleigh to regain their two-goal advantage soon after.

Seagulls were now firmly back in the match and repeatedly hit the woodwork but Cranleigh scored again on the final whistle to complete a 4-1 victory.

Next up were Winchester College and, in a highly physical contest, Seagulls produced a good display of controlled passing and pit play to pull steadily away.

By half-time they were already 4-1 ahead and in the second half they managed to contain the older and bigger Winchester side to complete a 5-1 victory.

In the final match, Seagulls – average age 15 – took on an equally youthful Basingstoke Bluefins side.

The teams were evenly match-ed in other ways too and the encounter was fast and physical.

In the end, Seagulls’ greater discipline told. They capitalised on a Basingstoke exclusion late in the first half to take a 1-0 lead.

Throughout the second half Seagulls adopted a full-pool press, making it difficult for their opponents to mount coherent attacks.

Again the Dorset side capitalised on an exclusion to score from a move rehearsed in the training pool.

Seagulls coach Rob Webber said: “This tournament has had the desired effect of getting our players back into the swing of things following an extended Christmas break.

“It was a low-scoring tournament, which shows just how well the teams were matched.

“With an average age of just 15, competing against much bigger 17 and 18-year-olds was a tough call but we all stepped up to the plate.

“We were slow out of the blocks but by the end we were back to our usual disciplined style and competed well.”

He added: “To miss out on the title on goal difference and by only one goal was a pity.

“But getting the side to play together in a tournament environment was important, as this team will be the basis of our South West Championships campaign.”

Seagulls junior squad (goals scored in brackets): David Gallagher (1), Charles Elderfield, Joe Foale-Groves, Mikey Kingsley, Cianan Mann, Jackson Mullins, Taylor Priest (4), Charlie Roberts, James Rogers, Connor Sleightholme (1), Anand Vathilingham, Sam Webber (2).

Match results: Seagulls 1 Cranleigh College 4; Seagulls 5 Winchester College 1; Seagulls 2 Basingstoke Bluefins 0.