Silver success for Cheltenham water polo players

Six members of Cheltenham Swimming and Water Polo Club were part of a South West side that took silver at the ASA Youth Inter-Regional Water Polo Championships.

A closely fought contest saw the Walsall tournament decided by the final match.

South West started the competition disappointingly, losing 8-9 to London, the eventual winners.

With members drawn from clubs in Devon, Dorset, Somerset and Bristol, as well as Cheltenham, it was the first time the squad had played together, a factor in the loss of a match that coach John Spicer felt they should have won.

"I think we had 50% more goal scoring opportunities than London and we did not convert those and that was vital in the end result."

In their second match, South West were starting to find their form and another evenly matched game saw them eventual winners 11-9 against the East.

The tension rose significantly for the South West's first match of the second day. With six Cheltenham members in the side, playing Wales, which had three Cheltenham players, was always going to be the match they wanted to win. Both sides put up a spirited show, with South West ultimately victorious 10-8.

Their final match of the contest was their easiest. By now playing as one, they comfortably beat West Midlands B 23-2.

Going into the final game of the tournament, three teams were vying for the top spot. The Welsh lost to London 7-3 in that game, putting them third and the South West second. Top goal scorer for the South West was Iain Grieg, from Cheltenham, who accounted for 17 of their 52 total.

Three South West players, including Cheltenham goalkeeper Woody Bayliss, won individual trophies awarded by the coaches for the seven best players of the tournament. Welsh player Jack Arthur, also from the Cheltenham club, was another trophy winner.

Overall, John Spicer was pleased with the result: "We had no stars in the team and it was a real team effort, displaying great depth, and this showed in the game against Wales. We were able to go to our bench and there was no difference in the quality of play."

Squad: Woody Bayliss, Chris Chamberlain, Tim Hatton, Jack Beer, Nathan Lewis, Tristan Bradshaw, Oliver Turl, Finn Taylor, Curtis Watkins, Jack Skerritt, Freddie Hedger, Iain Grieg, Will Odam. Coach John Spicer.

Mandy Bradshaw