2017

Poly Promoted to Division 1

Sore heads and weary bodies aplenty this morning, after a successful final weekend in the BWPL for the Poly.

The team went into the weekend knowing that their destiny was in their hands, and that two wins would be enough to see them return to the premier of British Water Polo.

On Saturday, Poly came up against City of Bristol, who have had a tough season, having missed out on the Super 5s for the first time in a number of years. Their last chance of promotion back into Division 1 rested on winning this game, and they brought a strong squad down to Watford with them. Poly knew they had to win as well, and this led to an action packed game.

Despite wasting numerous chances, Poly played some good polo and looked strong, and went into the second-half of the game with a deserved 8-5 lead. However, the game took a twist in the third quarter when Bristol had a played excluded for a brutality, which meant they had to play for 4 minutes with a man down. That should have been that, but the team became complacent, and when the four minutes were up and Bristol restored to a full compliment, they started a comeback. 12-5 suddenly became 12-9, and with 5 minutes to go Bristol looked like they had the momentum behind them. A Poly goal changed that, and was enough to see out the game and the much-needed victory.

Bristol 10 - 13 Poly

GOALS: Chris I (4), Sergio (3), Andre (3), Fede, Lyndon, Luke (1)

Results elsewhere went as expected, with Sheffield and Invicta taking two of the three promotion positions. The final promotion spot would go to the winner of the final game of the season, between Poly and Sutton and Cheam. The game started very nervy, as to be expected with promotion at stake. Bizarrely, 2 players from each team were wrapped within the 1st quarter, further exacerbating an already intense game. The depleted teams admirably kept their heads, and an exciting, if not very tense, game ensued. A mixture of Poly wastefulness and an on-form Sutton goalkeeper saw chance after chance missed, and Sutton took advantage of this and shot into a 5-2 lead midway through the third-quarter. However, as we've seen time and time again this season, this Poly team doesn't know when it's beaten. Two quick goals from Captain Chris, and an equaliser from Luke took the wind out of Sutton's sails, and it was all square going into the final quarter. A very tense final quarter saw both teams struggle to convert chances, and Matteo was in top form as he thwarted a number of Sutton attempts. Then, with 4 minutes of the season left, the game took a dramatic twist, as Lynn/Lyndon scored a delightful lob, putting Poly into the lead for the first time since the first quarter, and the fightback was complete. A few scares, and some fantastic defending saw the game out, and Poly were back in Division 1.

Sutton and Cheam 5 - 6 the Poly

GOALS: Chris I (2), Brian, Fede, Luke, Lyndon (1)

A fantastic season overall, and a deserved promotion. The team are in a fantastic position to push on next year, and maintain a first division place. Credit goes to the great effort from all the players, to the great support from Gary, Rambo, Birdy, and especially Reddick, and above all to the unbelievable work from Chris Icely, who has gone above and beyond to get the team into this position. We all look forward to celebrating with you at the dinner on the 24th March. See you then.

BWPL Match Reports: Week 1, Sheffield

Weekend 1, Championship 1. Polytechnic has the weight of history behind it; the oldest waterpolo club in history, the most successful waterpolo club in Britain and never out of Division 1 until a few seasons ago, it is fair to say things have been tough for the Poly in recent years. Several seasons in Division 2, one difficult season back in the premier competition and a time of flux, with old players retiring and financial strain taking it´s toll, the Poly faces it´s biggest challenge in many a year. Having finally climbed back into Division 1 and the off-field status of the club as healthy as it has been in years, the hard work has just begun. Preparation for this season has been the most intense and focused in recent memory, with an extra session a week on Thursdays at the Olympic Park, Alberto Lotti flying over from Italy to run an intensive training week of 5 concurrent sessions and Poly´s first ever playbook. Finally, the season is here and this weekend was the first chance to see if the wealth of recent talent influx into the team, combined with the efforts of training have created a team that is serious about competing at this level once more.

Caledonia 11 – 10 Polytechnic

Caledonia were a super 5s team last season; whilst they don´t have specific threats that pose a significant challenge, they are a fit, cohesive and well drilled team that clearly have the ability to punish teams. Coach Gary Simons had done his research and identified the defensive drop from position 2 that Caledonia would subsequently play and Poly set up to use the free attacking player as a passing position, with a rotating drive on the left creating space for the cross pass from position 2 to position 4 followed by a first time shot. Additionally, a second centre-forward turning in from position 5 could provide a second threat from the strong side. Poly started well, with Campbell “Bambi” Gregory scoring the first from 2m on his debut, followed by captain Chris Icely doubling the lead with a nice cross cage off the pass. Defensively, Poly´s tight press and front marking of the centre-forward was proving effective, with resident tinder expert Joan Secanell transferring those skills into a cloying defensive posture at centre-back. With limited options in attack, Caledonia did not post a goal on the scoreboard until 5 mins into the first quarter. Despite a promising start, Poly failed to take control of the game and started closing the space in front of the drop before trying to feed the now overcrowded centre-forwards. Poly had no answer to four goals in succession from Caledonia and found themselves 2-4 down towards the end of quarter 2. Poly were now struggling to assert themselves in attack, either becoming static or failing to test the keeper from the arc. South African International Chris Brown found range twice before the end of the quarter to bring parity at 4-4, but Poly were not looking dangerous offensively.

Poly found themselves surprisingly 2 goals down once again at the start of quarter 3; surprising because Caledonia remained predictable in attack and for the most part, Poly defended well. At times the centre-back was caught too high, trying to front mark with the centre-forward on 5m; some fortunate rebounds later and Poly were again chasing the game. Joan Secanell pulled one back as one of the few players to take the shot on from position 2 when inside 6m, followed by captain Chris Icely and a bullish effort in centre-forward by Jeremy Johnson, rolling the ball over the line by sheer force of will. In the words of Federico Carruci, “it was not pretty”, even drawing a giggle out of Chris Brown. But goals are goals and Poly closed quarter 3 a goal ahead as a result. Unfortunately quarter 4 began to turn in Caledonia’s favor; a goal apiece from Chris and Chris aka Ice Brown and a debut goal for new Italian Giacomo Cupido, or is it Canelloni, or Carbonara? Whatever, it wasn’t enough. The outstanding statistic from the match was Polytechnic 8 exclusions, Caledonia 3. Over the course of a match that statistic alone speaks volumes and ultimately was responsible for this agonizingly narrow defeat. Still, much to be encouraged by and much more to play for.

Cheltenham 10 – 13 Polytechnic

Cheltenham were missing one or two important players and having lost their first game, this was a good weekend to play them. They are however the defending champions and no game is going to be easy in this league. Poly were impressive overall in this game and posed multiple threats from across the pool. Centre-forward, second centre-forward and arc were all dangerous and goals came from all areas. Poly conceded the first goal, but this was the only time they were behind for the entire match. Chris Icely restored parity, shortly followed by Chris Brown, who showed an intense interest in shining the left hand upright for the rest of the match and his game was remarkable for the fact that he only managed to leave the pool with one goal, which was half his number of kick-outs (remember who your Daddy is Chris). Hungarian hero Peter Benedek (no relation) ripped in the first of his brace and marked yet another debut national league goal before the end of quarter 1 and from here Poly took control of the game. Never behind again and stretching into a four goal lead, Poly were far more active, driving through the Cheltenham drop, setting up two centre-forwards and converting from extra-man. Poly kept the pressure on. It was also reassuring that Poly won the defensive contest this game, with 9 exclusions to Cheltenham’s 10.

Cheltenham are not champions for nothing and they clawed the deficit back to two goals, but the game was kept beyond their reach throughout with the Italian contingent raining in goals late on. First a delicious cross pass and first time scorcher from Michele Pappardelle, followed by a screamer from Federico Lasagna. Not to be outdone and keen to build on his three minutes from game 1, Lorenzo Calzone chucked one in at the death to seal a strong victory for the Poly. An assured display, not without errors, but with increased game fitness and a little more cut-throat finishing, this game could have been put away even more emphatically. As coach Gary Simons commented at the end of the game, it is hard to recall a time in many a year since Poly showed such attacking prowess. There are many things to iron out, but overall, this was an encouraging first weekend back in Division 1 and one thing is certainly clear. Poly did not look out of place.

- JEREMY JOHNSON

Poly Finish 2nd in Division 1

Polytechnic travelled to Lancaster for the final weekend of games before the table split. We were in 6th position, on the borderland between Super 5s and relegation battle. At the start of the season the team had set a primary goal or making the Super 5s, with a promising team filled with ability and pedigree, but as yet showing signs of genuine ability, without the results to show for it. Failing to put Solihull to the sword whilst leading for the majority of the game, allowing Lancaster too much attacking play and gifting Caledonia their only win of the season was juxtaposed against a muscular display against champions Cheltenham and the promise that Poly could dominate against tough opposition. Two wins was a must for Super 5 status, but three wins would send a message.

Invicta 8 - 13 Polytechnic

Invicta occupied 7th place in the table going into the weekend, one place and one point behind Poly; losing this game would make the rest of the weekend an uphill battle and Poly were aware that despite being below us in the league, Invicta had shown their ability with a win over Manchester, a draw with Sheffield and narrow loses to Cheltenham and Solihull. It was clear that they were no walkover. Missing their talisman Sean King, there was a sense that they were vulnerable, but Poly could afford to give no quarter in such a high-stakes game. Tactically, Poly elected to start with a press defence, with Jorge Garijo and Joan Secanell playing with focus and skill at centre-back and the Poly attack setting up to play with a passer/driver on 2 and a second centre-forward from the wings. Poly shipped two counterattack goals with a slow start following a long travel, but pulled the game back to 2-2 with goals from Chris Brown and the returning Lyndon Cranley who has struggled with injury in the build up to the season, but shown some fine form since returning to action. Campbell “Bambi” Gregory took Poly into the lead with some explosive centre-forward play; not to be outdone by his junior countryman, captain Chris Icely followed suit. Invicta continued to battle, restoring parity with some long-range shooting, despite Poly identifying this as a key area to shut down in the pre-match team talk. Jeremy Johnson took Poly back into the lead with an assist from Giacomo Cupido, who then added a goal of his own moments later. Invicta tried to fight back once again, but once Poly moved to a drop, with a high press from position three shuttling between the Invicta two and three positions, Poly started to pile on the pressure, with 6 unanswered goals from Peter Benedek, Chris Brown, Giacomo Cupido, Luke Jones and Joan Secanell.

Overall, this was a very solid performance, with a comfortable margin; Poly started slowly, taking some time to get their heads clear in the first quarter and suffering from a failure to follow the pre-match tactic of shutting down their key shooters with discipline. Nonetheless, this was a platform on which to build.

Manchester 7 – 8 Polytechnic

Manchester were also to play their match against the Poly without one of their key players, but remained strong opposition and the Poly knew that this was likely to go the distance. Having had particular success with the drop in game 1, Poly elected to play a similar defensive tactic and once again set up with multiple attacking threats from both centre-forward positions and shooters off the arc. The game was tempestuous, with questionable refereeing decisions creating a chaotic affair that stifled what may have been a decent game of waterpolo. Attacking exclusions from centre-forward, innocuous kick-outs from the centre of the pool, a case of mistaken identity leading to Federico Carucci being incorrectly labelled with an additional exclusion and unfairly wrapped as a result meant that this game was as hard to watch as it was to play. In defence Poly looked comfortable for the most part, with limited threats from centre-forward, forcing low-percentage shooting from distance. The Poly’s defensive discipline was their strongest asset and a critical aspect of this game; a wildly lopsided count of 13 majors to Manchesters’ modest 6 effectively created 3 or 4 extra goals for Poly’s opponents and it is testament to the fighting spirit and quality within the team that Poly managed not only to remain relatively calm, but force a victory in a match that could have easily run away from us. The attacking display was understandably erratic, but goals from Giacomo Cupido, the South African triumvirate of Chris Brown, Chris Icely and Campbell Gregory, fellow southern hemisphere harrier Lyndon Cranley and a gloriously disguised shot out of the hand from Gareth Keen ultimately gave Poly victory.

Sheffield 6 – 12 Polytechnic

Furious calculations were being made from the moment Poly took victory number two and looked almost certain to qualify for Super 5s. Almost. Based on calculations radioed in by Simon Gardner-Bond, 25 results would put Poly through without further points required, but two permutations could still put Poly out of the Super 5s. With two victories secured, Poly were not about to start hoping for results to do the work for us and focused on taking a third scalp to cap a fine weekend. Sheffield play off two key players, with limited but effective attacking options if not correctly martialled. Confidence was flowing through the Poly by now and this was a dominant display. A tight press with front marking in centre-back and high work rate overall in defence severely blunted the Sheffield attack. At the other end of the pool, Sheffield were unable to deal with the range of attacking threats posed by the Poly, who took an early 3-0 lead following goals from Chris Brown, Campbell Gregory and Giacomo Cupido, a margin that would never be recovered for the rest of the match. Focused defence, excellent man-up play and confident shooting meant that Poly started to rain down goals, with Chris Brown and Giacomo Cupido having a personal scoring contest ending in four goals apiece, with Giacomo Cupido just managing take ownership of Poly goal of the season from Gareth Keen (for now). Jorge Garijo capped an outstanding defensive performance at centre-back with the final goal of the game, ripping a long-range effort over the goalkeeper’s shoulder; such was the Poly’s defensive presence, that they gave away only 3 majors in the entire match.

This weekend was an opportunity for Poly to fulfil the pre-season goal of making Super 5s; what they managed to do was lay down a serious marker of intent and signal to the other teams in the division that we mean business and can seriously challenge for honours this season. There remain, as ever, points for improvement, but if this team brings the level of focus and discipline shown in the matches played this weekend, then there should be reason why we cannot put ourselves right in the mix. A merry Christmas to all and a banging new year.

Poly Masters at the World Championships in Budapest

Not since the year 2000 in München have The Poly paraded themselves in the FINA World Masters stage, but this summer in the spiritual home of our sport ( no, not The City University pool) on Margaret Island in Budapest we re-entered the world stage.

A collection of "has beens, never weres, could have beens and a Penguin stalwart" gathered themselves under the motto – “the older we get the better we were”. The Poly 50+ assembled and did the introductions not as tradition would have it, in the bar the night before, but on a dark and rainy poolside a few hours before our opening morning match against the Sunday Boys from Hungary, in the pool where a few weeks prior had seen the World Championship Finals between Hungary and Croatia played out.

Despite coach Hallwood setting out a cunning matrix based plan, we quickly went 2 down before we'd even had a chance to shout at each other! However, things quickly turned round and we found ourselves 2 goals up with 2 minutes to play - enter stage left Poly legend Kevin Rhino Roberts to discuss tactics, and also enter to replace the two good and even referees with two ridiculously moustachioed Hungarian supporting referees - we salvaged a creditable 8-8 draw.

The following group games saw defeat to São Paulo and a victory over Scottstown for USA to qualify us for the quarter- final playoffs. For once the draw was favourable and we lined up against the Argentinian team Pampas, a few conflict of interest for our Argentinian Penguin we pondered - not a bit of it!!! In the original indoor Alfred Hojas pool we hit top gear 5-0 in first period - game over!!! We played it our for a comfortable 10-4 victory to qualify for the top 8.

A well earned celebration of the rooftop bar of Budapest with Poly players and friends from across the world ensued - Steve (beaker) Robinson and son Keith; Michael Hopkins (hoppy), Robbie Cullinhame, Leigh Farnell and Ray Powers from City Beach in Perth; Jogi and Wee Stevie from Germany; Rick Ambridge from Olympic Club, along with late arrival, the king of gimps, Pim Hendrix from City Beach - all joining the fun.

In qualifying from the top 8 there was frantic rearrangement of flights, with some unbelievers not expecting to be playing at the finals weekend. However, coach hallwood was unable to hang around, so we went into our biggest challenge against the reigning +45 world champions from 2 years previous, the Happy Hippos, essentially the Hungarian team from the mid 1990s - unfortunately we could not make them unhappy, a well fought game but they were stronger than us and had the last laugh, we went down 7-2.

Our next challenge brought us up against another Poly player of the past Luís Guilherme Prates and his team from Rio, another well contested game - but again our fire power was lacking and we went down by 2.

Our final contest provided the opportunity to avenge the earlier defeat by São Paulo, another cracking game supported by McCartney and Hagemann proving the commentary on the live web stream. But again we came up short, going down by 1. So a highly creditable 8th out of the 16 teams in the 50+ event, and finishing well above City Beach.

The event itself was one of the best organised and presented any of us have ever attended, it was all about water polo - proper presentation of the game, Olympic size game boards, 6 pitches in the 6 pools in the complex - and a cracking positive atmosphere throughout.

The Poly team:

Paul Annegarn, John Clark, RobEastman, Gary Simons, Keith Jones, Miguel Ortiz, Alan Anderson. Mark Williams, Andy Pring, Rob Stamp, Alan Shepherd, Alan Runcie, Phil Hallwood – and thanks to those who came along and supported as well.

So we're back in the map, with offers galore for further competition, for those interested in pulling teams together

2018

Spanish Masters, Lanzarote – 19-21 April

Jogi Tournament - Gronau / Munster – 17- 19 August

European Masters - Kranj, Slovenia http://www.emc2018.com/ 26 – 31 August

2019

World masters - Gwangju, South Korea

- Alan Anderson, Masters Team Big Toe