Our 14 & unders took on Royton in the Manchester and District League with ten players four of whom had no previous experience of a water polo match. Luke Atkinson 11 years made his debut in the shallow end goal and played two fantastic quarters, Ben Daley(12), Jack Yates(12) and Max Tyson (12) were all playing in their first competitive game.
The first quarter was a wakeup call attacking the shallow, never easy and Warrington caught on the break by Royton. The quarter finished 8-1 to Royton it looked like it could be a long evening. The second half saw Luke Atkinson (11) play in goal releasing Tom Pye into the outfield. Warrington was transformed in the second quarter with two goals from Connie Gregson and a goal each for Tom Pye and Adam Farini and conceded only one goal. At 5-9 the game was finely balanced. The third quarter Warrington had learnt their lessons from the first quarter although still difficult to score into the shallow end but only three goals conceded. The third quarter ended 5-12. The final quarter saw us using our substitutes who were having their first taste of water polo in a live match environment. Our established players were starting to look tired against a Royton who took six players out to replace with six fresh players. The quarter was evenly matched with Warrington scoring three goals, two from Connie Gregson who dominated in the centre forward position and Adam Farini with a powerful shot from 5 metres into the corner of the net. Royton scored four goals in the final quarter and won the match 16-8.
The team included Luke Atkinson, Stanley Mainwaring, Sam Cooper, Tom Costello, Constance Gregson, Tom Pye, Ben Daley, Jack Yates, Adam Farini and Max Tyson