Polytechnic secured an early advantage in their ongoing rivalry with reigning champions City of Manchester, winning 12-10 at Ponds Forge, Sheffield in the British Water Polo League (BWPL).
Caleb Simpson led the charge for Polytechnic, netting five goals as his team surged to a commanding 12-5 lead by the start of the final period. Despite a late push from Manchester, the result was never in doubt.
Meanwhile, Penguin sit at the top of the table after the opening weekend. They recorded a 13-8 victory over Cheltenham, making them the only team to take maximum points from two games. Andre Savic, Dennis Linde, and Tilemachos Pissas each contributed two goals in a dominating first period, where they outplayed Cheltenham 7-2.
One of the day’s most thrilling games saw Sheffield build an early 7-2 lead over Watford. However, they had to fight to hold on for a 17-15 win. Watford twice reduced Sheffield’s advantage to just a single goal, with Jarad Baker’s long-range effort bringing the score to 12-11 and Adam Heywood making it 13-12. But Sheffield managed to pull away once again with crucial strikes from Chris Armstrong, Connor Carpenter, and Corrran Bradley.
Earlier in the day, Welsh Wanderers cruised to a 15-7 win over Sutton & Cheam having drawn lost 14-13 the day before to Polytechnic in a shoot-out.
BWPL – Division 1 Standings
Penguin – 2 – 6 pts
Polytechnic – 1 – 3 pts
Welsh Wanderers – 1 – 3 pts
Manchester – 1 – 0 pts
Sheffield – 1 – 0 pts
Cheltenham – 1 – 0 pts
Watford – 2 – 0 pts
Sutton & Cheam – 2 – 0 pts
You can find all the results and schedule for the first phase here: https://data.bwpl.org/web/results/bwpl1dM1