On Saturday twelve of our U14 players headed to Maltby Leisure Centre, home of Rotherham Metro Water Polo Club, for the Northern League U14 Tournament.

Gareth explained during the briefing that we’d be playing six games, all with two half’s of eight minutes. It’d be a rolling clock, meaning the clock doesn’t stop as goals are scored, so time would go quickly and we’d need to play fast attack and lock down our defence.

As it was going to be a long afternoon, the players dropped their kit in a Group Change area which they decided would be the team base for the rest of the day. It was great to have this space, as the players had somewhere to chill out between matches – whether that was playing UNO and various other card games, revising for up-coming tests at school, or snacking (too many Haribos to count) and even having noodles made with a flask of hot water from home!

And so it began...

Match 1: Morley
A tough game, especially going into it knowing that Morley had beaten us only two weeks ago. The game started with a strong centre attack from Morley and continued in the same vein, finishing 1:3 to Morley (with Oscar scoring our goal).

Match 2: Sheffield
Jessica started the match with a quick goal, followed by two more from Oscar. The players were getting into the rhythm and did what they’d been asked to do – hips up, good defence, strong attack. The second half saw Jessica and Caitlin popping another ball each into the net! The match finished 5:0 to Grantham. Fantastic!

Match 3: Rotherham
This match was so fast-paced! The speed brought a few errors and panic passes, with Oscar scoring two goals and Jessica one. Final score 3:6 to Rotherham.

Match 4: Sedgefield
A lower scoring game but unfortunately following a similar pattern to the previous match. Sedgefield took the lead, and were then awarded a penalty in the last minute, which they scored, followed by another goal in quick succession. Final score 0:3 to Sedgefield.

Match 5: Liverpool
The team put in a really strong performance, playing really well together and getting the ball into the back of the net. Goals were scored by Jessica (2), Oscar and Leo bringing a final score to 4:3 to Grantham.

Match 6: Tyldesley
The final match of the day, and as the day’s events were running behind schedule we were informed it’d be an eight minute game with no break. By this point our players were getting tired and it took less than 30 seconds for Tyldesley to take the lead. They scored a second goal in the second minute and so this tough match continued, bringing a final score of 0:7 to Tyldesley.

Overall Grantham took fifth place out of the seven teams attending. Rotherham were the worthy winners - well done!

1st – Rotherham
2nd – Tyldesley
3rd – Morley
4th – Sedgefield
5th – Grantham
6th – Liverpool
7th – Sheffield

Click here for the full results.

As our day drew to a close, Gareth promised to take the lessons learned from the tournament back to training sessions over the coming weeks and months, focussing on attacking.

And so they did, at 7am this morning!