Last Thursday, eleven of our U14s whizzed up the A1 to Leeds for a match against Morley.

The Team Talk before the match covered the rules we’d have to play by; for some players it was their first time playing a match in a pool with a shallow end. Gareth explained that it’s a narrow pool too, so would feel crowded at times, meaning that our players would be having to remember when their feet could, and could not, touch the bottom whilst avoiding being crowded out.

“Have fun, learn new things” was the instruction!

Q1 got off to a furiously quick start, with Morley scoring within the first minute while our players were still getting used to keeping their feet up. But we equalled within a few seconds with Jessica scoring, followed by a very impressive backshot from Thomas and a goal from Oscar in quick succession. Morely tried to catch up but Oscar wasn’t having it, and by the end of the quarter Grantham were winning by four goals to two following another goal by Oscar. Let’s not mention the three majors we’d also been awarded.

Q2 flew by as goals flew into the net, unfortunately our net. Oscar scored an impressive two more goals while Morley managed to hit the back of our net a total of six times.

Play evened out in Q3 and the scores were nail-biting-ly close by the end of the quarter after Oscar scored a couple more goals, with Jimmin and Jack also contributing to the score – Jack in the last 27 seconds of play. But the majors kept coming, too, with Jessica red carded. With one more quarter to go, we were only one goal down at 11:10. It was all to play for!

Alas, it wasn’t to be. In Q4 Morley scored first, followed by Oscar, and then another three goals from Morley, who won by 15:11.

It had been a fast and furious, difficult match; even the Refs disagreeing at times. Our Grantham players held their heads high, ready for the long drive home and no doubt lots of discussions in the car before finally getting back long after 11pm – late for a school night but worth it for the new experience of a shallow pool for our younger players!

Well done everyone, and thanks as always to the parents who served once again as a taxi service.