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BRITISH GAS TEAM FINISH SECOND IN RUSSIAN TOURNAMENT 28th October [expand story] [collapse story] The British Gas Women’s Water Polo team played their third and final match in Russia against a strong Rgufk Izailovo Moscow side.
This match was set to be the toughest of the competition, against a team that, like the British side, hadn’t lost yet. The Russian club started very well and took a quick 4-1 lead by the end of the first quarter.
Britain’s Hannah Wild and Fran Leighton scored in the second quarter and despite putting up a strong defence the Moscow side continued to score. At the half way stage the British Gas team found themselves 6-3 down.
Both the third and the fourth quarter saw the team have few shooting opportunities with Moscow’s defence only allowing three shots on goal in open play. With one conversation in open play and another in a man-up situation the British side added two more goals to their total. Rgufk Izailovo Moscow continued to convert their opportunities and the match finished 11-5 to the Russians.
Having won two out of the three matches in this friendly competition the British Gas team finished second overall. British Gas defender Victoria Louise Hawkins won the Best Defender of the Competition Award.
These matches represent the start of the team’s preparation for the LEN European A Qualification tournament next April.
Programmes Manager, Joanna Wray, said of the tournament as a whole: “Overall the competition was an excellent start to the senior’s preparation for the European A Qualifiers in April, and I was extremely impressed with how well the team played considering it was the first competition since July.
“The athletes worked really well as a team and the competition usefully highlighted a few small areas that would be worked on in the coming months. The team will now head to a training camp in Manchester against the French team next week. Competitive play for the girls is essential for their development, and I am proud to be with the team supporting our goal through the next few years to the Olympics.”
Women’s head coach Szilveszter Fekete: “The friendly competition was very useful; we played well especially after four months with these being our first games. The team have only just started training, doing some fitness and swim training they played the competition, with only a few things missing like man-up tactics. We tried some new things and it is the best place to learn playing against the Russians.”
Overall Competition Standings 1. Rgufk Izailovo Moscow, Russia The British Gas Women’s Water Polo Team consists of:
Message for RTC members 21st October [expand story] [collapse story] Hi All, Just a reminder that the RTC is on this Friday 23 rd of October,but not the following week as its half term Could I also have all payments this Friday as I need to send them off. If you already paid ignore this e-mail. Amount : £55 Cheque payable to: ASA Thanks Bettina
Scott on top form 28th October [expand story] [collapse story]
First loss in Northern League for over 3 years 30th October [expand story] [collapse story]
Sedgefield lost their first Northern League game in over 3 years on Tuesday the 29th September at home (Newton Aycliffe) to Sheffield. We lost 12 -5 which was not as bad as expected with the young side which was put out due to many players being simply unavailable including our two GB players and many others
The Team - George Carpenter Snr , Greg Barker, Lee Gowland, Joseph Reed, Adam Woods, Frazer Foulds (GK) & Kirkley, Patrick Callan and Neil from Newcastle senior mens team
The 21-year-old from Spennymoor, County Durham, is one of the hottest properties in the game of water polo as he gears up for the 2012 Olympics and has just signed a professional contract with Victoria Tigers in the Australian National League.
But he’s expecting a rough ride particularly as water polo, hidden from the view of the referee under the water, is far rougher than many realise. Scott, whose dad George was an England international before forming the Sedgefield Water Polo Club in Newton Aycliffe, has risen to fame on the back of a string of impressive performances for Great Britain in the European Championships in Switzerland.
The former Barnard Castle pupil, who began playing when he was just six, scored 23 goals in the Championship and took the top goalscorer award as a host of professional clubs from Italy, America and Australia competed for his signature. “I never expected to play the sport professionally because it isn’t something British players normally get the chance to do,” said Scott, who has just finished a Business Studies degree at Manchester University and will play the sport professionally at least until the London Olympics in three years’ time.
“I’m really excited about going over to Australia to play and extremely flattered as well. I decided a few years ago that I wanted to give water polo a proper go and thankfully I’ve managed to improve enough to make a career out of it.
“We don’t have anything like a professional league in this country so to get the chance to play abroad is brilliant for me. It certainly wasn’t a difficult decision to make when the offer came in. I’m doing something I love and getting paid for it, who doesn’t want to get that chance in life?
“I also had an offer from an Italian Club which was incredible. The Italian League is the best in the world, but I’d already given my word to Victoria Tigers and I wasn’t going to break it. If the offer to go and play in Italy is still there when I get back from Australia I’ll jump at the chance.”
As one of the sport’s rising stars – he was the first person in this country to score more than 100 goals in a season – Scott knows he will have plenty to prove to the ultra-competitive Aussies when he begins a nine month stint with the Tigers next weekend.
Few of his new teammates will have heard of their young English signing and he is expecting a rough ride at first.
He said: “You get punched and kicked the whole time and it’s pretty physical. Plenty goes on under the water where the ref can’t see and you can sometimes come out of the water covered in bruises.
“Worse than that, there are times when a part of your body you really don’t want to be touched get squeezed as well. It hurts, but I’m capable of giving as good as I get. You have to be able to look after yourself and I’m sure the Aussies will be looking forward to a bit of Pom Bashing when I arrive. I’m going to have to prove myself to them pretty quickly because they don’t get many British guys over there and they won’t know much about me.”
An Aycliffe water polo player has just returned from the European Championships with a prestigious top scorer award as well as being offered three professional contracts to play abroad.
Scott Carpenter, 21 from Sedgefield Water Polo club is the first Great Britain player to ever win the esteemed accolade of top goal scorer. He scored 23 goals throughout the LEN B European Championships in Switzerland helped the Great Britain men’s team to fourth place – their best position in 40 years.
His spectacular performance certainly did not go unnoticed as Scott was offered three professional contracts to play abroad from teams in Italy, USA and Australia.
Carpenter who recently graduated in Business Studies from Manchester University modestly said: "I was delighted to win the award, but couldn’t have achieved it without the rest of the team. Achieving the best result we could as a team was more important and although it would have been nice to get a medal, I’m proud of the way we all played to achieve fourth place."
Scott has decided to take Victoria Tigers in Melbourne up on their offer of a contract and flies out mid October to commence the season.
"It’s quite a bit step for me, but I’m really exited about the move and am sure my game will improve so much by playing in a country where water polo is such a prominent sport" said Scott. He has also been top goal scorer in the first division of the National Water Polo League for the last three years and was the first person ever to score over 100 goals in a season. Quite an achievement for someone only 21.
Proud coach and father, George Carpenter said: "Scott has continued to impress me with not only his ability and skills in the pool, but his dedication and attitude out of the water. He has worked hard to balance his University studies and training and I’m very proud of what he has accomplished. I hope he can continue to be an inspiration to the younger members of Sedgefield Water Polo Club."
A successful start for Sedgeifled seniors in NL 20th August [expand story] [collapse story]
Fantastic result for GB men in Lugano September 09 - Top Scorer Scott Carpenter [expand story] [collapse story] The British Gas Water Polo team’s fantastic week at the LEN European B Championships came to an end as they were unsuccessful in their attempt to bring home a medal in Lugano, Switzerland. This is the British team’s best ever finish at a European Championships, and an improvement on last year’s sixth place finish. Adult Swimming May 09 [expand story] [collapse story] Please remember that there is a lane for adults every Tues and Thurs at Ayc and Spenny from 8 till 9pm.
Swimming is the best form of all round exercise and you can do your own thing or be advised by one of the coaches.
So come down from the balcony and give it a try!
Only £20 for a FULL YEAR Sedgefield once again prove to be the best in the North East with NL success! 16th May 09 [expand story] [collapse story] SEDGEFIELD played their home game with Liverpool in the Northern League at Newton Aycliffe Leisure Centre, In a keenly contested game Sedgefield managed to come out on top by 15 - 9.
Sedgefield gave a debut at this level to Adam Woods, 13, the youngest player ever to represent Sedgefield in the Northern League and they also included Mathias Reichel, 14 Lee Gowland, 16 and Frazer Krikley 16.
Once again Sedgefield had veteran ex Great Britain player Lee Cooke dictating things at the back and he also contributed two goals.
Up front Sedgefield had GB's leading player Scott Carpenter proving too much for Liverpool's defence, despite very heavy marking he contributed 10 goals. The other goals came from George Carpenter Junior with one in a rare appearance, Mark Gabrielle with one and veteran Richard Macallister, 49 with one.
The other members of the Sedgefield team were Joseph, Reed, Frazer Foulds, Chirs Gilbertson and George Carpenter Senior. Adam Woods in the Northern Echo May 09 [expand story] [collapse story]
Adam Woods’ all-round sporting talents see him compete on the athletics field, rugby pitch and in the swimming pool. The 13-year-old, from Kirk Merrington, near Spennymoor, County Durham, represents his school on several teams including athletics, in shot putt and discus, and he has recently started playing rugby.
But it is in the water that he excels and aims to play professional water polo and reach the Olympic and Commonwealth Games. He started playing for Sedgefield Water Polo Club when he was nine and under the guidance of coach George Carpenter has risen through the junior ranks.
In 2007, he was the club’s under 14’s player of the year and the following year it named him best overall player. Adam now trains at least 12 hours a week, regularly travels to Lancaster to play for its youth squad and is in the GB training programme.
In April, he completed a 7km swim in an hour and 50 minutes and hopes to beat that time this Sunday in aid of the Sedgefield club and children’s charity the NSPCC.
He said: “I’m proud of what I do and hope to play for the national team, one day professionally and in the Olympics.” Alasdair Steel, head of year eight at Spennymoor School where Adam is a pupil, said: “He is a naturally gifted all-round sportsman and puts in a lot of time and effort. His is an outstanding performance in a more unusual sport and we are very proud of him at the school.
Read more in the Northern Echo N&D Win for Sedgefield Men June 09 [expand story] [collapse story]
N&D LEAGUE
GB LEN women's team through to the finals July 09 [expand story] [collapse story] BRITISH GAS TEAM THROUGH TO WATER POLO FINAL
11th July 2009 Expectations were high for the British Gas team as they took on Slovakia for a place in the final of the LEN Women’s European Nations Trophy Water Polo Championships in Manchester.
Boosted by a full spectator gallery and an expectant atmosphere for the semi-final, the British team, sponsored by British Gas, got off to a strong start closing down space well in the early stages
Sustained pressure from the Britain Gas team saw Fran Leighton capitalise on a multi-pass build up to give GB a 2-0 lead. Chloe Wlicox showed great speed moving up the pitch, to extend the British lead to 3-0. Leighton then picked up another to make it 4-0.
The British Gas team came out quickly at the start of the second quarter with Wilcox scoring her second and third goals of the match early on to take the score to 6-1.
A defensive mix up let Slovakia in, Michaela Migrova took full advantage making the score 6-2. Undaunted, The British Gas team moved to the other end with Fiona McCann scoring a quick reply.
An accurate lob from Martina Kunikova brought Slovakia back into the match with a 7-3 score line to bring the first half to a close.
Hazel Musgrove opened the scoring in the second half to score from an acute angle to give Britain an 8-3 lead. Winstanley-Smith added another two shortly after, both from close range and unselfish play from Wilcox gifted her her fourth of the match to take the score to 11-3. With the British Gas team now looking very confident, Hannah Wild got her name on the score sheet making it 12-3. Wilcox scored another soon after to end the third quarter with a ten goal cushion.
McCann took the Slovakian defence by surprise for Britain’s 14th goal shortly after the restart.
Play moved swiftly to the other end where Migrova scored a well-taken goal to make the score 14-4 in Britain’s favour.
A fifth goal for Slovakia narrowly crept in giving Migrova her hat-trick and keeping the Slovaks in the game.
Great Britain hit back on the counter attack with Ros Griffiths scoring almost immediately; followed by another quick response as Vavroda scored for Slovakia. Winstanley-Smith then continued the tit-for-tat scoring with another goal to make the score 17-6.
Hajkova pulled another back for Slovakia to reduce Britain’s advantage.
Winstanley-Smith completed her double hat-trick with a neat finish and Wilcox completed the scoring in the final seconds of the match to end with a very convincing 19-7 victory for Great Britain.
A thrilled British captain, Ros Griffiths said after the match; “We were slow to start and they weren’t playing their defence as we thought they would so we changed it up soon after we started. They put so many counter attacks on us but both our goalies played exceptionally well. “We are really looking forward to playing in the final. Hopefully we’ll go one better than last time and win it. The crowd were absolutely amazing tonight; they really stepped it up and helped us perform.”
The other semi final promised to be a hard-fought affair between the winners of Group A, Czech Republic, and a Ukraine side who were victorious against Portugal in yesterday’s quarter-final.
Ukraine got on the score sheet with three and a half minutes of the match gone, they put pressure of the Czech defence with Kseniya Kurvicheva scoring the goal.
Czech Republic came back straight away with a speedy reply from Veronika Bartunkova and were beginning to find their rhythm with Karolina Famerova adding another in quick succession.
The Ukraine team retaliated immediately with a well placed goal from Olga Shvedova to draw to a close a frantic first quarter. A close-range clinical finish from Votavova increased the Czech lead to 4-2 early in the second quarter, closely followed by an attack on the break to complete her hat-trick.
A massive build up from Ukraine culminated in a goal for Anna Khomchik bringing the score back to 5-3.
Hendrychova scored her second goal shortly after to extend the lead of a now rampant Czech team. A goal from an acute angle for Famerova took the score to 9-3 to bring the first half to a close.
The Czech team came out firing on all cylinders at the start of the second half with Votavova scoring an early goal.
Sustained pressure then followed from the Czech Republic culminated in a goal for Bartunkova.
Some neat passing from the Ukraine side followed, resulting in a goal for Kurvicheva which completed her hat-trick and keep them in the match. This brought the third quarter to a close with the Czech Republic leading 11-5.
A tiring Ukraine side fought well in the final quarter with Kurvicheva scoring her fourth of the match; however the Czech Republic fired straight back with another goal from Votovova taking the score to 12-6. Hendrychova and Bartunkova then added two more to take the Czech tally to 14. Kotova and Shvedova pulled back two goals late on for Ukraine but it was merely a consolation as Czech Republic were victorious with a final score of 14-8.
The result means the Czech Republic will now face the Great Britain side in tomorrow’s final.
After the match Czech Republc’s Bartunkova said; “We are very excited and happy to be in the final.It was our goal coming into the tournament and we have accomplished it.
“Our coach gave us a plan coming into the match, I think we were quicker than them and they were tired from yesterday which helped us out.” On a final against the British team Bartunkova said; “Great Britain are very good, there are some differences between us but it should be a good match. It will be interesting for the fans to watch and we are excited to play the home team.”
Earlier in the day the 5th/6th place play off saw Croatia and Portugal match up. Both teams were disappointed not to make the semi-final stages of the competition, as they finished as runners up in their preliminary groups, but were now playing for national pride.
Portugal got off to an excellent start, with their star player Mariana Sarmento opening the scoring with just 40 seconds of the game gone. They continued to pressurise, having a number of good chances and hitting the woodwork three times. However they failed to make the most of their early opportunities and were caught on the counter attack as Maja Kalauz equalised for Croatia.
The Croatian defence left Portugal too much space and Ines Braga capitalised to restore their lead.
A powerful shot from the Portuguese number 9, Vania Vieira, further extended their lead early in the second quarter, followed by a well worked move from Portugal which saw Sarmento complete her hat-trick with some clinical finishing.
A well taken goal from Vieira capitalised on a Croatian exclusion to further extend Portugal’s lead to 6-1.
Before the half was finished Sarmento added two more goals with a well taken penalty and in the closing minute of the half created some space for herself in front of goal to add another and give Portugal an 8-1 lead at half time.
Croatia came out fighting in the second half with Lucija Topic making the most of an opportunity in front of goal to pull the score back to 8-2. A second penalty for Sarmento was neatly finished to score her 6th goal of the match and restore Portugal’s seven goal advantage.
An extended spell of Croatian pressure on the Portuguese goal saw them unable to make the most of their opportunities as a fine display from the Portuguese keeper, Caroline Faria, kept them out as Portugal concluded a low-scoring third quarter with their 9-2 lead intact.
A defensive Portuguese team came out for the second half looking to protect their lead. Despite more Croat pressure, Portugal caught them on the counter attack causing a defensive blunder resulting a further goal for Sarmento. Croatia’s pressure finally paid off with a goal from Emmi Miljkovic to make the score 10-3 in Portugal’s favour.
Two long range goals from Sarmento proved she can score from anywhere, further increasing Portugal’s score.
An excellent long range goal from Katarina Majlat and a goalmouth effort from Karmela Tvrdic of Croatia pulled back a couple of goals in the dying seconds of the match, but it was a token effort as Portugal closed the game out for a 12-5 victory.
Portugal’s Naida Mariani said after the match; “It was a pretty good win for us. We defended well but also Mariana helped us out with the goals. “We are a little bit disappointed not to be in the semi-finals but overall the tournament went according to plan.”
Mariana Sarmento finished her tournament with a haul of 27 goals leaving her as the tournament’s highest scorer currently although she will contest no further matches.
The atmosphere inside the Manchester Aquatics Centre was electric as the Great Britain side, sponsored by British Gas, squared up to the Czech Republic in the final of the LEN Women’s European Nations Trophy.
It promised to be a close affair as both teams had already impressed in the tournament, finishing top of their preliminary groups and convincingly winning their respective semi-finals.
Britain’s Hannah Wild got the team on the score sheet inside the first minute with a well-taken penalty, and found the back of the net again soon after with a lovely goal tipped over the keeper’s head, opening up a two-goal lead for the British Gas team.
A strong Czech attack was held-off by Rosie Morris who was on top form again, but Veronika Bartunkova managed to sneak two past to equalised for a determined Czech team just before the end of the first period.
Pulling ahead for the first time, the Czech Republic took the score-line to 3-2 in their favour and Britain’s attacks seemed fruitless as captain Ros Griffiths hit the woodwork.
Wild secured her hat-trick to bring the British Gas team level, and after an excellent save by Morris the British team countered with Fiona McCann’s sprint down the left-hand side edging the team into a 4-3 lead.
Under pressure from Barbora Krasova, Angela Winstanley-Smith found the form that helped the British Gas team win their semi-final and gave them a two goal lead. But Bartunkova shot back with a low ball past a lacking British defence bringing them back to within one goal at half time. Winstanley-Smith got the better of the Czech defence early on in the second half and got herself nicely placed to put away her second of the match.
An overwhelmed British Gas team watched on as Bartunkova found the back of the net for the fifth and sixth time to level at six-all going into the final period.
Francesca Clayton took Great Britain to 7-6 with five minutes remaining thanks to a well earned penalty, swiftly followed by Wild’s fourth shot past the keeper to go 8-6 ahead.
With three minutes left on the clock the British Gas team built up a good attack that was finished off by Fiona McCann to give a three goal lead. Swiftly followed by Aneta Hendrychova’s goal for Slovakia, which clawed them back to within two, but it was not enough to overcome the British Gas team who finished strongly to win the title 9-7 after a second place finish at the last Championships.
The British Gas team’s goal keeper, Rosie Morris said: “We’ve done what we came here to do and we’re so happy about that.
“All of the girls played really well and everyone scored at some point during the tournament apart from me and Robyn [Nicholls, goal keeper], which just shows you the strength of the team.”
British Gas team captain Ros Griffiths summed up the match and the tournament as a whole: “Fantastic! It was tougher than we thought at times, but we got what we wanted. “We’ll go away now and calm down and reflect on what we have achieved here before getting back into training.
“The crowd have been absolutely amazing all week and it’s been really good for the team to have them here supporting us.” British Gas team coach Szilveszter Kekete watched on as the team were awarded their medals. He said: “I’m very happy to see the team win.
“They’ll have a week off now and then get back into training.
“They worked really hard in the match, they were a little nervous going in, but they performed well.” World Class Performance Manager for British Water Polo Joanna Wray added:
“It’s brilliant! Lots of hard work has gone into this, but is all worth it when you see the smiles on their faces.” British Swimming Chief Executive David Sparkes was pleased with the way the team performed:
“What a fantastic result! I have been so impressed by the way the Water Polo team have improved.
“The whole team played at another level to the other teams in the Tournament. The challenge now is to work hard to take on the much more daunting task of qualifying for the European A Championships in 2011.
“The team have now shown what they can do and we will renew our efforts to find the missing funding for them following the 75% cut in UK Sport Funding announced earlier this year. I am sure however the team were also inspired by the visit and support they received earlier in the week from Prince William.”
With a place on the podium at stake, Slovakia and Ukraine lined up in the bronze medal match in what was sure to be a close contest. Having both suffered tough defeats yesterday the teams were eager to redeem themselves and leave the tournament with a medal around their neck.
The ball traveled the length of the pool on numerous occasions never managing to find the back of the net despite some strong attacks from Slovakia’s Michaela Migrova, and for the first time this tournament the opening quarter remained goalless.
Ukraine’s Anastasiya Kutova got her fire power in order early at the start of the second period. Opening up proceedings, she fired a long-range shot into Slovakia’s goal adding to her 15 goal tally for the competition.
Kutova’s second came quickly after Slovakia’s keeper was excluded leaving the goal open.
Incomplete attacks were frequent as the defence on each side was too strong and dominating the offence, but Slovakia’s Paula Lacikova was able to level the score line four minutes into the third with some excellent one-on-one play.
Kutova secured her hat-trick with an outside range shot and despite Slovakia making many of the attacking plays they were unable to finish them off.
Shvedova opened the gap further drilling the ball past the keeper before a Slovakian gamble paid off and Lacikova netted Slovakia’s third goal of the match.
Three good chances for Slovakia came in the last three minutes, but none of them resulted in a goal.
An overjoyed Shvedova said after the match: “I am very proud of my team, they all performed really well.
“We are so happy to have won the bronze medal, it was a difficult match and we all worked hard.
The tournament saw a number of spectacular individual performances, not least from Portugal’s Mariana Sarmento who finished as the competition’s top goal scorer with a personal tally of 27.
Talking after collecting her Top Goal Scorer award Sarmento said; “Winning this is like a consolation prize, it makes me very happy. It is something for the whole team but I would swap it for a medal if I could. We didn’t reach our major goal which was going on the podium.” Chloe Wilcox finished as Great Britain’s highest scorer with 19 goals, making her joint third top scorer overall.
An award was also presented for the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. This was voted for by the players, and was awarded to Czech Republic’s Veronika Bartunkova. She finished as the competition’s second highest goal scorer, with a personal haul of 22, and was also instrumental in a very close final scoring six of her team’s seven goals.
Great Britain, along with Czech Republic and Ukraine will now go on to meet the bottom five teams from the European A Championships at a qualification tournament in January 2010 to determine the nations competing in the A Championships in 2011.
Sedgefield Ladies V Sunderland/Durham City
The Team: Carol Mohan, Sarah Scott, Jessica Millar, Abbey Turnbull, Alice Woods, Megan, Rhiannon Foulds, Sarah Sanderson, Ellie Cliffe, Rebecca and Georgina Naylor and Charlotte Nichols.
Rules of Water Polo have changed! 26th July 09 [expand story] [collapse story]
GB Men 11th August 09 [expand story] [collapse story]
Sedgefiled players return from Milfield 13th August 09 [expand story] [collapse story]
Adam Woods, Alice Woods and Sarah Sanderson all Sedgefield players and atendees of RTC have returned from Milfield School in Sommerset after a full week of intense training at the RTC summer camp. They did 2 1 1/2 hours training, 3 hours of S&C finished off with 3 1/2 hours match play so well done to them.
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A TEENAGE sportsman trains in the pool every day of the week in a bid to reach his dream of competing at his chosen sport’s top level.
