Clean sweep for City of Manchester to defend U15s title

City of Manchester emerged victorious after an all North West final at the Swim England National Age Group Championships (U15s) boys competition.

The Manchester side made it through to the final without losing a match. They faced Bridgefield to see who would take home the title from the Manchester Aquatics Centre.

Top performances from defending champions

City of Manchester sailed through the group stages with little fuss. They defeated Cheltenham 12-1, Chelmsford 11-5 and City of Bristol 18-1 during the group stages.

Heading into the semi-finals with confidence, they took on Watford who had come through a tough line up in Group B. Manchester once more prevailed, taking the match 7-2.

The final against Bridgefield had a tense first half, with both teams keeping almost level. In a tight fought first few minutes Bridgefield took the lead but Manchester came straight back to equalise.

An end-to-end half saw Manchester take a one-goal lead at the break but this was anyone’s game with both sides defending well.

In the second half, Manchester scored straight from the swim off and never looked back. Dominating the play they overpowered a very good Bridgefield team to finish worthy winners. The final score was 9-2.

Manchester also took all three individual awards. Callum Foulkes won best goalkeeper, Daniel Bentham top goal scorer and Tom Simpson MVP.

Team captain Tom Simpson said “I am thrilled to have captained such a talented group of players.

“I would like to thank our coaches Dan Paddon and Andy McGinty who have made us put in extra training hours to get ready for this prestigious event.”

Watford A take national bronze

After beating Rotherham Metro 4-3 in a tense first game in the group stages, then Newton Abbot 9-7 in their second game, Watford A were knocked back by Manchester in the semis.

However, they came into the bronze medal match against last year’s runners-up Caledonia with an air of confidence.

Watford A ran riot in the first half of the bronze medal match, scoring six without reply from the Scottish side.

Caledonia pulled one back in the second half but Watford scored two more without reply for a very comprehensive victory, finishing 10-1 victors.

Results and Group Tables

Click or tap on ‘PDF’ to download a match sheet for each fixture.