Newton Abbot take girls’ U15s crown in Manchester

Newton Abbot took the Swim England Water Polo National Age Group girls’ U15s title without losing a match at the Manchester Aquatics Centre.

The Devon-side came into the competition as runners up after last year’s defeat against London Otter.

However, they outplayed their rivals to go one better in 2017 and take home the trophy, beating City of Sheffield in the final.

City of Liverpool were also unbeaten until the semi-final stages, where they were outplayed by the trophy winners. They bounced back for bronze after a tense game against defending champions Otter.

Newton Abbot dominate girls competition

Newton Abbot looked strong from the first whistle, controlling each match with ease in the group stages.

They beat City of Sheffield 13-3, before keeping a clean sheet against Otter Futura to win 16-0. This booked them a place in the semi-finals.

Although City of Liverpool also looked like they had little to worry about after the group stages, they narrowly clinched their quarter final match against Iceni. They won by a two goal margin, emerging victorious 7-5.

However, in their semi-final match, Newton Abbot put to bed any hopes of Liverpool taking home the title, winning the match 10-2.

The final saw Newton Abbot come face-to-face with City of Sheffield once more, who had turned around their fortunes in the quarter finals. Newton Abbot dominated the whole match as they had in the group stages.

They countered with speed and their finishing was clinical. Sheffield fought well throughout but were no match for the girls from the south coast. They took the title with a 12-2 victory.

City of Liverpool take down Otter for bronze

City of Liverpool were another dominant team in the girls U15s competition. They took their first match by storm, wiping out Nova Centurion with a 9-2 victory.

They too held a clean sheet in their second game of the group stages, beating Cheltenham 8-0.

Following their narrow victory against Iceni in the quarter finals, the north west team faced up against Otter in the final.

Although Otter were looking for their third title in as many years, they were denied it after Liverpool beat them in the bronze medal match with a comfortable 6-1.

Results and Group Tables

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