Manchester and Otter top seeds for girls’ national finals

Battle lines were drawn as City of Manchester and Otter finished top of the girls’ U17 and U19 National Age Group qualification groups in Lancaster last weekend.

While all four teams from both age groups were guaranteed a spot in next weekend’s finals in Liverpool, competition was fierce as they battled for seedings for the semi-finals.

City of Manchester boast an intimidating record in the U19 competition, winning eight times since 2005 and last lifting the Dougie Scales Memorial Trophy in 2015.

And while they confirmed themselves as the team to beat again this year, they had no easy rides in the qualifiers, with a six-goal victory over City of Liverpool their biggest winning margin.

Defending champions London Otter finished second in the group to book a semi-final meeting with Liverpool in a repeat of last year’s final.

Manchester will play Nottinghamshire side Hucknall – the only one of the four finalists to have never lifted the trophy.

Otter aiming for third U17 trophy in four years

Otter will aim for a third trophy in four years in the U17 competition after winning all three games in the younger age group.

The London outfit will play Tyldesley in their semi-final next weekend.

Meanwhile, Newton Abbot and City of Liverpool will face off for the third time in three weekends after finishing second and third respectively.

Liverpool won the first meeting by 9-8 in the Preliminary round two weeks ago. But Devon side Newton Abbot turned the tables with a crushing 16-3 win in the Qualifiers, securing second spot in the group in the process.

How to follow next weekend’s National Age Group Water Polo finals

Entry is completely free for next weekend’s finals, taking place at Liverpool Aquatics Centre.

Click here to find out more about the venue or click here to download the schedule for the weekend.

If you can’t make the finals, follow all the action on our Live Water Polo page.