Swim England Water Polo Hub
Sheffield and Manchester lead the way in U19 boys preliminary round
March 4, 2019City of Sheffield and City of Manchester laid down a marker to the other sides in the Swim England U19s Boys Water Polo National Age Group Championships.
They both won all of their matches in the preliminary rounds held over 2-3 March to comfortably book their places in the next stage of the competition.
City of Sheffield were in action in Walsall and topped Group A with 10 points and a goal difference of plus 30 following their five matches.
They defeated Carmarthen 8-2, Bridgefield 9-6, Newton Abbot 8-2, Caledonia 10-0 and West London Penguin 11-6.
Newton Abbot were second on six points as they had beaten third-placed Caledonia.
Bridgefield sealed the final qualification spot after winning two, drawing one and losing two of their five matches.
Group A
Fixtures | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Bridgefield | 6 – 6 | West London Penguin | FT |
| City of Sheffield | 8 – 2 | Carmarthen | FT |
| Newton Abbot | 11 – 3 | Caledonia | FT |
| Bridgefield | 6 – 9 | City of Sheffield | FT |
| West London Penguin | 6 – 9 | Newton Abbot | FT |
| Carmarthen | 2 – 8 | Caledonia | FT |
| City of Sheffield | 8 – 2 | Newton Abbot | FT |
| Bridgefield | 8 – 6 | Carmarthen | FT |
| West London Penguin | 1 – 6 | Caledonia | FT |
| Bridgefield | 8 – 7 | Newton Abbot | FT |
| City of Sheffield | 10 – 0 | Caledonia | FT |
| West London Penguin | 11 – 8 | Carmarthen | FT |
| Bridgefield | 3 – 4 | Caledonia | FT |
| Carmarthen | 1 – 6 | Newton Abbot | FT |
| West London Penguin | 6 – 11 | City of Sheffield | FT |
Table | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | P | W | D | L | GD | Pts |
| City of Sheffield | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 10 |
| Newton Abbot | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 6 |
| Caledonia | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | -6 | 6 |
| Bridgefield | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 5 |
| West London Penguin | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | -10 | 3 |
| Carmarthen | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | -22 | 0 |
Manchester storm to top spot
In Group B at Matlock, City of Manchester had a goal difference of plus 44 after winning all five of their games.
They opened their campaign with a 16-2 thrashing of City of Leeds and followed that up with victories over Northampton (8-1), City of Birmingham (8-3) and Beckenham (13-1).
That set up a final match against Watford, who had also won their opening four games.
And it was City of Manchester who prevailed as they topped the group following a 7-1 success.
Watford took second spot, with Northampton and City of Leeds also booking their place in the next stage of the championships.
That will take place at Haberdashers’ Aske’s Boys’ School, Borehamwood, on 23-24 March.
The finals of the Water Polo National Age Group Championships take place at Liverpool Aquatics Centre on 13-14 April.
Group B
Fixtures | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| City of Manchester | 16 – 2 | City of Leeds | FT |
| Northampton | 3 – 3 | City of Birmingham | FT |
| Beckenham | 3 – 9 | Watford | FT |
| City of Manchester | 8 – 1 | Northampton | FT |
| City of Leeds | 6 – 5 | Beckenham | FT |
| City of Birmingham | 3 – 7 | Watford | FT |
| Northampton | 3 – 2 | Beckenham | FT |
| City of Manchester | 8 – 3 | City of Birmingham | FT |
| City of Leeds | 2 – 8 | Watford | FT |
| City of Manchester | 13 – 1 | Beckenham | FT |
| Northampton | 2 – 6 | Watford | FT |
| City of Leeds | 6 – 6 | City of Birmingham | FT |
| City of Manchester | 7 – 1 | Watford | FT |
| City of Birmingham | 3 – 5 | Beckenham | FT |
| City of Leeds | 5 – 5 | Northampton | FT |
Table | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | P | W | D | L | GD | Pts |
| City of Manchester | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 10 |
| Watford | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 8 |
| Northampton | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | -10 | 4 |
| City of Leeds | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | -19 | 4 |
| City of Birmingham | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | -11 | 2 |
| Beckenham | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | -18 | 2 |