Match Reports

Bluefins Men's 'A' team defeat City of Southampton

gerry.lay@btinternet.com (The Coach) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 12:30:39 +0000

Bluefins bounced back in style following their heavy defeat to City of Southampton earlier in the season. A determined Bluefins’ side took to the pool with the intension of giving the Southampton side a competitive match.

The match started brightly with the returning Allan Fairhead opening the scoring with a trade mark backhand shot after 2 minutes. Southampton hit back only to find Bluefins keeper Mike Sheath in top form saving several Southampton shots with ease. But Southampton weren’t to be denied and goals from Mclean and ex Basingstoke player Adams to leave the 1

under 15 wins Red Cross Tournament

gerry.lay@btinternet.com (Gerry Lay) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 12:11:23 +0000

Basingstoke Bluefins under 15 waterpolo team win the annual Red Cross Tournament held at the Basingstoke Aquadrome

At the 3^rd annual under 15 waterpolo tournament the Bluefins team first game was against local rivals City of Southampton Bluefins started well but then had a setback when Gareth Wintle got himself exclude from the game whilst Bluefins reorganised their defence Southampton took advantage and scored despite chances at both ends the half time score remain 1-0 to the City team. The second half started with a couple of fine saves by Bluefins keeper James Stone, Amy Stringer then had a goal disallowed but as Southampton hit back they too got a goal disallowed. Basingstoke then quickly broke up the pitch and Dan Hutton scored from distance to equal the scores. With 15 seconds remaining on the clock a cross from Jake Melhuish was turned in by Josh Lay to give Bluefins a winning start to the Tournament. The next Bluefins game was against Worcester Crocodiles coached by ex Basingstoke player Nigel Paton, a much more disciplined performance saw the Bluefins take a 2 -1 half time lead both Bluefins goals scored by Josh Lay. As the Worcester team tired Bluefins added 5 more goals in the second half George Morrison getting his first Bluefins goal followed by goals for Melhuish, Hutton and Lay (2). Next game up was against the younger Bluefins development side which as expect led to a win for the ‘A’ team 11-1 with every member of the team scoring and Matt Harding responding for the development side.

The final match of the tournament was against a very strong Croydon team fielding 6 National academy players and also unbeaten in the tournament. Bluefins started strongly with Jake Melhuish breaking down the right hand side of the pool and scoring. Croydon hit back with a goal from their top scorer Tom Andrews. With Bluefins keeper James Stone pulling off a sting of fine saves to keep Bluefins in the game Josh Lay then missed a penalty as the tension rose. The right on the stroke of half time Bluefins got a second penalty this time Lay made no mistake to give Bluefins a half time lead of 2-1. The second half started with Lay scoring 2 more goals before Andrews for Croydon got 3 quick goals to pull the scores levels. As the crowd cheered on both sides keeper Stone once again pulled off a couple of fine saves before Bluefins broke and top scorer Lay was on hand to finish of fine passing movement to give Bluefins the lead with 90 seconds remaining. This proved to be the final score of the game to give Bluefins their first victory in this tournament.

Team manager Chris Wintle and assistant Matt Girle said this was the best they have seen this Bluefins team play and every player did their part in a fine team performance

James Stone the Bluefins keeper was named best keeper of the Tournament, by all the coaches and referees.

Team: James Stone, Jake Cleverly, Josh Lay. Gareth Wintle, Jake Melhuish, Amy Stringer, George Morrison, Dan Hutton

Bluefins development team : Alex Williams, Jamie Bradley, Matt Harding, Ben Delbridge, Cara Malone, Daniel James, Ryan Brown, Josh Cornwell Gina Lay

Basingstoke continue to show improvement

gerry.lay@btinternet.com (Gerard Mangan) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 09:29:37 +0000

With the prolific Trace Morgan absent for Basingstoke Bluefins, they fielded an almost full strength side, and hopes were high, especially with the return of goalkeeper Mick Sheath.

The first quarter started off well with Basingstoke pressing Cranleigh around the pool in defence and showing patience and good decision-making in attack. As a result two unanswered goals, one from Greg Knight and another from Dave Trewhalla, left the visitors 2-0 up.

Basingstoke demonstrated a similarly strong performance in the second quarter. While continuing to press in defence, a one-man drop was also implemented to great effect. The visitors managed only one goal this quarter, while great cohesion in attack and some individual determination from Alan Fairhead ensured the Bluefins added a further four to their tally. 6-1 at half time.

Complacency began to set in in the third quarter, however. Basingstoke began to lose discipline in defence and force an attack which flowed in the first half. Despite some superb goalkeeping from Mick Sheath, the high exclusion count cost the visitors. By the start of the fourth quarter Cranleigh had pulled the deficit back to just one; 7-6.

A cameo appearance from captain Steve Fairhead in the fourth quarter was just what the doctor ordered. Basingstoke regained concentration in defence and began to attack with steady purpose once more. Despite Cranleigh scoring two in the last quarter, Basingstoke's superior fitness began to show. Goals from Gerard Mangan, Dave Trewhalla and Alan Fairhead sealed the deal at 10-8. All in all this was a solid performance by the Bluefins. In a post match interview coach/captain Steve Fairhead cited the progress the team has made in the last two months as greatly encouraging.

Team :- Mike Sheath, Greg Knight, Toby Hanson, Dave Bush, Gavin Bridger, Dave Trewhella, Gerard Mangan, Steve Fairhead, Allan Fairhead, Brian Tyndall, Aaron Croucher,Andy Cackett, Chris Wintle

Ladies join Worthing to win London League div 2

gerry.lay@btinternet.com (Gerry Lay) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 17:19:11 +0000

Ladies London League. Division 2.Tournament 3, Whitgift School, Croydon.Sunday 7th June 2009. The final tournament of the 2009 Ladies London League took us back to the excellent deep water pool at Whitgift school in Croydon.The event had the making of an exciting affair with our new combined Worthing/Basingstoke team level on points at the top of table with Beckenham ladies.As a result the key fixture looked to be the first match of the days program with the winner looking likely to take the overall title.Unfortunately our squad was missing Chrissy Pilcher who was unavailable because of illness and Becky Anderson who was away at Loughborough University studying for exams.These are the individual match reports. Match 1. Worthing/Basingstoke 7, Beckenham 1. (H/T 2-1)A match that will be remembered unfortunately for the idiosyncratic officiating which spoilt what should have been an exciting encounter.Our girls were worthy winners and were always in control but the final score did not reflect the closeness of the match. Certain key decisions went our way and we scored a number of goals as a result.Our defending was always of a high quality and because of this we always looked the more likely team to win the match.Scorers; - Jenny Willett 3, Mel Hart 3, Kelli Bird 1.Exclusions; - Emily Griffiths 1, Stacy Darbyshire 1. Match 2. Worthing/Basingstoke 10, Oxford 1. (H/T 3-0)A satisfactory win for the team when swimming speed and fitness were the key.A number of our goals were scored as a result of simple turnovers and the opposition had no answer to our counter-attacking.Defensively we played well again and goalkeeper Kayley Alcorn dealt well with a small number of speculative shots.Scorers; - Hannah Chilton 4, Mel Hart 3, Jenny Willett 2, Kelli Bird 1.Exclusions; - Emily Griffiths 2, Hannah Chilton 1. Match 3. Worthing/Basingstoke 7, Penguin III 5. (H/T 3-2)The final score indicates a close result but we were always in control of this match against a physical opposition.Once again it was the speed of our counter-attacking that did the damage and Penguin constantly struggled to deal with this aspect of our play.Both teams looked tired playing their 3rd game of the day and this probably explains the high number of exclusions committed.Scorers; - Jenny Willett 4, Mel Hart 2, Hannah Chilton 1.Exclusions; - Emily Griffiths 3, Claire Liggins 1, Amy Stringer 1, Mel Hart 1, Kelli Bird 1. Squad in Full; - Kayley Alcorn (G/K), Jenny Willett, Emily Griffiths, Claire Liggins, Stacy Darbyshire, Hannah Chilton, Amy Stringer, Mel Hart, Kelli Bird. The 3 wins secured the Division 2 title and Jenny Willett was presented with the trophy after the final match.This was an excellent result for this new combined team at it was particularly good to see how well the girls form both clubs worked together.The girls were delighted with the win and I hope that we will defend this title in next years competition.

Basingstoke Win Hampshire Games 2009

gerry.lay@btinternet.com (Gerry Lay) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 11:16:11 +0000

Two Basingstoke waterpolo teams ( Basingstoke Whites and Basingstoke Blues) entered the 2009 Hampshire games against sides from Test Valley, Southampton and New Forest. Both Basingstoke sides started well with good wins against the other teams from Hampshire and it soon became clear that the winners would be one of teh two Basingstoke sides when they played against each other the Blues started this game the strongest reaching a 4-2 halftime lead but the whites lead by management team of Ben Naylor and Matt Girle fought back in the second half to bring the score to 6-5 to blues with 10 seconds remaining in the whites final attack the ball game to Keeran Howell how shot just as the final whistle blew the ball went in but the referee disallowed the goal as it was fractionally after time leaving the jubilant Blues victorious and the Whites second in the tournament.

Teams : Basingstoke (Blue) – Management team Chris Wintle and Amy Stringer, players:- Josh Lay, Ryan Brown, Josh Cornwell, Rebekah Woolcott, Rebecca Graves, Ben Delbridge. James Stone, Andreas Bubier-Johnston, Adam Davitt, Jamie Bradley

Basingstoke (White) Managemnet Team Ben Naylor and Matt Girle, players:- Gareth Wintle,Matt Harding, Dan Hutton, Daniel James, Cara Malone, Joe Anson, Oliver Waldrum, Keeran Howell, Cameron Burns, Alex Williams

Basingstoke Ladies 10 Vs Dorset Ladies 10

brian.tyndall@solentrescuelifeboat.org.uk (Sarah Hickey) — Tue, 26 May 2009 12:42:23 +0000

Bluefins Ladies fight back to secure a draw
BASINGSTOKE LADIES 10 Vs DORSET LADIES 10
10th May 2009

On the 10th of May 2009, Dorset ladies came to the Aquadome for a nail biting friendly.

A quick first goal from Dorset set the tone for the first quarter of the match – Basingstoke looked defeated facing a succession of Dorset goals. Dorset were awarded a soft penalty when Basingstoke’s goalie Cat changed the rhythm of the game with a vital save.

Basingstoke “A” 10 Vs City of Southampton “A” 17

gavin@hctcreative.com (Sarah Hickey) — Wed, 20 May 2009 10:09:46 +0000

A valiant defensive performance by Basingstoke “A” team
BASINGSTOKE “A” 10 Vs City of Southampton “A” 17
19th May 2009

Basingstoke mens “A” team hosted rivals the City of Southampton mens “A” team on the 19th May 2009 in an explosive Hampshire league fixture.

City of Southampton, recent winners of the “Lady Richmond Brown” tournament, as expected got off to good start with the opening goal. Basingstoke however were determined to keep the pace with the favourites - goals from Allan Fairhead and “Man of the match” Trace Morgan resulted in Basingstoke just two goals behind the City of Southampton.

Basingstoke Ladies vs Penguin II

gavin@hctcreative.com (Gavin Bridger) — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 08:41:41 +0000

The first quarter started off with Penguin scoring the first goal. The chase was on. Basingstoke scored shortly after that to equalise. The match was very even in standard and both teams were going to give each other as good as they got the whole way. The goals kept coming from both sides and there was never more than a 2 goal difference as we moved into the final quarter. Going in a goal ahead at 9-8 Basingstoke weren’t in the clear yet and knew they had to stay focused. Penguin equalised with a few minutes left on the clock, was there time for one of the teams to get ahead. With only 1min 30secs left Basingstoke scored they’re 10th goal but was it enough to win. The clock ran down in slow motion as Basingstoke got possession of the ball and moved back into Penguins defense zone. The whistle blew and it was all over, Basingstoke Ladies had beaten Penguin II 10-9, a fantastic victory for the team who just lost out by 1 goal to Southampton Uni the week before at a score of 9-8.