Warwick Water Polo reach BUCS semi-finals

Warwick men’s water polo first team were given a tough task in their first round BUCS; being drawn with last year’s finalist Oxford, semi-finalists Cambridge and newly promoted Imperial College. Warwick began with a tricky trip to Cambridge, who they had not defeated for three seasons. The first quarter was a cagey affair, with both teams trading a brace of goals. Moving into the second quarter, Warwick started to dominate. They took a two-goal lead through debutant Rich Cox and talisman Jack Donelan, comfortably dealing with the Cambridge attacking threat.

Cambridge changed tactics, becoming more physical with Donelan being harshly treated – a punch missed by the referee was retaliated with a kick, which was spotted resulting in Donelan being excluded for the remainder of the match. Warwick were further punished by the referee shortly afterwards with the award of a penalty, which was saved in a superb performance by goalkeeper Chris Halls. These injustices proved the catalyst for an outstanding performance, with more goals traded leaving the score 8-6 going into the final quarter. Solid defence and decisive counter attacking water polo – including stunning long range goals from Tom Borridge and Tim Brazier – eased Warwick to a 13-7 win.

Next up for Warwick was a trip to Imperial. Things got off to a bad start when six of the team were struck down with a mystery bug, leaving only four fully fit players. It began in a similar cagey affair to the Cambridge match, with both teams trading goals leaving the score 4-4 at half time. Warwick came out in a determined fashion in

the second half, nullifying the attacking threat of Imperial and hitting them on the break with goals from captain Rob Fryer and a smart finish on the post from new French recruit Clovis Guillemot. There was also an assured display from fresher Simon Evans, which put Warwick in command. High in confidence after an early goal in the 4th quarter from Donelan (after great work from Joel Woods), Warwick had one foot in the semi-finals, leading 8-5. However, fatigue took over and Imperial started to apply pressure, scoring two quick goals. Warwick fought to cling on, but with 10 seconds left Imperial equalised, leaving Warwick demoralised. Final score: 8-8.

This left Warwick with the formidable trip to last year’s finalists Oxford, knowing they had to avoid defeat to progress. This match began in similar vein to the previous two, with both defences on top; however it was Warwick who struck first, after tireless work by Tristan White forced an exclusion, allowing Warwick to work the man-up to Donelan to ram home, the only goal of the first quarter. Some questionable refereeing – disallowing two Warwick goals – allowed Oxford back in. However two goals from Cox and Matt Elliot edged Warwick back ahead, only for Oxford to equalise on the stroke of halftime.

With both teams starting to tire, the game began to open up as Cox won a penalty but failed to convert it himself. Shortly after, an excellent drive to the back post by Ben Fitton was spotted with a floated pass by Fryer, and the former was just able to extend and tap the ball home. Going into the final quarter, Oxford had a slender advantage of 7-6. Warwick knew a loss was no good and came out strongly with a brace of goals from Cox and Donelan respectively, leaving a nervous finish with the score at 7-7.

Then, determined defending by Woods and a pass from Fryer set up Donelan, who kept his cool to finish from the pit, giving Warwick a slender one goal advantage with only 1:30 left. But Oxford managed to equalise, setting up a nerve-racking finale; an Oxford goal would send Warwick out with Oxford taking their place. With the clock running down and Oxford on their last attack, Halls made a reaction save, only for the ball to rebound in front of goal, resulting in Fitton being harshly excluded to allow Oxford a final chance. However Warwick regrouped and managed to apply enough pressure to force a shot wide, leaving the final score at 8-8 and allowing Warwick to progress to the semi-finals in Walsall, where they will hope for less drama!