Saturday 1st June 2024 saw the Grantham U14s travel up to Rotherham to compete in the Northern Water Polo League tournament. Unfortunately, some last minute illness meant the Grantham team were depleted to only 7 players. This meant the team had a lot of hard work to do as no subs were available but this didn’t seem to phase them and they seized the opportunity to really gel as a team.
The tournament had 6 teams in total with each game being a straight 8 minutes. Grantham would play Rotherham, Sedgefield, Leeds and two teams from Sheffield (an A and a B team).

Game 1 - Rotherham
Grantham knew this first match would be tough but the team entered the pool full of enthusiasm and team tactics provided by coach Dave. Grantham had 3 attempts at goal that were unfortunately not successful but 2 great goals were scored by Sam and Josh. The game was very close and Grantham fought hard but unfortunately conceded 3 goals but this could easily have been more as Rotherham had 3 goals saved by our goalkeeper Olly, including a saved penalty.
Final score: Grantham 2 - 3 Rotherham

Game 2 - Leeds
Leeds looked a strong side with a couple of dangerous players who were able to read our game play and get some intercepted balls. Despite the strong opposition and disappointment of losing the first game the Grantham team stayed strong and positive and displayed exceptional play both individually and as a team. The lack of subs meant the Grantham players had to play smart, control the play and work together. 4 unconverted goal attempts did not unsettle the Grantham team and they remained positive and were able to score 5 goals (Tom 1, Sam 3 and Josh 1), one of which was a penalty. Grantham remained strong in defence which meant Leeds were only allowed to score 1 goal with only one other goal scoring attempt that was saved.
Final score: Grantham 5 - 1 Leeds

Game 3 - Sedgefield
Grantham had knowledge of a couple of really strong players in this opposition team. Pre match talks saw Dave provide instruction to the Grantham players to double up on their strongest player. Grantham were able to put this into action and this player was totally taken out of the game by having no real opportunity to go for goal. Seth seized the opportunity to play a quick flick of the ball into the oppositions goal seeing us score the first goal of the match. Grantham couldn’t quite convert all of the attempts at goal but the defence remained strong with 4 goal attempts saved but one goal was able to sneak through ending the game as a draw.
Final score: Grantham 1 - 1 Sedgefield

Game 4 - Sheffield B
Grantham players were starting to get tired by this fourth game but a bit of refuelling and some encouraging words in the pre match talk saw Grantham enter the pool for this match with confidence. The opposition had yet to win a game during the tournament but the Grantham players did not enter the pool expecting it to be easy and again played some exceptional water polo. Grantham were able to score 7 goals (Tom 2, Sam 1, Josh 3 and Seth 1). Some really strong attacking play and attempts at goal by Joel and defence work by Callum meant we were able to make some great steals and Olly made another 4 strong saves, including another penalty, which kept the opposition score low.
Final score Grantham 7 - 1 Sheffield B

Game 5 - Sheffield A
Grantham knew the last game was going to be hard work. Not only had the opposition won all of their previous games with high scores, but the Grantham players were starting to feel the effects of having no subs. Another set of instructions and encouraging words from the coaches in the pre-match talk meant Grantham wanted to fight for their last match. The players entered the pool for the warm up with big smiles on their faces and looked like a team who wanted to play their best water polo against a team who were probably expected to win. The teamwork demonstrated from the previous matches and the downtime giggles they were having between matches really helped them gel as a team. Grantham was the only team in the tournament to gather together and shout out their new found team chant prior to the match starting. This team bond saw them start the game with enjoyment, it also made the coaches smile as the chant of “G town” echoed around the pool. A strongly contested match made the 8 minutes feel like an eternity. The ball made its way up and down the pool several times as again more missed scoring opportunities from Grantham and strong saves by Olly meant there was no stop in play. Although tiring for the Grantham players this meant that Sheffield couldn’t substitute in any fresh players from their well stocked sub bench. The game ended with neither team scoring a goal but was certainly the most exciting game of the tournament.
Final score: Grantham 0 - 0 Sheffield A

Grantham displayed some exceptional water polo and came away with 2 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss. The strong defence work meant that Grantham only conceded 6 goals throughout the whole tournament and scored a total of 15 goals giving us a really good goal difference which meant Grantham came second overall.

Well done and thank you to the players who played their hearts out and never stopped fighting or giving up due to tiredness.
Thank you to the parents who made the journey up to Rotherham, getting the players there and for your support in the stands. Special thanks to coaches Dave and Lauren for your encouraging words and expert coaching. It was lovely to see Dave back at the poolside despite still suffering from recent injuries.