Scottish Champs for 2010+ Female - Match Report

Published: 13 January 2025

U/15 Girls Scottish Water Polo Championships – Sun 12^th January 2025 – NSA Stirling

Very well done to the DWPC U/15 girls team who have secured an excellent Bronze medal at the Scottish U/15 Girls Championships at the weekend.

Fielding 10 players of varying levels of experience, the team worked really hard in each of the 4 group games to have a win two (v Portobello and Aberdeen) and lose two (to Menzieshill and Warrender) record to qualify in 3^rd place to then play Menzieshill in the semi-final. Having lost 2-5 to the Dundee team in the Group stage this was always going to be a very difficult game but fair play to the girls as they worked tirelessly, defended and saved excellently and then attacked cleverly to force a 3-3 draw in a tense and exciting encounter to take the game into a penalty shoot out. Unfortunately, we missed two pens against a tall and commanding GK to lose the shootout 2-3. Congratulations to M’Hill on their win.

In the 3^rd place play-off we then played a young Portobello team where all of our younger and less experienced players enjoyed extended water time and contributed significantly to an 11-4 win. Throughout the afternoon, all girls made a positive contribution to this bronze medal achievement with every outfield player scoring at least 1 goal and attacked and defended with energy and determination. Congratulations to Eve and Ava for winning the best GK and highest scorer in the tournament respectively.

Finally, congratulations too to deserved winners Warrender who beat M’Hill (who were hampered by the loss of Kayla Reeve due to injury) 7-4 in the final.

- Group games: 1 to 10: 8 mins running time.

- Championship play-off games: 11 to 14: – 2 x 6 min check time

2024 Christmas Hamper raffle

Published: 20 December 2024

All monies raised will be used to support club activities in 2025.

Congratulations to Sam Hoblyn who was the 1st prize hamper winner, 2nd prize to Kirsty Comerford, 3rd prize to S Morrison and the special Prestige hamper prize went to Caran Aird (C/O Leanne Farah).

Match Report – U/17 Girls Scottish League –  DWPC v Warrender 16 Dec

Published: 17 December 2024

Mon 16^th December 2024 – RCP Warrender

DWPC have lost their second game of the 24-25 Scottish U/17 girls WP League season with a 12-18 defeat to a strong Warrender team.

This certainly was a game of two halves with us winning the second half 10-7 but unfortunately a very disappointing first period in particular meant that we were trailing 11-2 at half time which proved too big a gap to bridge.

Per 1: Warrender started the game really strongly and we couldn’t cope with their dynamic Press defence. We kept losing the ball under pressure with steals and interceptions that lead to quick counter attacks and goals. With no secure possession we were unable to create any attacking opportunities. We trailed 3-0 before Ava scored but then lost 6 goals in a row to be trailing 1-9 at the end of the period.

Per 2: Creditably we covered Warrender’s counter attacking much better in this period restricting their scoring but we still struggled to release from defensive pressure on the ball to get the ball quickly and accurately to players who were in space and managed to score only 1 goal, again through Ava, to 2 in reply from Warrender. We trailed 2-11 at half time.

 Per 3: Although Warrender did make some changes at this point in the game, we were much better and fought harder for the ball, showed more energy and created and scored more goal scoring opportunities. With 3 goals without reply through Ava and two from Ruby Reid we reduced arrears to 11-5, they scored to lead 12-5 but another goal from Ava brought us back to 6-12 with a 4-1 period win.

Per 4: As Warrender re-introduced their stronger players it is to the team’s credit that they matched the opposition in a high scoring and exciting last period. We started the period well scoring 3 to Warrender’s 1 with goals from Ava (2) and Bethany to trail 9-13. Warrender fought back with another 3 of their own to lead 16-9 which was disappointing as we often defended well to win the ball but then gave it away quickly instead of securing possession. Commendably we fought back with 3 goals of our own through Hali and 2 from Ava to trail 12-16.

With only a minute left on the clock, we took some defensive risks to try and reduce arrears further but unfortunately missed shots allowing the opposition to score 2 late goals to finish the game, Warrender 18 – DWPC 12. Very well done to the Edinburgh team on a very strong performance.

Game positives:

• A very determined and hardworking performance in the last 3 periods in which all 10 of our listed players gained water time and made positive contributions.
• By working together in defence we made it much more difficult for Warrender to score in the second half of the game.
• We won the last 3 periods of the game 11-9

Areas to work on:

• Being able to release to pass or gain a foul much quicker when facing heavy press defence. Lift the ball from under and use strong br/st leg kick to move away from defensive pressure.
• As a team, try to maintain our attacking perimeter shape to provide close support for the ball carrier and space to drive into.
• Finding the free player quicker in man-up. If no quick pass is on, move into our attacking formation quickly (3:3 or 4:2)
• Always be aware of where the ball is when defending so that you may move to make steals.
• If caught behind a driving player shadow their movements but do not foul and concede exclusion or a penalty.
• Make strong efforts to secure the ball on gaining possession. Swim or kick away with it into space. Avoid pushing the ball to team-mate under pressure.

Match statistics:

Per 1: 1-9

Per 2: 1-2 – (2-11)

Per 3: 4-1 – (6-12)

Per 4: 6-6 – (12-18)

1 penalty gained - 1 scored, 5 exclusions gained – 1 scored (20%)

1 penalty conceded – 1 scored, 7 exclusions conceded and 3 goals lost (57%)

Team:  Goals & Exclusions in brackets.Eve (GK), Ruby O (1 exc), 3. Ava T (8) (1 exc),  4. Hali F(1) (2 exc),  5. Ruby R (2),  6. Bethany P (1) (3 exc),  7. Poppy R (1 pen conceded),  8. Isla E (1 exc),  9. Molly O,  10. Ellie T

Match Report: DWPC/MHW Ladies v KKASC (KK) Scottish League

Published: 11 December 2024

Tuesday 10th December 2024 – Carnegie Centre Dunfermline.

In an exciting and high scoring match, DWPC/M’Hill Ladies have lost their first League game of the season to a very strong and current BWPL Division 2 winners Kirkintilloch and Kilsyth ASC (KKASC) 15-21. Due to unavailability and illness, the home team were only able to field 9 players, (8 of whom were U/19) against the full complement of 13 players in the (KKASC)  team. Although it was disappointing to lose, our players are to be commended for their level of effort and determination shown throughout the game.

Per 1: The team made a very slow start going 3-0 down before we gained and converted two 6 v 5 situations through goals by Zara and Lucy. We then defended well a 5 v 6 after exclusion but lost another 2 goals as KKASC drove strongly and found their CF position well. We did though score again through Kayleigh to end the period down 3-5.

Per 2: Having fought back well towards the end of the 1^st period it was disappointing to lose another 3 quick goals at the start of the second period to trail 3-8 and then miss a man-up situation. Kayleigh did well to score from CF to reduce arrears to 4-8 before KK scored again. We then did well to gain 2 exclusions but disappointingly missed both despite moving the ball well and creating good goal scoring opportunity. Positively though after saving a 2^nd 5 v 6 situation we scored a double through Lucy to trail 6-9 at the halfway stage.

Per 3: This period started more evenly with 4 goals shared through a double by Molly. KK then scored twice including a 6 v 5 to extend their lead to 8-13 before a penalty from Lucy and another shot from the perimeter by Molly brought the score back to 10-13. KK attacked again adding another 2 goals before Zara brought the score back to 11-15 at the three-quarter stage.

Per 4: Despite saving a 5 v 6 situation with good defence a tiring team conceded another 2 quick goals at the period start. Another goal from Kayleigh at CF brought us back to 12-18 before another KK double extended their lead again to 12-20. Our team refused to give up and despite tiredness scored 3 through Lucy and 2 from Molly and saved a 5 v 6 to reduce the lead to 15-20. With only 11 seconds on the clock an unfortunate miscommunication in our defence saw KK finish the scoring with just 2 seconds on the clock for a final score of 15-21.

Well done to KKASC on a close but deserved win.

Reflections:

With just nine available players and fielding a very young and still inexperienced team at Senior level, this was a good and competitive performance against a team who have been unbeaten in BWPL Div 2 this season and who can field two former Italian Division 1 players (who scored 13 goals between them) and also current Scottish Senior and GB Junior Internationalists in their line-up. We defended determinedly with energy and team resilience in press and drop/help defence and we maintained a tight and compact structure in 5 v 6 to save 75% of the opposition’s man-up efforts. In the main we attacked with purpose and tactical awareness and we did excellently to gain 9 exclusions and a penalty. Indeed in 6 v 5 situations we did find the player in space with controlled perimeter passing but unfortunately we lacked composure and accuracy with our final shot to miss 7 of those man-up situations. This provided the opposition with several counter-attack opportunities that they took full advantage of.

Areas to work on in future training sessions:

• 6 v 5 Attack effectiveness
• Defending a strong and goal scoring Centre Forward.
• Pass selection to our Centre forward when attacking
• Swimming speed and endurance to increase effectiveness of counter attack and counter defence.

Match summary:

1. Team: Goals(): Bea Meldrum GK , Kayleigh Roy (3), Ava Thornton, Gracie Thomson Grieve, Molly Meldrum (4), Lottie Affleck, Lucy MacNair (5) Catlin O’Malley (1), Zara Christie (2)
2. Exclusions/Penalties: Kayleigh (1 exc), Molly (1 exc), Caitlin (1 exc), Zara (1 exc & 2 pens)
3. Man-up: 2 scored from 9 attempts (22%) – Penalties: 1 from 1 scored
4. Man-down: 1/4 saved (75%) – Penalties: 2 from 2 scored