The Saint
Water Polo third at BUCS finals
Andrew Magee
Photo Credit: Lorcan Morgan
The Saint Andrews Water Polo team claimed third place and a bronze medal in the Trophy Final of the Mens Water Polo competition at last weekends BUCS Championships in Sheffield.
Having qualified through the semi-finals at Nottingham, the team were ready to compete and had high hopes of a medal.
The Water Polo finals are contested in a league format, with a league of four teams at both Championship and Trophy levels, the Championships being a level above the Trophy. Each side would play a game a day at the tournament with the opening game on Friday and the closing game on Sunday.
The Saints were drawn in a group alongside Plymouth, Imperial College and local side Sheffield Hallam. It was a tough draw with some strong opposition, though the team performed admirably to gain the bronze.
Their first match against Plymouth was an absolute thriller. It was a tough game with both sides having plenty of chances. However it was left to Tom Cramond to score the winner with seconds left on the clock. His goal gave the Saints a 12-11 maiden victor.
The second match against Hallam was less successful. With less than two minutes on the clock, one of the Saints received a kick to the head and was sent to A&E. The rhythm of the team was disrupted and coupled with some dubious refereeing decisions, the Saints suffered an 18-9 defeat.
However, against Imperial the Saints upped their game although it was not quite enough to overhaul the eventual winners as they lost out 17-14. Competing with an Olympic GB player on their team, Imperial were always going to be a tough match, but the Saints performed admirably and were by a long way the team that came closest to defeating the champions.
One win and two losses saw the Saints finish third in the Trophy table behind Imperial who took the gold and Hallam who won the silver medal.
After the tournament Water Polo President Lorcan Morgan was delighted with the effort and commitment shown by the team. Overall we had a fantastic time in Sheffield. We made the most of it despite having brought down a squad of only 10 players, as opposed to everyone elses 16!
Now were looking forward to two weeks time to the Celtic Nations tournament, since 5 of us have made the Scottish Universities team. And then in a months time we have the Scottish Cup which we also hope to win.
Following their successful season, the Saints will next year be competing at the highest level of competition and will no doubt provide many more success stories in the future.
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