Day 4 Wednesday 27th March
Men's Group A
Game 15
Wales v Malta
14.15 start
(Report)
Men's Group B
Game 16
New Zealand v N Ireland
15.30 start
(Report)
Women
Game 17
16.45 start
Men's Group A
Game 18
18.00 start
Women
Game 19
19.15 start
Men's Group B
Game 20
20.30 start
Day 1
1
Day 5
Day 2
Day 7
Day 3
Day 8
 
Australia asserted its dominance on day three of the Commonwealth Water Polo Championships at the Manchester Aquatics Centre here today. It swept aside the challenge of South Africa with the women winning 20-1 and the men 15-3.
However, Canada looms as the big threat to the Aussie men after a rugged 8-4 victory over host nation England.
Malta gained its third win from four games with an 11-2 margin over Wales and New Zealand was also in the goals with a 20-5 defeat of Northern Ireland.
England women proved they are a credible medal chance with a 26-2 thumping of Northern Ireland and are now second behind Australia with two victories.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Match 15 Report
MEN ‹ MALTA 11 WALES 2

MALTA - 11 J.Valletta (4), P.Privitera (4), J.Soler (1), N.Lanzon (1), C.Zammit (1)

WALES - 2 J.Ross (1), A.Holt (1)

Referees: Stéphane Roy (CAN), Chris Freebury (ENG)

Wales struck first blood at 4:42 by James Ross after an unsteady start by both teams. Paul Privitera, a four-goal scorer yesterday, scored on extra at 4:12 off the left post. Andy Holt took Wales ahead at 2:04 on extra from left-hand catch. Privitera made no mistake with his next two chances, again on extra from his favourite position. The first came at 1:37 and his hat-trick breached the line with just 15 seconds left in the quarter for a 3-2 lead. Jonathan Valletta, one of the stars of the tournament, drove down the left, turned on his back when heavily defended and threw the ball in back over his head at 6:25. Niki Lanzon drove down the left but was more conventional in his shot, making it 5-2 at 5:08. Many shots failed to find their mark until Valletta, bored with the action, shot from 13 metres to take his team further in front (6-2) at 1:51. The third period was one of unforced errors with few decent opportunities being taken. John Soler increased Malta's lead at 2:43 in counter but the errors kept coming with teams passing poorly. Wales called a time-out at 0:25 but the Welsh lost the ball a second before time with no shot even attempted. Welsh veteran David Edwards was drawn into giving up a penalty and Valletta converted at 6:18 of the fourth. Gary Simons is ejected and Valletta scored from out top on extra at 5:26 and go 9-2 up. Malta called the time-out at 2:32 and had two shots but they were blocked by Welsh goalkeeper Andy Knight. Finally the ball reached Privitera on deep right-hand catch and he scored his fourth at 2:08 to reach 10-2. Clint De Bono passed the ball to Charles Zammit in centre forward who was unguarded. Zammit dragged the ball back into the net with his right hand at 0:53 to finish the game at 11-2.

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Match 16 Report
MEN ‹ NEW ZEALAND 20 NORTHERN IRELAND 5

NEW ZEALAND - 20 R.Tindall (4), D.Broome (3), B.Adams (3), J.Venteri(3), S.Venter (2), T.Grace (2), A.Stockdale (2), R.Claridge (1)

)NORTHERN IRELAND - 5 C.Campfield (2), R.McGlue (2), C.French (1)

Referees: Scott Schweickle (AUS), Thomas Ng (SNG)

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Brett Adams began the Kiwi charge with an extra goal at 4:52. New Zealand captain Aaron Stockdale scored from outside at 4:28 and Tim Grace fired in a power shot, raising his tall body high on extra at 2:56 for a 3-0 lead. There were several Kiwi chances, which were blocked by Irish goalkeeper Chris Hodgekin, especially on extra. An Irish player was ejected on the stroke of the quarter. New Zealand won the swim, and three snap passes cross-cage had Robbie Tindall scoring at 6:38 on extra. The Kiwis quickly won the ball off the Irish and went on attack, gaining an ejection and scoring through David Broome at 6:02. Conner Campfield opened Northern Ireland register with a canny lob from nine metre , outsmarting Kiwi goalie Sam Lowery at 3:44. Tindall scored his second on extra on the far post, his first being blocked by Hodgekin but coming back on to his hand for the rebound shot at 2:19. Lowery was caught unawares again with Rownan McGlue lobbing from the side at nine Metres to make it 7-2 at 2:08. Shaun Venter converted a beautiful driving shot, receiving the ball from brother Jaques at 1:06. Campfield returned the favour at 0:35, shooting quickly on extra. Adams scored 23 seconds later to give the Kiwis an 8-3 halftime lead. Jaques Venter scored at 6:33 from right-hand catch, the ball just making the line. Adams brought up his third goal at 4:29 when the Irish defence couldn't decide whether to guard him or not. Tindall nailed his third at 3:32 with a snap shot after a cross pass on the counter. The Kiwis lead 11-3. Jaques Venter scored the best goal of the game, driving down the left, cutting in front of his defender and when swamped by his marker and the goalie he backhanded the ball into goal at 2:53. Stockdale scored on extra at 1:48 and Grace scored at 1:03 from outside to charge to 14-3. Campfield left the game for three majors and Tindall scored his fourth at 0:16 to finish the quarter 15-3 up. Jaques Venter passes to Broome who has a one-on-one with the goalie and succeeds at 6:19. Jaques Venter scores himself at 5:32 from seven metres and near the side of the pool after a quick cross pass, sending New Zealand 17-3 up. Shaun Venter played a round-arm shot from right-hand catch when defended, whistling the ball past Hodgekin's left ear at 4:13. Northern Ireland scored its first extra-man goal at 3:53 via Chris French to make the score 18-4. Broome scores his third from a quick pass in centre forward when unguarded at 2:59. Northern Ireland takes a time-out at 1:50 but the shot is blocked by Lowery. Richard Claridge gets on the score sheet for the Kiwis with a 10m shot and bring up the team's 20th goal. McGlue responds on extra for the Irish at 0:44 for a 20-5 margin. The Kiwis have a time-out but the first shot is deflected by Hodgekin and the pass into centre is lost.

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Match 17 Report
WOMEN ‹ AUSTRALIA 20 SOUTH AFRICA 1

AUSTRALIA - 20 Y.Higgins (6), M.Rippon (3), E.Norwood (3), J.Flaskasi(2), J.Taylor (2), N.Cuffe (2), R.Rippon (1), B.Brooks (1)

SOUTH AFRICA - 1 C Haralambous (1)

Referees: Stephen Knights (NZL), Andrew Allen (WAL)

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Melissa Rippon opened with an extra goal off the near post at 6:07. Elise Norwood crashed in a seven-metre shot at 5:23 before skipper Yvette Higgins scored on counter at 3:43 for a 3-0 lead. Higgins scores from seven metres and in front at 1:39. South Africa has a good shot saved by Aussie goalkeeper Jemma Brownlow and then Rebecca Rippon scored on counter from in front at 0:14 for a 5-0 lead. South Africa has a chance on extra in the second minute of the second quarter but one shot was deflected by the defence and the second shot goes into the left-hand side of the net. Julia Flaskas backhands a shot into goal from centre forward at 4:04 and then scores her second at 3:33 on counter, propping at four metres and sending the ball into the bottom left for a 7-0 lead. Australia missed an extra chance when Olympic gold medallist Jo Fox hits the crossbar. The rebound is nudged over the backline by South Africa and the ball goes to Jodie Stuhmcke who shoots. South African goalkeeper Gnocchi van Hooted blocks but Jodie Taylor flicks in the ball for an 8-0 lead at 1:40. Van Hooted stops a Kate Gynther shot from in close at 0:13. Van Hooted deflects again at six seconds and then again at the hooter, tipping the ball into the upright. The third period began with Higgins scoring her third on extra at 6:43. Nikita Cuffe drove in and scored off the pass at 6:02 for a 10-0 lead. Higgins stole the ball and swam most of the pitch for her fourth goal at 5:19. Higgins drew a penalty and Jodie Taylor converted for 12-0 at 3:41. Melissa Rippon drove in from the right to score at 1:47. Elise Norwood made her presence felt with two drives, the first at 1:10 when Jodie Stuhmcke passed to her and the second 19 seconds later on a drive. Australia had an extra chance in the dying seconds and forgot to shoot before the hooter sounded. Australia won the swim and called the time-out. Cuffe received the pass from Taylor soon after the restart and shot under van Hotel's outstretched arm at 6:48 to go to 16-0. Van Hooted deflects a Melissa Rippon counter shot at 5:20. She did the same thing to the same player at 4:38. A South African is excluded at the same time and Higgins scores her fifth from left-hand catch outside at 4:23. Higgins charges in on the counter at 3:45 to push Australia to 18-0. Belinda Brooks walked in and easily slotted a goal at 2:54 after a good counter and then Melissa Rippon scored on extra from close in at 2:28 for a 20-0 lead. She was ejected soon after and South African made the score sheet with an outside shot goal by Christine Haralambous at 0:50. South Africa quickly regained the ball and had another time-out but the team could not get a shot away leaving the final score at 20-1.

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Match 18 Report
MEN ‹ AUSTRALIA 15 SOUTH AFRICA 3

AUSTRALIA - 15 N.Thomas (3), T.Hamill (3), T.Franklin (2), D.Semmens (2), G.Woods (2), N.Falzon (1), A.Richardson (1), R.Moody (1)

SOUTH AFRICA - 3 De Bruyn (1), R.Bell (1), J.Oosthuizen (1)

Referees: Gaetan Turcotte (CAN), Tad Detko (ENG)

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Aussie Sharks skipper Nathan Thomas opened with an action goal at 5:20, followed by Adam Richardson on counter down the right hand side at 4:49. Thomas scored again on counter down the left at 4:07 to go 3-0 up. At 3:14, Nick Falzon scored from outside on extra. Darren De Bruyn, who plays for Perth Torpedoes in the Australian National League, scored on extra on the near post at 2:26 for a 4-1 score. Trent Franklin used his long left arm on extra at 1:58, which closed out the quarter with Australia 5-1 up. Ryan Bell, who plays in California, scored from outside at 6:19 in the second quarter to narrow the score to 5-2. Thomas strikes again down the left on an easy counter at 4:05. South Africa's Mike Bond goes on a second major and Tim Hamill converts at 2:59 for a 7-2 lead. Duncan Woods is excluded and Hamill scores a replica of the previous one at 1:55. Rafael Sterk makes another two great saves in Australia's goal. South Africa misses an extra chance right on time and Shaun Bond is excluded after the whistle, leaving South Africa to start a man down. Thomas Whalan wins the swim and Australia calls a time-out. Franklin scores on the extra at 6:42. Dean Semmens scores at 6:14 at the end of a counter and from six metres out when unguarded. Hamill scored his third extra-man goal at 4:55, all from the same position and has Australia 11-2 up. Thomas Whalan gains his second major and South Africa calls a time-out. To date, South Africa's extra-man attempts have yielded just one goal. Ryan Bell's shot goes high. Bell gains his second major five minutes into the quarter. Sterk saves another extra-man shot. Gavin Woods scores from seven metres on action at 0:41 to go 12-2 up. Simon Daley's superb backhand is saved by Sterk. Bell shoots a bouncer over the bar and then fouls, his third for the game. Australia has a second time-out at 4:23. The ball comes from Falzon to Semmens on the far post to score at 4:08 and lead 13-2. Mike Bond gets his third major and Falzon passes to Ryan Moody, who drew the foul, turns and shoots for the goal at 2:51. Jean Oosthuizen gives South Africa a third goal at 1:10. Moody is excluded after he earned a kick-out at the far end, received the ball and the excluded player interfered. However, the referee missed it and Australia lost the ball, leading to Moody's dismissal. A time-out comes from South Africa but the shot hits the bar. Woods sends in the final goal on the final hooter to give Australia a 14-3 victory. The tournament's leading scorer before the game, Tim Neesham, sat out the majority of the game.

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Match 19 Report
WOMEN ‹ ENGLAND 26 NORTHERN IRELAND 2


ENGLAND - 26 B.Cowton (6), S.Winter (5), L.Davies (3), F.Leighton (3), L.Green (2), K.Lewis (2), L.Knights (2), J.Dacre (1), H.Dacre (1), L.Bartlett (1))

NORTHERN IRELAND - 2 N.McGurk (2)


Referees: Guy Pinker (RSA), Ian Melliar (RSA)

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England starts quickly with two goals in the first minute through Liz Green (6:32) and Larissa Davies (6:05). Bernice Cowton makes it 3-0 at 5:30. Joanne Dacre scores from the top on extra at 2:43 to go 4-0 up. Nuala McGurk leaves the pool with an injury. Northern Ireland calls a time-out at 2:23 when Dacre is excluded. The Irish shot hits the crossbar. Helen Dacre walks in on extra at 1:34 to score and go 5-0 up. Davies gets her second on
counter at 1:06. Cowton lobs Northern Ireland goalkeeper Sarah Brannigan on
the death knell for a 7-0 lead.
Fran Leighton works centre forward and gets a pass from the side, turning and scoring at 6:11 of the second quarter. Siobhan Winter fires one in from 9m at 5:27. Mandy Irvine is excluded for the second time and England calls a time-out at 2:56. No goal ensues. Ireland calls time-out at 2:21 and the shot is deflected by English goalie Jennifer Braddock. Kate Lewis takes the score to 10-0 at 0:59 with a counter goal. Winter drags in a cross pass to
send England 11-0 up three seconds from the break. McGurk, back in the game, scores on extra at 5:33 for a 12-1 score. Fran Leighton scores twice from centre forward, at 5:14 and 4:25. Davies makes it 15-1 at 4:03, Lewis scores on action at 2:43, Winter on counter at 1:49 and Cowton for her third at 1:04 and an 18-1 lead.
Green gets England off to a good start in the final quarter at 6:30. Cowton grabs a fourth only a few seconds into extra at 5:49. Lisa Knights scores a penalty goal after Lynne Hanna is called for the foul at 5:04. Knights scores again after a drive into the middle, a rollover and a low shot at 4:32 for a 22-1 lead. Cowton scores her fifth goal at 3:55. Winter scores two more at 2:53 and 2:14 before Cowton nabs her sixth at 1:26. McGurk gained her second goal for the Irish at 1:10, which proved to be the final score. Cowton blemished her book by being excluded for violence 55 seconds from time.

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Match 20 Report
MEN ‹ CANADA 8 ENGLAND 4


CANADA - 8 D.Lazeravic (3), M.Sabo (1), K.Hardisty (1), V.Cosic (1), T.Marks (1), T.Bader (1)

ENGLAND - 4 C.Burgess (2), C.Kirby (1), C.Figes (1)


Referees: Noel Harrod (AUS), Peter Balzan (MLT)

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Canadian skipper Mikeal Sabo opened at 5:22, followed by Kent Hardisty from out top at 4:48 for a 2-0 lead. However, the game became a hard-fought battle for some time with neither side getting an advantage. England's Chris Kirby raised the roof with his centre forward goal, which was probably the best of the tournament to date, being heavily guarded by Nathaniel Miller.
The referee allowed it to go and Kirby eventually scored at 1:47. Sabo missed a one-on-one with English goalie David Bush with no defender in sight. Then Dusan Lazeravic made no mistake from the top with six seconds left for a 3-1 lead.
Miller and Vladimir Cosic combine when Colin Burgess is ejected to take Canada 4-1 up. Canada presses and keeps England out. Canada absorbs the English pressure and finally breaks through with an easy goal by Thomas Marks from right-hand catch at 3:48. England earns an extra but the shot hits the bar and Canada regains. Canada is allowed close in to the English goal but England isn't at the other end. Neil Bowers and Burgess combine for England's second goal, a swift cross pass on two metres to the far post for Burgess to score
on extra, the second shot in the movement, at 0:48.
Burgess draws a penalty on Marks at 3:30 but Craig Figes has his shot saved by Canadian goalkeeper Garret Head. Both sides are determined on defence with some heavy play and a lot of holding. England's Sean Love is left holding his head in midfield but Figes whips down the left, receives a pass and scores at 1:51 to narrow the margin to 5-3. Temperatures remain at
boiling point. Canadian Ted Bader scores with three seconds to go after Sabo was kicked when England countered. Sabo played off and Canada had a four on three with three passes securing the goal and a 6-3 margin.
England wins the swim but the shot is wide. Lazeravic shoots from 7m and scores at 5:21 for a 7-3 advantage. Burgess goes for his second major at 3:38 after a long period of tussles. Lazeravic takes no time in putting away a bounce shot from left-hand catch at 3:29. Cosic is excluded and England's shot is deflected. The ball goes into centre and the normally reliable
Miller is ejected. Burgess collects at 2:44 for his second and an 8-4 margin. Desperate defence stops an England goal as we go into the last minute.

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