National League
2009/10 Season National League
Weekend 5/6 Bath & Loughborough - Mixed form continues for Metro Game one in Bath couldn't have resembled the olde cliche "a game of two halves" any more. Coach Leighton must have to wonder what else needs to be done after Rotherham managed to throw away all the good work in the first half (leading 6-5) to lose in dramatic fashion to a rampant Lancaster side 7-17. It really was a performance worthy of the league champions however Metro contributed with a dismal display of counter defence. Man of the match performance must go to Tom Curwen (Lancaster) with a strong display in both defence and attack. Tom has also enrolled to become a Fireman and all the lads wish him the best with his training to achieve this. Nobody knew which Metro would turn up in game 2 at Bath against Manchester and for the first three quarters Metro struggled to find second gear going into the last quarter 3 behind. Metro pulled to within 1 but were guilty of over commiting to get the equaliser and Manchester counter attacked in style to take the points 13-11. Paul Floyd and Chris Armstrong had an outstanding game on the right for Metro. Metro left Bath empty handed and went into week 6 in the return fixture against Cheltenham and Bristol low on confidence. First up were Bristol and Metro were without playmaker and captain Richard Leighton however welcomed back GB centre forward and deputising captain Adam Scholefield. Coach Leighton asked for a reaction and Metro duly went 4-0 up in the first quarter. However the roller coaster of a season continued and some strong defensive play from Bristol as well as shoddy finishing from Metro left clinging on for a 7-6 win with the vice-captain and the stallion Gabberetta bagging 3 a piece to take the points. Vincent shaded the man of the match award with an awesome display of central defending and the counter attack mentality to gain 3 goals. Match 2 saw the return of Captain Rich Leighton to reignite his rivarly with Cheltenham. In a traditionally physical fixture both sides carved out some free flowing waterpolo which led to a deadlock of 11-11 at the end of the third period. After a bumper previous 3 games coach Leighton demanded cool heads and composure in defence. This led to a 3-1 final quarter with Floyd, Vincent and Gabberetta polishing off a solid display to take Metro clear into third place and level on points with 2nd place Manchester. The final weekend in at Lancaster where Metro face the title holders (SAT 1700) at their home pool and then complete the season against Manchester (SUN 1340). Coach Leighton has allowed the team to celebrate the season in style with a rare night out in Blackpool on the Saturday. This has a slight twist as the lads plan to dress up as Coach Leighton and other sporting heroes. Pictures to follwo....
Weekend 4 - Aldershot Metro complete South West Double With the national league returning to Aldershot Metro were up against South West duo Bristol and Cheltenham. To complicate things further both games were on the Sunday. First up were Bristol who were depleted with both Craig Figes and Danny Williams on the injury list. In a defensively poor opening quarter Metro gained the initiative with Leighton amongst the goals to take a 4-2 lead. This pattern of play continued with Metro showing only glimpses of their potential to take victory by a margin of 14-8. Leighton top scored with 6 however Jerome "Stallion" Gabarretta put in the man of the match performance with a mature display beyond his 19 years of age and the sort of attacking prowess that has seen him earn his first cap for the Maltese National side. (Pic - Adam Scholefield) Later on Metro faced a Cheltenham side that had defeated them earlier in the season. Coach Leighton wasted no time in emphasising the faults that had seen Metro throw away a 6 goal cushion earlier in the season. Adam Scholefield ignited the game with some powerful centre forward work which would eventually lead to 4 goals. Gabarretta continued where he left off earlier in the day with 3 goals and Cheltenham were never given an opportunity to open the door like earlier on in the season. Metro rounded off a 12-9 victory with Tom Kelly providing a strong defensive display to take the man of the match award.
Team
PLD
Won
Drawn
Lost
F
A
Pts
GD
Lancaster
11
10
1
0
169
86
21
+83
Manchester
11
7
2
2
118
70
16
+48
Rotherham
11
8
0
3
150
101
16
+49
Bristol Central
11
6
0
5
146
116
12
+30
Cheltenham
11
5
1
5
151
120
11
+31
Overall this raises Metro to joint second in the table with Manchester. Lancaster maintained their 5 point advantage by defeating Bristol and Manchester. Metro face a crucial weekend at Bath on the 7th/8th November when they play Lancaster and Manchester. Hopefully the winning streak can continue.
Fixture Alert - Change in game times at Bath.
Start times for the Division One programme at the University of Bath this weekend have been subject to change - mainly involving an earlier start on Sunday.
New schedule:
Saturday:
13.00 Manchester v Bristol
14.10 Portobello v Penguin
15.20 Rotherham v Lancaster
16.30 Welsh Wanderers v Invicta
17.40 Cheltenham v Bristol
18.50 Portobello v GB Juniors
Sunday:
09.30 Portobello v Tyldesley
10.40 Penguin v Invicta
11.50 Manchester v Rotherham
13.00 Cheltenham v Lancaster
14.10 Welsh Wanderers v Tyldesley
15.20 Penguin v GB Juniors
Metro storm to 3rd in the table
3 comprehensive vistories over Tyldesley, Welsh Wanderers and Portabello at Cardiff ensured Metro were in the top half for another season. Sights are firmly set on the top 2 and the second half of the season looks to be more competitive than ever with 8 games left to decide the final positions.
| Team | PLD | Won | Drawn | Lost | F | A | Pts | GD |
| Lancaster | 9 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 144 | 70 | 17 | +74 |
| City of Manchester | 9 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 100 | 52 | 14 | +48 |
| Rotherham Metro | 9 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 124 | 84 | 12 | +40 |
| Bristol Central | 9 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 131 | 89 | 12 | +42 |
| Cheltenham | 9 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 136 | 99 | 11 | +37 |
| Invicta | 9 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 105 | 102 | 9 | +3 |
| Welsh Wanderers | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 99 | 126 | 8 | -27 |
| Portobello | 9 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 74 | 134 | 4 | -60 |
| Penguin | 9 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 74 | 129 | 3 | -55 |
| Tyldesley | 9 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 65 | 167 | 0 | -102 |
Place find the seasons remaining fixtures below:
wk 5 BATH UNIVERSITY
| Date | Time | White | Blue |
| Nov.7th | 13.10 | Manchester | Bristol |
| 14.20 | Portobello | Penguin | |
| 15.30 | Rotherham | Lancaster | |
| 16.40 | Welsh Wanderers | Invicta | |
| 17.50 | Cheltenham | Bristol | |
| 19.00 | Portobello | GB Juniors | |
| Nov.8th | 10.10 | Portobello | Tyldesley |
| 11.20 | Penguin | Invicta | |
| 12.30 | Manchester | Rotherham | |
| 13.40 | Cheltenham | Lancaster | |
| 14.50 | Welsh Wanderers | Tyldesley | |
| 16.00 | Penguin | GB Juniors |
wk 6 LOUGHBOROUGH UNIVERSITY
| Date | Time | White | Blue |
| Nov.21st | 14.40 | Cheltenham | Manchester |
| 15.50 | Welsh Wanderers | Penguin | |
| 17.00 | Bristol | Rotherham | |
| 18.10 | Tyldesley | Invicta | |
| 19.20 | Lancaster | Manchester | |
| 20.30 | GB Juniors | Penguin | |
| Nov.22nd | 13.10 | Welsh Wanderers | Portobello |
| 14.20 | Tyldesley | Penguin | |
| 15.30 | Cheltenham | Rotherham | |
| 16.40 | Bristol | Lancaster | |
| 17.50 | Invicta | Portobello | |
| 19.00 | GB Juniors | Welsh Wanderers |
wk 7 LANCASTER
| Date | Time | White | Blue |
| Dec.5th | 13.15 | GB Juniors | Portobello |
| 14.30 | Welsh Wanderers | Tyldesley | |
| 15.45 | Lancaster | Rotherham | |
| 17.00 | Manchester | Bristol | |
| 18.15 | Penguin | Portobello | |
| 19.30 | Invicta | Welsh Wanderers | |
| Dec 6th | 10.10 | GB Juniors | Invicta |
| 11.20 | Cheltenham | Bristol | |
| 12.30 | Portobello | Tyldesley | |
| 13.40 | Rotherham | Manchester | |
| 14.50 | Invicta | Penguin | |
| 16.00 | Lancaster | Cheltenham | |
| 17.10 | GB Juniors | Tyldesley |
With victories over Bristol and London Invicta from the first weekend in Cardiff Metro go into weekend 2 facing another massive 3 games.Fixtures for the second weekend at Pond Forge, Sheffield: (Check out that opening game! See you there!)
|
Date |
Time |
White |
Blue |
|
Sept. 26th |
11.15 |
Lancaster |
Rotherham |
|
|
12.30 |
Penguin |
Invicta |
|
|
13.45 |
Bristol |
Cheltenham |
|
|
15.00 |
Portobello |
Tyldesley |
|
|
16.15 |
Manchester |
Rotherham |
|
|
17.30 |
Invicta |
Welsh Wanderers |
|
|
18.45 |
Lancaster |
Bristol |
|
|
20.00 |
Portobello |
Penguin |
|
Sept. 27th |
9.45 |
Cheltenham |
Tyldesley |
|
|
11.00 |
Welsh Wanderers |
Bristol |
|
|
12.15 |
Manchester |
Portobello |
|
|
13.30 |
Penguin |
Rotherham |
|
|
14.45 |
Cheltenham |
Invicta |
|
|
16.00 |
Welsh Wanderers |
Lancaster |
|
|
17.15 |
Manchester |
Tyldesley |
Rotherham Metro completed another successful season in the top division during 2008. Once again finishing in the top 5 and qualifying automatically for the British Championships (February). Can the club move forward and mount a serious title campaign without having to play Norman (coach) in goals for once?
During the 2009 campaign keep checking the website for results, stats and match reports.
| FINAL Division 1 Tables | ||||||||
| TOP | ||||||||
| Team | PLD | Won | Drawn | Lost | F | A | Pts | |
| 1 | Lancaster | 17 | 16 | 0 | 1 | 255 | 109 | 32 |
| 2 | Rotherham Metro | 17 | 12 | 0 | 5 | 204 | 147 | 24 |
| 3 | City of Manchester | 17 | 10 | 1 | 6 | 204 | 128 | 21 |
| 4 | Bristol Central | 17 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 177 | 155 | 20 |
| 5 | West London Penguin ** | 17 | 4 | 1 | 12 | 121 | 195 | 4 |
| BOTTOM | ||||||||
| Team | PLD | Won | Drawn | Lost | F | A | Pts | |
| 6 | Cheltenham | 17 | 11 | 1 | 5 | 211 | 173 | 23 |
| 7 | Invicta | 17 | 8 | 2 | 7 | 179 | 171 | 18 |
| 8 | Welsh Wanderers | 17 | 8 | 2 | 7 | 184 | 196 | 18 |
| 9 | Portobello | 17 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 145 | 285 | 5 |
| 10 | Polytechnic | 17 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 117 | 238 | 1 |