Lancaster City v Bristol

Lancaster meets Bristol for the first time in a Youth National competition.
Lancaster hoping their players have recovered from their epic encounter against Manchester on Saturday.
Lancaster started quickly with Brett Sharpe scoring inside the 1st minute. Bristol hit back 2 minutes later. Lancaster’s pace and power was starting to pull Bristol about .First Robert Powley, and then Captain Ciaran James scored counter attack goals. Brett Sharpe and Dan Barker got in on the act with more fine counter attack goals.
The score at the end of the 1st quarter lancaster5 Bristol 1

Lancaster was surprised by Bristol fiery start to the 2nd quarter, although relative newcomers to Youth Water Polo, their senior side have been one of the dominant sides in the National first division for at least 10 years. Their quick  lively forwards had Lancaster chasing shadows as Bristol scored .Lancaster Youths new exactly what was required  and started to drive forward .Their pressure resulted in Lancaster gaining a penalty, and scoring. Another swift counter attack saw Steven Swinglehurst score.
Lancaster started to attack continuously; goals from Ciaran James, Mathew Little and Ciaran James again knocked the endeavour out of Bristol. Lancaster had stormed to a 9 goal lead.
The quarter finished Lancaster 12 Bristol 3

With such a commanding lead Lancaster were able to use all their players on a rotation basis for the rest of the game.
The 3rd quarter started with Bristol surprising Lancaster with an early goal. Robert Powley quickly restored Lancaster’s 9 goal lead. The game became a bit disorganised as Lancaster continued to make changes. This unfortunately upset Lancaster’s rhythm and Bristol capitalised as they scored. With Lancaster not controlling the play Bristol were able to score again. Though a revival looked remote it took Dan Barker to restore order to Lancaster 
The 3rd quarter finished Lancaster 14 Bristol 6

Lancaster returned to their starting line up for the beginning of the 4th quarter. Mathew Little, Brett Sharpe and Dan Barker did what they do best by scoring of fast counter attacks. Lancaster’s lead was now 11goals and the Championship was clearly in sight.
With 4 minutes remaining Lancaster changed their starting line up to allow the rest of the team some pool time. Bristol initially took advantage and scored, but Lancaster came back with 2 fine goals, 1 from Decland Ellwood and 1 from Ciaran James.
The game finished Lancaster 19 Bristol 7.
.Lancaster had regained the Trophy they last won in 2003.this was the 7th time Lancaster have won the ASA Youth Boys Championship,
The wining team was
Marc Robinson ,Robert Powley(2), M Little(2), Ciaran James(5) ,M Brown, J Warwick, J Gatehouse, Mathew Quirk, Brett Sharpe(3), D Barker(5), J Magill, D Ellwood(1), S Swinglehurst(1).

ASA 2007 Water Polo Youth Boys Semi- Final
Lancaster City v City of Manchester

Lancaster meets Manchester once again in a major national competition.
These 2 teams were the pick of the sides’ in the early stages of the competition and were unlucky to be drawn against each other for the semi final.

The game started well for Lancaster as captain Ciaran James scored on Lancaster’s first attack. It wasn’t long before Manchester was level. Lancaster continued to press forward and was rewarded with Manchester having a player excluded. Lancaster failed to take advantage; this unfortunately was to set the pattern for the game. Manchester forging forward scored, only to see Lancaster reply through Ciaran James.
The Score at the end of the 1st quarter Lancaster 2 Manchester 2

Dan Barker of Lancaster scored a fine centre forward goal to set Lancaster on their way in the 2nd quarter. Lancaster continued to press forward and was awarded a penalty. They failed to score only to see Manchester go down the other end and level the scores. Both sides looked threatening as they attacked. Ciaran James restored Lancaster’s lead with the speedy Mathew Little giving Lancaster a 2 goal cushion. Manchester seemed to be shaken by these 2 goals and played some fast attacking Polo scoring 3 quick goals.
The quarter finished Lancaster 5 Manchester 6.

Manchester was now attacking with purpose and caused Lancaster to concede 3 quick exclusion. Thanks to stout defending and excellent goalkeeping by Marc Robinson Manchester failed to score. Manchester’s continued pressure caused the Lancaster defence to concede a penalty. Manchester‘s team talk at half time was obviously inspirational.
Marc Robinson saved Lancaster once again as he dramatically saved the penalty.
It was Lancaster who scored first as Dan Barker scored from centre forward. The game started to swing from end to end, and each side as they attacked looked capable of scoring. Both defences were working extremely hard. It was Manchester who scored first to regain the lead. They went on to increase their lead as Lancaster failed to take advantage of an extra man. As Manchester became more dominant the game seemed to be slipping away from Lancaster. Manchester started to forge away as they increased their lead to 4 goals. Lancaster was not finished and spirited play by Dan Barker and Mathew Little gave Lancaster some hope as the quarter finished Lancaster 8 Manchester 10.

The next few minutes were crucial for Lancaster .They could not afford to concede too many more goals at this late stage of the game. Lancaster forced an extra man but failed to score. Manchester’s next attack saw them increase their lead to 3 goals. Ciaran James scored to keep Lancaster’s hopes alive and Dan Barker reduced the deficit to 1 goal Manchester through their powerful centre forward scored to keep a 2 goal cushion. As the game drew closer to the last 3 minutes Manchester’s coach called a time out to try to stem any fight back Lancaster might mounting .From the restart Lancaster stole possession and forced Manchester to concede an extra man situation. This time Lancaster’s coach called a time out. From the resultant man up Mathew Little scored to leave Manchester with a single goal advantage. Excellent play by Dan Barker as he scored drew the scores level. With less than a minute play Manchester’s coach called his 2nd time out in a bid to win the game. Lancaster strong defence held out and the game ended all square.

Extra time beckoned with 2 periods of 3 minutes to be played.
Extra time started with Manchester in the ascendancy, two Lancaster exclusion gave Manchester the chance to take the lead and they did. At the end of the first period of extra time Manchester led 1 goal.
Dan Barker playing the game of his life scored after a tussle in the centre forward position to bring the scores level. A mix up in Lancaster’s defence saw Marc Robinson Lancaster’s goalkeeper excluded. Manchester scored from the extra man .With 30 seconds left to play and Lancaster still driving forward, their efforts was reward with a penalty. The brave Dan Barker took responsibility and scored to leave the game tied with less than 20 seconds to play.
The game finished Manchester 14 Lancaster 14.

They were down to a penalty shoot out. Five players from each side would take the first penalties.
Lancaster’s heroic five sat alone waiting their fate.
Lancaster having won the toss decided to take the first penalty and scored. Manchester then scored their first penalty. Lancaster failed on their 2nd as the referee adjudged that the Lancaster player had hesitated in this throw, Manchester score their 2nd.
Lancaster scored their 3rd penalty to level the scores, Marc Robinson in Lancaster’s goal saved Manchester’s 3rd to leave the scores level. The youngest member of the Lancaster squad came forward to take his penalty and scored much to the delight of the entire Lancaster squad and supporters. Manchester scored their 4th penalty as their relieved supporters cheered. Dan Barker as fate would decree had the onerous task of taking Lancaster’s last penalty. With great confidence he slotted the ball away to give Lancaster the lead for the first time since half way through the 2nd quarter which seems an age ago now. Manchester now needs to score to save the game, could Marc Robinson become the hero as a previous Lancaster goalkeeper Zak Sly had done 4 years earlier. The Manchester player put the ball wide of the goals. Lancaster had won their way to the ASA Youth Championship 2007 Final in the most dramatic way
As usual in team games goal scores get all the accolades but games are won on team performances. From Marc Robinson in goal, stalwart defending by Brett Sharpe Robert Powley and Jonathan Gatehouse. Continuous hard work from Steven Swinglehurst and Michael Brown who had to play unchanged as the game became tight .Decland Ellwoodwho volunteered to take one of the penalties and to those players who had to sit on the pool side waiting to get involved. Not forgetting the goal scorers themselves: Robert Powley, Mathew Little, Ciaran James, Dan Barker and Decland Ellwood. They all contributed to this tremendous match

The successful Lancaster side was
Marc Robinson ,Robert Powley(1), M Little(4), Ciaran James(4) ,M Brown, J Warwick, J Gatehouse, Mathew Quirk, Brett Sharpe, D Barker(8), J Magill, D Ellwood(1), S Swinglehurst.