Quick Link - Blackpool (h) - Preston (h) - Preston (a) - Burnley (a)

Friday 4th April 2008
Lancaster 15            Blackpool 11

Bright Start for Youngsters
Lancaster commenced their 2008 North Lancashire league campaign with a four goal victory over the seasiders from Blackpool. The home side featured one of their youngest ever sides in senior competition with eight out of twelve players aged sixteen years or younger. Elliot Trafford, Robert Simpson and Stef Detko gaining the distinction of being the youngest players in the pool all at 14 years of age.

At the other end of the scale Rysz Detko and Steve Smith provided the leadership and experience for the side with the in between age group, Zak Sly and Anthony Trafford providing able support to deal with the physically larger Blackpool players.

Within two minutes Lancaster were two goals to the good via Steve Smith and Rysz Detko but Blackpool were determined to make a match of it and were quickly back in the game when Sly was left exposed to a one on one situation with the Blackpool centre forward.  

But with Sam Liver, Michael Brown and Greg Noakes providing solid support in mid-bath and Jonathan Gatehouse steady in defence, it was not surprising to see Lancaster stretch their lead to three goals as once again veterans Smith and Detko scored for the home side.  As the quarter drew to a close, Blackpool were still plugging away however, and as the quarter drew to a close they reduced the deficit to two when Richard Hollings added his second goal for Blackpool.

The second quarter developed into a nip and tuck ‘battle’ between the sides. Decland Ellwood was allowed to match his youthful enthusiasm in the centre forward position against one time Lancaster player from the 1980s, Alan Wooding. A physically demanding contest ensued and Wooding, who has continued to ply his trade with Blackpool over the years had to utilise all the advantage of his physical size and years of experience when marking young master Ellwood.

Youngsters Stef Detko (Rysz’s nephew), Robert Simpson and Elliot Trafford joined the fun and despite their inexperience performed competently on a senior stage. Using their swimming ability and their water polo nous, the three demonstrated the benefit of being part of a combined swimming and water polo club.

The quarter ended with Lancaster still two goals to the good at 8-6, both sides scoring four times. Whilst the competition between Ellwood and Wooding attracted the attention of the crowd, Detko was utilised his continued youthful vigour and experience to score a second quarter hat trick with Anthony Trafford netting Lancaster’s fourth goal.

The third period proved to be the decisive period, Lancaster outscoring Blackpool by five goals to one. Steve Smith provided solid back up to Gatehouse in defence and Blackpool’s forwards struggled to make an impact. Ellwood notched a deserved goal after several near misses, a ‘brother’ double occurred as both Anthony and Elliot (debut goal) Trafford found the back of the net and Detko added to more to his tally, one demonstrating some quick classic water polo play.

After a fine save the alert Sly gathered the ball and fed Stef Detko three quarters of the way down the pool wide out on the right. There followed what needed to be in a tight situation, a perfectly flighted pass from Stef to his uncle who was on the move around the far post. The ball dropped perfectly and was immediately despatched into the right hand corner of the goal via a text book lob from the older Detko.

With the result of the game in Lancaster’s pocket Smith and Detko took a plce on the side and the younger Lancaster players were given the opportunity to shine. Stef Detko, who plays for the juniors in goal took over in nets from Zak Sly and produced a couple of good saves whilst Elliot Trafford and Robert Simpson found lots of space in attack.

Although Blackpool outscored the home side 4-2, the youngsters by and large held their own. The opposition used their size to out muscle Lancaster but only inexperience prevented the home team from adding more than just two goals to their tally as Noakes, Brown, the Trafford brothers, Simpson and Liver counter attacked with enthusiasm. Michael Brown had notched the final two Lancaster goals scoring from five metres out.

The next home game is at Salt Ayre on Friday 11th April with a 9.15pm start against Preston.

Team (Ages in brackets):

 Z Sly (20), S Smith (21+), M Brown (15), S Liver (16), J Gatehouse (16), G Noakes (16), D Ellwood (15), A Trafford (17), R Detko (21+), E Trafford (14), S Detko (14),
R Simpson (14).

Friday 19th March
Lancaster 17  Preston 8

Bright Start to Season continues 

There were several changes to Lancaster’s North Lancashire League side when they entertained Preston at Salt Ayre. Matt Little, Dan Barker, Ciaran James, Sam Smith, Jake Starkie and Lawrence Daykin all joined the squad. One might have expected such a large number of changes to be disruptive but that proved not to be the case and Lancaster continued with their bright start to the season.

Once again the youngsters impressed with Decland Ellwood again looking a strong, solid player whilst Sam Smith, making it a father/son appearance alongside dad Steve, Jake Starkie and Lawrence Daykin demonstrated great potential for the future. Also pleasing was the spread of goals amongst the players with eight players appearing on the goal scoring sheet.

Preston provided more of a swimming challenge than their seaside rivals Blackpool and so it proved on this occasion as Lancaster had to work harder and concentrate more in defence than they had in their Blackpool game.

Lancaster also found it a little harder to counter attack despite the presence of the speedy Matt Little and Ciaran James but it was from a counter attack that their first goal appeared. Following a fine save from Zak Sly, Matt Little found the back of the net after outpacing the Preston defence down the right. The home side then wasted a man up situation to double their tally but they continued to look threatening.  Steve Smith ensured the veterans would be getting a mention on the score sheet scoring from the centre forward position after out muscling his defender.

Preston responded positively and within 20 seconds reduced the deficit. Ciaran James, who had been working well with young Sam Smith in defence, then moved up from the centre back position and used his strength to shrug off the attentions of his marker to score.

Preston again responded almost immediately and loose marking saw Zak Sly’s goal breached for a second time. Lancaster continued to flood forward with Greg Noakes and Michael Brown combining well with Brown on this occasion being the beneficiary of an accurate pass from Noakes to score.

By half time Lancaster had stretched their lead to 7 -2. Youngsters Starkie and Daykin showed great keenness and eagerness in defence and, with the assistance of their more senior colleagues helped Sly keep a clean sheet for the quarter.

Meantime Lancaster were just that little too sharp for Preston and steadily increased their score. Ellwood converted a penalty, the ball just creeping in under the keepers arm and Anthony Trafford slotting home form the left within two minutes of the re-start. Sly saved well during a man down situation half way through the period and veteran Detko created space to finish off the period scoring with a close in shot.

Within a minute of the third period Greg Noakes slotted home from 5 metres to finish off a Lancaster counter attack whilst two minutes later Michael Brown netted his second of the match. Preston then added a third from a man up but a minute later Detko finished off another flowing move from the home side. Sam Smith then went close to scoring a debut goal with his shot just tipped over the bar by the Preston keeper and when Lancaster failed to take advantage a fourth Preston goal followed but Lancaster still looked in command and in the final minute of the quarter both James and Trafford netted their second goals.

With the points in the bag there were regular changes amongst the playing personnel in the home side which probably contributed to Preston testing Sly on several occasions and managing to double their match tally to eight. The disruption did not disturb Lancaster’s attacking play however and the home side still managed to outscore their opponents with five goals of their own. Steve Smith continued to be a handful netting twice, and James, Trafford and Detko all added their third goals of the game.

Squad: Z Sly, Steve Smith(3), C James (3), M Little (1), D Barker, G Noakes (1),
M Brown (2), Sam Smith, R Detko(3), A Trafford (3), J Starkie, L Daykin,
D Ellwood (1).

Tursday 15th May
Preston 8   Lancaster 5

Preston End Lancaster’s North Lancs League Undefeated Run 

Before last Thursdays away fixture at Preston you would have needed a history book to find out when Lancaster last lost a North Lancs League water polo match, but not anymore. A determined Preston side out thought Lancaster to end with a deserved win and the two points.

Although as usual there were several youngsters in the Lancaster side it was the seniors who failed to prove their worth. As the game progressed Lancaster looked to the senior players to overturn an early deficit but even the vastly experienced Detko, assisted by Szaba Kerekes and Dan Barker failed to produce the required goods.

Although Lancaster also introduced Hungarian Zolti Herez for his first English water polo experience but lacking fitness he was unable to make a significant contribution to the game.Preston led by two ex-Lancaster representatives, Dave Nicholls up front and Paul Howarth in defence, overall had the better of the game.

The players were drawn into wrestling matches when it was skill and match awareness that was needed. Despite this shortcoming Lancaster had their chances but there were too many poor passes, poor pass options selected and wayward shots taken by the more experienced players.

On a positive note Zak Sly kept Lancaster in touch, particularly in the first period with several outstanding saves including one form a penalty, Anthony Trafford, Sam Liver and Decland Ellwood all turned in creditable performances. Youngsters Robert Simpson, Stef Detko, Elliot Trafford and Sam Smith all made a useful contribution, gradually building on their experience.

Preston went two up despite Sly’s heroics in goal as Lancaster struggled to make an impact attacking the shallow end but once the teams changed ends Dan Barker and Decland Ellwood pulled the game back level. Having created several chances however Preston were on a high and were able to garb third goal to take a half time 3-2 lead.

Lancaster looked to counter attack were wasteful in the last third of the pool or spent too much time trying to wrestle the ball into the net.. Too often a poor pass went to the opposition or the ball was too slow in finding the free player and Preston went further ahead half way through the third period.  As the quarter drew to a close Kerekes tried his luck from 8 metres as Lancaster uncharacteristically started to look panicky but his luck was in and the quarter ended with the teams all square at 4-4.

The final period should have been to Lancaster’s advantage attacking the deep end  and Detko elected to field a more senior group of players. The team continued to be over eager possibly surprised at how well Preston were playing. Mistakes up front cost the side dearly as Preston broke to the shallow end to go three goals ahead.

A solitary goal for Lancaster from Anthony Trafford was not even a final consolation in the end as Nicholls rounded off the scoring with an eighth goal for Preston.

Squad: Z Sly, Steve Smith, Sam Smith, R. Simpson, D Barker, Sam Smith, R Detko, S Detko, A Trafford, E Trafford, S Kerekes, D Ellwood, Z Herez.

Wednesday 4th June 2008
Burnley 6  Lancaster 11

Polo Team Back to Winning Ways Against Burnley

Lancaster’s North Lancs League side quickly returned to winning ways last week when they travelled to Burnley last week. With the majority of the youngsters committed to the local schools swimming gala only three of the club’s juniors were available for the trip, Decland Ellwood, who is quickly establishing himself as one the side’s key players, Sam Smith and Stef Detko.

Matt Little who recently returned from international duty with the Great Britain Youth team in Poland and Bulgaria also joined the squad of nine players after missing the defeat at Preston. Because of the relatively large size of the goals in the small pool Zak Sly remained in goal throughout even though this is also Stef Detko’s favoured position.

Lancaster started the match attacking the shallow end and looked to be in control of the game with Stephen Smith nullifying the Burnley threat up front. Stef Detko and Anthony Trafford both went close to scoring before Dan Barker finally opened Lancaster’s account with a back hand shot from the centre forward position.

Burnley looked to battle back early on and as is their fashion looked to test the Lancaster defence with a bit of wrestling. Lancaster held out however and Matt Little broke free to score a second goal for his side. Burnley responded and Lancaster had a man excluded but Sly produced a fine save which saw him keep a clean, first quarter sheet.

Lancaster scored first in the second period when the experienced Ryszard Detko broke free down the right. Whilst Steve Smith was taking a breather however, between them the players who have grown up in all deep pools found it relatively difficult to defend the bulky Burnley attack, and the home side scored twice to reduce the deficit to one.

Drama followed when the referee halted the game. Enraged by some of the inconsistencies in the refereeing of the shallow end of the pool one of Lancaster’s supporters drifted into some over vociferous barracking. The game was halted and the referee threatened to exclude of the Lancaster supporters for some over vociferous barracking unless the individual agreed to remain calm.

Fortunately the agreement was made and Lancaster went straight back to work, battening down the hatches in defence again. Good counter attack play from the team resulted in Anthony Trafford finding the back of the Burnley net.

Burnley looked to play a drop and Sam Smith brought a fine save from the home keeper but Barker was following up and slotted home the rebound. The final goal of the quarter came from Little as once again he used his pace to break away and net his second of the match.

Attacking the shallow again Lancaster struggled a little. Burnley played a drop and used the bottom well to nullify any threat from Barker. The home side scored two relatively soft goals from their centre forward with first Little then Trafford caught out of position. Lancaster fashioned a good chance when Ellwood dropped a quick ball into Barker before Burnley had chance to regroup but the Burnley keeper saved well.

Lancaster then missed a man up after good work from Barker and paid the price as Burnley broke to net their fifth goal and reduce the deficit to one. Ryszard Detko pulled one back for Lancaster after being left in too much space but Burnley netted again to end the quarter 7-6 down.

Lancaster kept in tight in the final quarter with primarily either Steve Smith or Rysz Detko in defence. Lancaster adopted a tight pressing game and the tactic paid off.  Sly was a spectator for most of the time as Burnley were restricted to half chances which were comfortably mopped up by the Lancaster keeper. At the other end goals from
R Detko, Barker(2) and Little pulled Lancaster clear.

Squads included: Z Sly, Steve Smith, M Little, D Barker, A Trafford, D Ellwood,
R Detko, Sam Smith, S Detko