Congratulations to our Trinity U18 Boys’ Water Polo team who triumphed in the ESSA 2022/23 Water Polo Championship last week, winning all four games in the final to be crowned National Champions. They join our U15 Water Polo team who won their national championship the week before.
Mr King, Head of Aquatics, shares the match report from an exciting day:
“In our group B, the team faced City of Long in the first round, winning the match comfortably 3-0. They then faced our hosts for the evening Northampton School for Boys (NSB) and the final score was 7-6 to us.
“The semi-final was against Bolton, and after a draw 1-1 during the match, the team won 2-1 on penalties. Looking at the scoreline, you’d assume that it was a close game, but we absolutely dominated and should have won the match comfortably in normal time.
“A fine save from Aarav Ganguli, couple with Fred Turpin and Pierre Rivet both holding their nerve from 5m, sent us through to the final where to meet our group B opponent NSB again.
“A nervy first half ended 2-1 to us after a long-range effort from Will Burbidge in the dying second of the period made it through the goalkeeper. The second half was very much one way traffic as we scored a further four goals to secure our first U18 title since 2009! Final score Trinity 6-1 NSB.
“Pierre Rivet was the competition’s best player and was behind everything positive we did in both defence and attack. Fred Turpin also had a fine tournament and was amongst the top scorers.
“Aarav Ganguli, our captain, once again proved to be the difference in key moments. He is without doubt the best goalkeeper in the school’s history. It’s hard to believe that he only ended up in goal due to our two goal keepers both being unavailable on the eve of an U15 National Final (that we ended up winning!) Winning the competition is a fitting way for Aarav to bow out as he leaves Trinity at the end of this year.
“Kal-El Ntiamoah, despite being the youngest member of the squad, proved to be an integral part of the team, winning every single swim off, and therefore securing the first possession of the half for us in each game. His defensive work was outstanding, especially considering he was playing against opponents as much as four years older than him!
“I am thrilled for the team; they have all worked so hard and deserve this title. However, we will be back in that pool to train after Easter, as we begin our preparations to defend this title next year.”
Trinity U18 National Water Polo Champion Squad
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