The Royal Commonwealth Pool in Edinburgh is the venue for the latest round of matches in the British Water Polo League, and there’s plenty for the home crowd to get excited about with the Caledonia women’s and men’s teams featuring in three of the five matches taking place this afternoon.
The Division 1 action features some of the best club sides in the UK in the second of four rounds of action taking place across England and Scotland during October and November. Physical, fast-paced and with goals guaranteed, water polo is an absorbing sport to watch live. And spectating today and tomorrow is free!
Water polo intro: Matches consist of teams of 7 players each, one being the goalkeeper. The aim is to get the ball in the opposition net by passing and and shooting. Apart from the goalkeeper, players cannot hold the ball using both hands and no player is allowed to touch their feet on the bottom of the pool. Matches are 32 minutes long in total divided up into four quarters of 8 minutes each. Game time is non-stop with players requiring exceptional levels of fitness.
Today’s action gets underway at 1pm with the Caledonia men’s team taking on their counterparts from Manchester at 1pm. The teams are joint-leaders (along with Solihull) of Division 1, with two wins from their first two matches, making this an intriguing match-up to start the day.
There’s another men’s match between Lancaster and Sheffield before Caledonia women take on Liverpool Lizards at 3.30pm. After suffering two losses in the first round of matches earlier this month (albeit one being a tight 15-12 reverse to Coventry), Caledonia women will be going all out to get some points on the board against a Liverpool team who have won two of their opening three matches. A win would be the perfect confidence booster for the home side ahead of tomorrow’s double-header of matches including a showdown with league leaders Manchester.
The league action concludes at 6pm with Caledonia men taking to the pool for again, this time against Lancaster, and potentially seeking a second win of the day to take them top of the table.
One to watch: Gael Logan, the captain of Caledonia Women and Scottish Player of the Year. A member of the team for more than a decade, Logan has been key part of Caledonia’s rise to the top league in the country and her experience will be crucial today.
This is the full match timings:
1pm: Men’s Div 1 – Manchester vs Caledonia
2.15pm: Men’s Div 1 – Lancaster vs Sheffield
3.30pm: Women’s Div 1 – Liverpool Lizards vs Caledonia
4.45pm: Women’s Div 1 – Manchester vs Leeds Sharks
6pm: Men’s Div 1 – Lancaster vs Caledonia
Matches start at 1pm.
Spectating is free at Royal Commonwealth Pool for all matches.
Round Two of the British Water Polo League continues tomorrow with Caledonia Women involved in two matches, the first one against Manchester at 10.15am.