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Dolphin slip to defeat in season opener

Swindon Dolphin Water Polo Match Report

Event: Bristol & West Division II League Fixture

Teams: Swindon Dolphin v Cardiff University

Location: Milton Road – Swindon

Date: Sunday 28th January 2007

Swindon Dolphin opened their season on Sunday entertaining a strong Cardiff University side. Dolphin started the match well and soon raced into a three-goal lead following strikes from Michal Trzeciak and a double from Darryl Pye. In truth the lead owed much to the poor finishing of the students however Dolphins capitalised well on mistakes that were made by their opposition.

The second quarter of this fixture was where fortunes started to change. The students started to seize on their chances, and it was the home side that started to snatch at opportunities. The students scored on four occasions. Dolphin did managed to score one through another long distance effort from Trzeciak.

The third quarter was where the students took control of the fixture. Dolphins fell asleep and conceded nine goals. Dolphin didn’t know what had hit them and trailed by 13-5 going into the final quarter of the match. Captain Andy Hicks scoring the solitary effort.

Dolphin regrouped and battled for pride in the final quarter. The play became a lot more fluid and chances were again being created. Hicks scored a penalty early on that gave the home side hope that they could salvage a result. This was followed up by two more efforts from the prolific Trzeciak and one from Matt James. The efforts were in vain however as the students stole a late goal to ensure a victory by 14 goals to 9.

Team coach David Quinlivan said after the fixture, the team played well in patches, however we went to sleep in the 3rd quarter this effectively cost us the match. We need to ensure this does not happen again and that we learn from these mistakes.

Result: Swindon Dolphin 9 – 14 Cardiff University

Team: Andy Hicks, David Quinlivan (2 majors), Anthony Gingell, Andy Hicks (2 goals), Andrew Prowse, Darryl Pye (2 goals), Chris McConnell, Ian Brewer (1 major), Matt James (1 goal, 1 major), Dominic Illansky, Mark Lawlor (1 major), Michal Trzeciak (4 goals), Pelle Dresden.