Solid Start for Dolphin in National Water Polo League
Event: National League, Weekend 1 Venue: Ponds Forge, Sheffield Date: 12th & 13th September 2009
Swindon Dolphin made a solid start to their National League Division 3 season at Sheffield last weekend having won one, drawn one and lost one against South Derbyshire, Hucknall and Caledonia.
The squad of eleven including some National League debutants commenced their campaign against South Derbyshire. Starting a little slower than their competitors, Swindon opened up a 2-1 lead by the end of the first period, going on to extend this to two goals at half time. Some hard work in the third quarter saw the game standing at eight each, and with a minute left on the clock, Rob Toolen scored to give his side victory.
Dolphin’s second fixture of the day was against Hucknall who were relegated from division 2 last season and much fancied for a quick return. Again starting slowly, Swindon trailed by four goals to one at the end of the first quarter which prompted a stern team talk by Welsh player-coach Rhys Tamlyn. The team fought back and sneaked a one goal lead at the mid way point in the game. To their credit, Hucknall responded well in the third period to regain the lead but Dolphin were not to be outdone with Rob Toolen scoring twice in the final period to earn a well deserved point. Special praise goes to Captain Andy Hicks who stepped into the goal-keepers position and made a number of crucial saves to keep the team in the match.
The final fixture of the weekend was against an established 3rd division team, Caledonia. Swindon were performing well in this fixture up until the final period where fatigue set in and they found themselves trailing by ten goals to eight. A flurry of goals in the final period saw the Scottish team win comfortably by 18 goals to 11.
Top Dolphin scorer over the weekend, Rob Toolen said after the match “We knew we had 3 really tough fixtures this weekend, and although we were disappointed with our performance against Caledonia, we can be pleased with taking 3 points. Let’s hope we can build on these results going forward.”
Swindon are currently 5th in the league table with 3 points after the first weekend and look forward to three more tough fixtures in Sheffield at the end of the month where they take on early pace setters Bristol University, Warley and Solihull.
Weekend Results: Swindon Dolphin 11-10 South Derbyshire
Swindon Dolphin 12-12 Hucknall
Swindon Dolphin 11-18 Caledonia
Weekend Stats: Andy Hicks (3 Appearances,0 Goals, 1 Major), David Quinlivan (3 App, 0 G, 4 M), Chris Selby (3 App, 0 G, 0 M), Matt Elliott (3 Apps, 1 G, 4 M), Rob Toolen (3 App 11 G, 2 M), Darryl Pye (3 Apps, 4 G, 0 M), Rhys Tamlyn (3 Apps, 9 G, 2 M), Matt James (3 Apps, 6 G, 3 M), Liam Coles (3 Apps, 0 G, 2 M), Jon Stone (3 Apps, 0 G, 4 M), Michal Trzeciak (3 Apps, 3 G, 1 M)
