This weekend the Penguin Ladies 1st team headed off to compete in the opening round of the Women’s LEN trophy in Imperia, Italy.
Our first game was against Cablescom EWZ Saragosa, a professional team from northern Spain. The match was played in excellent competitive spirit and we managed to keep the Spaniards guessing as to who was going to score next. We showed great team work all round, with goal scoring duties shared between Frankie Snell, Adrienn Hari, Charlotte Hanson, Gloria Armstrong and Morgen-rae Graham. Even though we lost 11 – 19 [2-6] [2-6] [3-4] [4-3], we were delighted to have given one of our best performances this season and proud to have come away with 11 goals against a top professional squad.
In our second game we faced Union Saint-Bruno Bordeaux. We knew we needed to start strongly to build the momentum we needed to win the game. Frankie Snell showed just why she is part of the GB ladies water polo team as she scored 7 of our 12 goals. Gloria Armstrong, Kate Frazer (our team junior) and Charlotte Hanson also kept the scoreboard busy as we walked away with a 6-12 victory. [1-4] [3-3][1-2] [1-3].
The third and final game was against the host team, Mediterranea Imperia. Not only were we facing the best team in our draw, we were also up against their army of supporters kitted out with drums, shakers and strong vocal chords! Despite all the spectator noise we scored first, which lifted our spirits and momentarily quietened the crowd. Frankie Snell, Tasja Botha and Adrienn Hari all got the ball to the back of the net and although we lost 13-4 [5-1][2-1][4-0][2-2] we were once again very happy with our team performance after a long weekend of water polo.
See a report in the local Italian press here and some great photos here.
Finishing third in this qualifying round takes us forward into round 2 of the Women’s LEN Trophy, on the 21-23 January 2011 in Hungary