May 3, 2025
Late goals, penalty shootouts and exciting water polo was the order of the day as the GoCardless Swim England National Age Group Championship Finals 2025 (U17/U19) got underway in Coventry.
Places in each of the medal matches were decided on Saturday at the Alan Higgs Centre after eight excellent semi-finals took centre stage in the Midlands.
Watford’s nail-biting penalty shootout victory over Exeter was the highlight of the day as they secured a spot alongside City of Manchester in the U17 Open final.
That was the first of two finals places for the North West with their U17s looking to emulate the Open U19 team tomorrow after they defeated Watford in the U19 semi-final.
West London Penguin await Manchester in the U19 Open final whilst Penguin’s U17 Female side will take on City of Liverpool for gold.
City of Sheffield and City of Bristol were also victorious in Coventry, and they’ll contest the U19 Female final on Sunday afternoon.
You can find out more about each of the matches below with the full match sheets available on the live scoreboard page.
Watford on the spot
We start with Watford’s tense penalty shootout win, defeating an Exeter side that took them to their limit.
The two teams played out a back-and-forth contest Exeter edging both the first and final quarters with Watford taking control in the middle of the match.
The pair were never split by more than three goals throughout with the Londoners overcoming their 10-7 deficit part way through the third to lead going into the final quarter.
Captain Gethin Dorrington and Ilija Crompton’s each scored their fourth goal of the game to take Watford into a narrow 14-13 lead but a nervy end to the match allowed Toby C-Y grabbed the equaliser to take the game to penalties.
The forwards were in fine form in the shootout with each of the initial 10 shots hitting the back of the net. That took us to sudden death where the unfortunate Bernat Amado saw the second of his penalties saved.
Rishi Patel then stepped up and made no mistake as he fired his effort into the corner to book his team a place in tomorrow’s gold medal match.
They’ll be facing a City of Manchester team that were dominant in their victory over Worthing.
The 2024 bronze medallists ran out 20-8 winners to guarantee themselves a better finish than they had 12 months ago in an exceptional display.
Andrew Stephenson and Yaroslav Shemanov top scored with five goals each whilst Caelan McMillan and Otis Mckelvey grabbed four for themselves to put them right in the hunt for the top scorer award.
The South East club battled until the end, scoring the final two goals of the match through Piaras Donnelly and Sammy Smith to give them a confidence boost ahead of tomorrow’s bronze medal match.
U17 Open semi-finals results
Watford 21 – 20 Exeter (3-1, 0-2, 2-4, 3-2, Watford defeat Exeter 7-6 on penalties)
Watford scorers: Rishi Patel (6), Ilija Crompton (7), Theodoros Katsaris, Luka Guzijan (2), Gethin Dorrington (5)
Exeter scorers: Bernat Amado, Joseph Davies, Ollie Noyce, Jasper Sercombe, Bence Bartos, Matthew Harrison, Toby C-Y (3), Gethin Williams (3).
City of Manchester 20 – 8 Worthing (6-1, 4-2, 8-3, 2-2)
City of Manchester scorers: Andres Stephenson (5), Otis Mckelvey (4), Joseph Roxburgh (2), Caelan McMillan (5), Yaroslav Shemanov (5).
Worthing scorers: Aiden Mcarragher, Sammy Smith (5), Leon Wudarczyk, Piaras Donnelly.
Liverpool and West London Penguin secure U17 female final spots
City of Liverpool edged out Worthing in a thriller to kick off the GoCardless Swim England Water Polo National Age Group Championships.
Worthing stormed into a 3-0 lead early on with Florrie Cooper’s double putting the West Sussex side into a dominant position after the opening period.
However, in the second, Liverpool fought back to level the game at half time before moving into a 7-5 ahead of the final eight minutes.
The two sides traded goals in the final period with Worthing’s Elsie Graves’ goalscoring exploits helping keep her team in the match-up.
She netted five across the match, including the final goal of the game with just 42 seconds left on the clock. That put her team within one, but Liverpool held on with captain Abbie Evans, Tilly McGeehan and Jenna Binks each grabbing a brace.
The Merseysiders will meet West London Penguin in the final as Manpreet Gill put in a stunning display to lead her team to victory.
She topped scored with six of her sides 13 goals as they defeated a tough Exeter side 13-6.
After a goal filled opening period, Penguin asserted their dominance in the second to move into an 8-3 lead at half time.
They defended well late on, limiting Exeter to a number of long-range efforts and were on form at the other end to extend their advantage.
Kate James’ hat trick and Poppy Liu’s double showed some of the quality in the Exeter side but Penguin went on to take a well-deserved place in tomorrow’s final where they’ll look to avenge last year’s defeat.
U17 Female semi-finals results
Worthing 8 – 9 City of Liverpool (3-1, 0-2, 2-4, 3-2)
Worthing scorers: Elsie Graves (5), Maia Middleton, Florrie Cooper (2).
Liverpool scorers: Abbie Evans (2), Tilly McGeehan (2), Jenna Binks (2), Sianna Tamlin, Ataliah Taylor-Potts, Nieve Folkes.
West London Penguin 13 – 6 Exeter (5-3, 3-0, 2-2, 2-1)
West London Penguin scorers: Darya Kakari, Anjelea Gallgher-Padayachy (2), Manpreet Gill (6), Alice Norwell, Florence Mauri-Boulonge (2), Emily Barea.
Exeter scorers: Poppy Liu (2), Yasmine Chaabane, Kate James (3).
Sheffield steal the show
City of Sheffield were in fine form as they look to go one better in Coventry in 2025.
The South Yorkshire club put in a comprehensive display to defeat defending champions Cheltenham at the Alan Higgs Centre.
Alice Berell and Georgia Coles grabbed six with Ruby Taylor scoring seven as they ran out 26-6 winners on the day.
Their performance was one of the standouts of the day, whilst Cheltenham’s young team will look to bounce back as they look to leave with a medal on Sunday.
City of Bristol held off a late Liverpool fight back to secure a date with Sheffield in tomorrow’s final.
The South West team looked comfortable for the most part, storming into a 9-3 lead by half time.
However, Liverpool gave them something to think about late on, scoring five in the final period as they started to close the gap.
Bristol held their nerve to not let the Merseysiders back in it with late goals from Geogia Haines and Harriet Bates getting them over the line with a solid 15-10 win.
Haines top scored in the match with five whilst Josephine Lamont Tucker took her hat trick expertly as they sent them on their way to the gold medal match.
U19 Female semi-finals results
City of Sheffield 26 – 6 Cheltenham (6-0, 5-3, 7-2, 8-1)
City of Sheffield scorers: Georgie Coles (6), Alice Berill (6), Ida-Rose Naseem, Ruby Taylor (7), Isabel Olcer, Rowena Kanan, Anna Woodhall (4).
Cheltenham scorers: Georgia Haslam, Luisa Borgia, Imogen Blassberg, Alice Ross, Lucy Paterson.
City of Liverpool 10 – 15 City of Bristol (0-3, 3-6, 2-4, 5-2)
City of Liverpool scorers: Lucy Davis, Tillie McGeehan (2), Isabella Ibbs (3), Jenna Binks, Annie Rowland (3).
City of Bristol scorers: Josephine Lamont Tuckett (3), Harriet Bates (2), India Knights-Hume (2), Geogia Haines (5), Darcey Tomlinson (2), Manon Lythgoe.
Manchester and Penguin to face off for gold
Three-time winners in this event, City of Manchester, will battle West London Penguin in tomorrow’s open U19 final.
Both clubs had to wait until the end of the day for their tournament to get underway but they each edged out Cheltenham and Watford in two competitive semi-finals.
Penguin were up first where a goal-scoring clinic from Sidney Gruber saw them see off Cheltenham in a 12-9 win.
Gruber grabbed seven of his side’s goals, including four in the second quarter alone, to put the game just out of reach of the Gloucestershire outfit.
His first half goals alongside a hat trick from Michelangelo Antonelli and a brace from Shai Saltman meant they were always in control despite having to withstand some heavy second half pressure.
Cheltenham played well in defeat with Alfie Clarke and GB U18 star Will Bamborough leading their scoring charts.
They’ll face Watford in what is set to be a close match for bronze after they lost out 13-6 to Manchester.
In the final game of the evening, Manchester were able to take control of the match in the third after a close first half.
A 5-1 third period score changed the game and allowed them to manage the game well late on to seal the victory – partly thanks to a hat trick each from Oliver Salimbeni and George Billington.
To find all the reports from finals day, make sure to follow Swim England’s social media channels and visit the dedicated news page here.
Images – Will Johnston Photography
U19 Open semi-finals results
West London Penguin 12 – 9 Cheltenham (3-1, 5-1, 2-5, 2-2)
West London Penguin scorers: Shai Saltman (2), Sidney Gruber (7), Michelangelo Antonelli (3).
Cheltenham scorers: Alfie Clarke (4), Noah Knights-Hume, Dan O’Connor, Will Bamborough (3).
City of Manchester 13 – 6 Watford (2-1, 2-1, 5-1, 4-3)
City of Manchester scorers: G Billington (3), F Dean (2), O Salimbeni (3), C Chadwick, A Stephenson, Y Shemanov (2), L Roxburgh
Watford scorers: Ed Carpenter, Daniel Crompton, B Dix, N Obradovic, Rishi Patel, M Barett.