Sports
‘Outstanding’ City of Liverpool crowned U17 Female national champions
City of Liverpool were crowned female U17 champions at the GoCardless Swim England Water Polo National Age Group Championships.
They defeated West London Penguin 12-6 to claim the Edith and Tom Lythe Memorial Trophy for the first time since 2011.
An impressive team display, both defensively and in front of goal, meant that they had just too much for a strong Penguin team.
It took them until the third quarter to take control of the match after a tightly contested opening two periods.
The clubs tough defence and the impressive Issy Taylor in goal kept Penguin at bay for the majority of the first half before five goals from five different players in the third saw Liverpool pull clear.
Penguin gave it their all in the closing stages but had to settle for a second successive silver medal in this event.
After the match, Liverpool Head Coach Alice Bryne spoke of her pride in her team’s performance in Coventry.
She said: “Incredible, they were absolutely outstanding today. Everything that we talked about in tactics we did, everything that we practiced in training, they did.
“Excellent finishes, the goalkeeping, excellent team defence. It was just outstanding. It says so much about how composed and determined they were but actually I think it shows how committed they are all the time.
“They come to training every week so that’s not the first time that they’ve heard me say those things. And this is that payoff, that reward for all of their time, effort and hard work. I’m really pleased and proud of them.”
She also spoke about two of her standout players of the weekend in goalkeeper Issy Taylor and Tillie McGeehan who were awarded the tournament’s top goalkeeper and MVP awards respectively.
“Our goalkeeper just keeps improving and improving. She made a penalty save early on and I think that was critical to keep it tight and to keep us in it. And to have MVP with Tillie just shows how hard that our players have been working in training to achieve this and those awards.
“Quite a few of them will be back next year and still able to play as well which is fantastic. We’re hoping we can carry this into next year’s competition, and I think this would’ve only made them hungrier to compete at the highest level.”
U17 Female gold medal match result and scorers
City of Liverpool 12 – 6 West London Penguin (1-0, 2-1, 5-2, 4-3)
Liverpool scorers: Poppy Clarke, Tilly McGeehan (3), Lucy Watson (3), Jenna Binks, Sianna Tamlin (3), Nieve Folkes.
West London Penguin scorers: Darya Kakari, Manpreet Gill (4), Emily Barea.
Worthing went one better than they did in 2024 to secure the bronze medal in the day’s opening match at the Alan Higgs Centre.
The Sussex-based side ran out 10-5 winners against Exeter, partly thanks to goal scoring exploits of Elsie Graves.
She was named player of the match as well as the competitions top goal scorer after adding six to her tally in this one.
That took her total to 11 in two matches with her final quarter hat trick putting the match beyond Exeter’s reach.
Like Penguin, Exeter was well in the game at half-time, but Worthing got into their groove in the second half to come away with a solid victory and a bronze medal to boot.
You can find the full match sheets and all the results from this weekend’s competition by visiting the live scoreboard page.
Images: Will Johnston Photography
U17 Female bronze medal match result and scorers
Worthing 10 – 5 Exeter (1-1, 3-3, 3-0, 3-1)
Worthing scorers: A Fraser, S Priede, Elsie Graves (6), Maia Middleton, A Fleming.
Exeter scorers: Yasmine Chaabane (2), Kate James (2), Molly Dean.