Monday Wrap | Rnd 3 OVO Australian Waterpolo League

Round 3 of the OVO Australian Waterpolo League has wrapped up with Hunter Hurricanes and Fremantle squaring off in Saturday’s live streamed Newcastle harbour match.

The Fremantle club spoiled the party for the Hunter locals taking both matches in what was otherwise a great day out for locals to view water polo with a stunning backdrop.

A spectator on the day confirmed the great atmosphere harbourside.

“The whole town is getting behind it, there is a real buzz about it, this fixture has got a big future here in Newcastle,” they said.

At halftime in the men’s match, Hunter Hurricanes Head Coach Daniel Robinson encouraged his team to stick with their game plan even though the Fremantle

Mariners overcame a strong start by Hunter to lead the home side 5-4 at half-time.

“We are going to keep going with our system and see how we go,” he said.

In the end though it wasn’t enough with the Fremantle Mariners extending their halftime lead to 9-6 at full time.

Hunter Hurricane’s US import and centre forward, Matt Farmer, said he was enjoying his time in the OVO Australiana Waterpolo League.

“The Fremantle Mariners are a really good team and it was a tough challenge for sure.

“We’ve definitely put in a lot of hard work, we’ve been swimming a lot, and we’ve worked on the conditioning to go back and forth with the best teams,” he said.

The Hunter Hurricanes women struggled to play consistent water polo against Fremantle Marlins and left to think about their missed chances.

Hunter’s Head Coach Mitchell Baird was aware of his team’s potential opportunities at halftime.

“We are working really hard to create our opportunities, but we are just not executing well enough, so I’m hoping that will change around the next quarter,” he said.

Fremantle Marlins Assistant Coach, Sharan Collis, spoke at halftime about how both team’s defences were solid, but the Marlins were lacking in attack.

“We are sitting out a bit too far, we just have to get in and attack the goals,” she said.

The Marlins responded to Collis by scoring 5 goals to 2 in the second half, winning their first match away from home 7-3.

After the win, Marlins captain Erin Redbond was quick to praise goalkeeper Lillian Hedges for her match winning performance.

“She is usually quite exceptional, but today she really saved us, so we couldn’t ask for a better goalie,” she said.

NEWCASTLE

Newcastle was treated to plenty of water polo action throughout round 3 on top of Saturday’s harbour match.

The Hunter Hurricanes men’s side started well against UWA Torpedoes who were playing in their first two matches of a six game road trip.

Hunter's men proved far too strong for UWA winning both matches, with the second match being their highest scoring at 12-2.

In the return match against Fremantle Mariners after Saturday’s OVO Play live stream match, Hunter Hurricanes learnt from the previous game to clinch a 10-9 win.

Hunter Hurricane’s women showed great tenacity throughout the round. Hunter Hurricanes women are a young side, but were overrun by the UWA Torpedoes 10-7 in the first of two matches.

The youth and enthusiasm of Hunter Hurricanes women shone through in the return match and they showed what they could do when they take their opportunities walking away with a 10 all draw against UWA Torpedoes.

In their second match against the Fremantle Marlins, the Hunter women showed great resolve to walk away with an 11 all draw against the Fremantle Marlins.

BRISBANE

Queensland Breakers and Brisbane Barracudas were both in action two times each against Sydney University Lions men’s and women’s teams.

The Brisbane Barracudas women were the only successful Queensland side throughout round 3 to experience victory over Sydney University Lions.

The Brisbane women took the first match 5-4 and then backed it up to run out 7-4 winners in the second match.

SYDNEY

In a hotly contested match at the shark tank, the ACU Cronulla Sharks and Drummoyne Devil’s men’s game was tied at 4 goals a piece early in the last quarter.

Cronulla held their nerve and with a key goal to sharks player Joey Kayes, they took the lead and ran away with it, 7-4.

In the women’s match between ACU Cronulla Sharks and Drummoyne Devils, Drummoyne were clinical in a 9-5 performance, helped largely due to a six-goal haul from Ellie Armit.

UNSW Wests Magpies struggled early in the round with their first two matches resulting in two losses against Fremantle Mariners.

UNSW Wests continued to focus on themselves and eventually found some more luck with two wins against the UWA torpedoes later in the round.

UNSW Wests Killer Whales, enjoyed four victories from four matches.

UTS Balmain Tigers would be pleased with their efforts after securing three wins in their four matches, only going down against Fremantle Marlin’s by 1 goal.

To view all results from round 3 of the OVO Australian Waterpolo League, click here.

To view upcoming fixtures, click here.