WEEKEND WRAP | ROUND 3 OVO AUSTRALIAN WATERPOLO LEAGUE

The 2020 OVO Australian Water Polo League has well and truly kicked into gear, with 28 matches held across six venues and two states in Round three.

Round three saw the OVO AWL recognise mental health and the important role that sport plays breaking down the stigma around mental health and promoting the message that ‘it ain’t weak to speak’.

Extreme weather continued to wreak havoc, this week with torrential rain for games across Brisbane, Newcastle and Sydney.

The OVO Game of the Week saw Drummoyne Devils host UTS Balmain Tigers in a battle for the Steve Large Shield.

The women kicked off the night’s proceedings, and Balmain came out firing scoring seven unanswered goals.

Drummyone mounted a comeback, scoring six goals courtesy of import Danijela Jackovich and Morgan Baxter, but it was too little too late, in the end Balmain claiming the win 13-9.

Drummoyne Coach Maureen O’Toole said that while there were passages of play that were good, her team need to work on putting together a full four quarter performance.

“We have a lot of talent and once we figure each other out we’ll do really well,” O’Toole said.

“We’ve really just got to come together as a team, and our time is coming next week in Adelaide hopefully,” she said.

In the men’s game, Balmain were first on the board, but a quick reply from Drummoyne captain Aidan Roach saw the home side on the front foot.

In the end it was the combination of past and present KAP7 Aussie Sharks squad members that proved to be Drummoyne’s leading edge, with goals coming from Lachy Edwards (2), Aidan Roach (3), Tyler Martin (2), Nic Brooks (2) and Blake Edwards (5).

Roach said that it took the effort of all 13 men who entered the pool to earn them the win.

“That was an amazing team effort, we played as a team and that led to us scoring some easier goals,” Roach said.

“It was pretty tough, obviously the conditions aren’t ideal but sometimes it’s good to play in something like that - makes it a little bit challenging and exciting,” he said.

Roach had nothing but praise for team mate Blake Edwards who had an impressive outing in the number 12 cap.

“Blake’s an amazing player and sometimes you just have to sit outside and let him do all the work,” Roach said.

Roach said that it was great to take time out in Round Three to shine a light on mental health.

“It’s obviously important that we all get around each other sometimes and ask your mates if they’re okay,” Roach said.

With the wins one apiece, the Steve Large Shield was decided on goal aggregate, with Drummoyne the eventual winners.

Around the grounds

THURSDAY

UWA Torpedoes travelled to the east coast for their first road trip of the season, first facing the Hunter Hurricanes at Lambton Pool.

UWA started strong, with a win for their women 12-7 over the home side. But the UWA men weren’t able to string together the same result against the Hurricanes, with a narrow 12-14 loss for the visitors. The Hurricanes men once again delivered a solid win for their home crowd.

Fremantle also made the trip across the Nullabor for their round three matches, to face theQueensland Thunder at home.

In the 2019 gold medal replay for the women, it was again the Thunder women who came out on top with a 9-6 win. The Fremantle men were able to carry on their winning streak, with a convincing 14-4 win, their five consecutive wins this season.

The home ground advantage was unable to pay dividends for the ACU Cronulla Sharks on Thursday night, with a 9-16 loss for the men and a 10-12 loss for the women against inform Sydney University Lions teams.

FRIDAY

The Hunter Hurricanes women turned the tables for their second game against UWA Torpedoes for round three, claiming a thrilling one point 10-9 victory.

But the UWA men had the last say, and were able to leave their mark on Lambton Pool, with an impressive team performance earning them a 12-6 win over the at home Hurricane men.

Fremantle women turned their luck around in the second match up against the Thunder, to take a 10-9 win. It was back to back win for the Fremantle men, notching up a narrow one point win 12-11 over the home side.

Sydney Uni Lions women added another tally to their winning streak, outscoring UNSW Wests Killer Whales 11-7.OVO AWL defending champions UNSW Wests Magpies flocked to the occasion and defeated Sydney Uni 11-8.

SATURDAY

Sydney University Lions returned to their home ground Peter Montgomery Pool on Saturday, to face ACU Cronulla Sharks for a second time in round three.

Much the same as their Thursday night outing, the Lions showed they are a force to be reckoned with in season 2020 with wins for both their teams; 12-10 for the men and 16-8 for the women.

Much like the storm front along the east coast, Fremantle travelled down the coast to Newcastle to face the Hunter Hurricanes.

The visitors were out to make the most of their round three roadtrip, with a commanding 18-6 win for the women and 19-13 for the men.

In Brisbane, defending champions Queensland Thunder women weren’t going down without a fight, entertaining the crowd gathered at the Valley Pool on Saturday with a 12-6 win over the visiting UWA Torpedoes.

Queensland Thunder took the opportunity of a home game to celebrate the Pride Cup with local side Brisbane Tritons organising an exhibition match between the two OVO AWL fixtures.

But it just wasn’t to be for the Thunder men, suffering another Round 3 loss to UWA 11-8.

All attention turned to Drummoyne Pool on Saturday night for the Battle of the Bridge match between Drummoyne Devils and UTS Balmain Tigers.

It was undecided which side of the bridge would hold bragging rights, with scores settled at one apiece, after a win for the Balmain women (10-6) and win for the Drummoyne men (12-8).

SUNDAY

Sydney Uni Lions ended the weekend on a high, defeating cross town rivals UNSW Wests in both the mens (8-7) and womens (12-8) games.

Queensland Thunder’s Saturday win sparked a return to their form which earned them the premiership last season, sending their UWA visitors packing after a 12-6 win.

UWA men made it two from two with a 10-8 victory over Queensland Thunder rounding out their roadtrip.

Fremantle totalled an impressive 27 goals across the two matches, with a 12-10 win for the men and 15-3 for the women.

NEXT UP… Pride Round: Thursday 13 February - Sunday 16 February

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