WEEKEND WRAP | ROUND 4 AUSTRALIAN WATERPOLO LEAGUE

As the OVO Australian Waterpolo League entered the midway point, Clubs across the country took part in Pride Round, celebrating diversity and inclusion within our water polo community.

The OVO feature game of the week gave viewers the chance to tune into action from Perth, as UWA Torpedoes hosted ACU Cronulla Sharks.

UWA Torpedoes men returned home after some solid team performances during their round three east coast road trip earned them three out of four wins.

UWA Women came into the round with only two wins under their belt, hoping that this would be their weekend to shine.

But it wasn’t to be, with the women opening the night’s proceedings and going down to visitors ACU Cronulla Sharks 4-10.

Captain of the triumphant ACU Cronulla Sharks Michaela Davies said that her team was chuffed to finally have been able to pull together a full team, four quarter effort.

“It feels great to finally be able to get a convincing win under our belts,” Davies said.

“We’re in the stage now where we’re building as a team and each game we just seem to be getting stronger and stronger, so it’s good to wrap up a four-day road trip on a high.”

In the men’s match, UWA Torpedoes were down early but rallied in front of the home crowd to deliver a 13-11win the game.

Six goals courtesy of captain Nicholas Hughes and Lachlan Vos were crucial for the UWA Torpedoes, and in the end proved to be the difference for the home side.

Hughes said that despite trailing at half time, four unanswered goals in the third quarter was what really set up the win for his team.

“They don’t call it the premiership quarter for no reason, we really stood up and I’m glad we were able to put it to them,” Hughes said.

“We knew they’d come out hard, and they really put it to us early. But they got less opportunities in the second half, we played a full press and that made it a lot harder for them,” he said.

AROUND THE GROUNDS

THURSDAY

Sydney Uni Lions women resumed their campaign for the 2020 premiership on Thursday night, entering the round with six straight wins.

Lions claimed a commanding 13-5 win over home side UWA Torpedoes, with captain Keesja Gofers and fellow Aussie Stingers squad member Matilda Kearns scoring three goals apiece to lead their side to victory.

An almost identical result for the Sydney Uni Lions men with a 13-8 win over the Torpedoes. Going head to head against his former UWA side, Aussie Sharks and new Sydney Lions recruit George Ford used the familiar settings to his advantage leading the scoring charge for Lions with four goals.

Across town, Fremantle were able to rally in front of their local fans to deliver two strong wins over the ACU Cronulla Sharks, the women’s (10-6) and men’s (17-8).

FRIDAY

Both ACU Cronulla Sharks and UWA Torpedoes came into their second matches of the round on the hunt for a victory after both teams were unable to secure the wins the day earlier.

The ACU Cronulla Sharks women were able to get the job done, courtesy of some sharp shooting from Aussie Stingers squad member Lena Mihailovic who scored four of her own. In the end, the ACU Cronulla Sharks women walking away with a 12-10 win.

But the UWA Torpedoes men were able to turn the home side’s luck around to come out guns blazing in the second match of the evening at HBF Stadium and deliver a 12-10 win over the visitors.

Sydney Uni Lions women added another to their winning streak, outscoring Fremantle Marlins 11-6 at the stunning Bicton Pool.

But the Sydney Uni Lions men fell for only their second loss of the season, going down to Fremantle Mariners, 12-10.

SATURDAY

On Saturday, OVO AWL teams took over four pools across the country, with the day kicking off in Newcastle, with Hunter Hurricanes taking on UNSW Wests.

Unfortunately, due to the wild weather throughout the week, games were moved from Queen’s Wharf to Lambton Pool.

But that wasn’t going to put a stop to some thrilling water polo action, UNSW Wests Killer Whales showing the hosts how it's done, scoring 18 goals to the Hunter Hurricanes 4, to claim their first win of the weekend.

KAP7 Aussie Sharks squad members Jarrod Gilchrist and Andrew Ford were on fire for defending champions UNSW Wests Magpies, scoring 9 of the teams 11 goals and leading their side to a 11-8 victory.

Attention then turned to South Australia’s capital, with the FYFE Adelaide Jets hosting Sydney counterparts the Drummoyne Devils.

Devils women’s coach Maureen O’Toole’s last week predicted that round four was going to be a good one for her side, and she was right, as the team claimed an 11-goal victory (19-8).

The Drummoyne Devils men fought their way to a convincing 16-2 win, once again demonstrating they are ones to watch this season.

It was Perth who rounded out Saturday’s action, with Sydney Uni Lions taking on UWA Torpedoes and ACU Cronulla Sharks coming up against Fremantle.

Lions roared their way to wins over UWA Torpedoes in both the women’s (17-3) and men’s (9-6) games.

Fortune fell in the favour of home side Fremantle when they met visitors ACU Cronulla Sharks, with the women claiming a 14-13 penalty shootout win, and the men also winning 13-11.

SUNDAY

Sydney Uni Lions women remain the only undefeated team in the OVO AWL after a 10-5 victory over home side Fremantle Marlins on Sunday.

Lions men were able to push OVO AWL leaders Fremantle Mariners to the end to deliver 10-9 victory afater a penalty shoot out.

Drummoyne Devils were again unstoppable, with a 20-11 win for the women, and 15-11 win for the men over South Australia’s FYFE Adelaide Jets.

UNSW Wests added another two wins to their round four haul, in their second meeting with the Hunter Hurricanes.

UNSW Wests Killer Whales claimed a 23-5 win in an impressive team performance, with the outcome much the same for the UNSW Wests Magpies , 19-12 winners over the Hunter Hurricanes.

At the end of round four, Sydney Uni Lions lead the women’s OVO Australian Waterpolo League , with an impressive 10 wins from 10 games.

The men’s competition remains anyone’s for the taking with top two teams, Fremantle Mariners and Sydney Uni Lions, only separated by one win.

Round five is set to be interesting, and could see the table’s flipped with eight teams (Hunter Hurricanes and Drummoyne Devils on a bye) vying for their spot on the ladder with only four rounds remaining in season 2020.