Water Polo
Firsts
Saturday’s game against Newington College marked the biggest game of the season for the Shore Firsts team. Newington pose the primary threat to a Shore premiership run and have won the AAGPS Water Polo Premiership every year since 2018.
Knowing this would likely be the game that decided who won the shield, the boys went into the game under intense pressure, yet responded well, determined to win the game and achieve the School’s first ever AAGPS Competition win over a strong Newington side.
The Shore side started off well, with Zac Izzard rising to the occasion, and proving to be the hot hand in the opening quarter, scoring three accurate goals.
Charlie Bowditch overwhelmed his defender with strength, scoring a quick backhand to extend the Shore lead whilst Captain Harry Underhill scored a goal of his own, marking Shore’s fifth goal of the game.
However, Newington responded with a slightly stronger offense that took the Shore side some time to adjust to, leaving the score at the end of the first quarter 6-5 to Newington.
With Charlie Ashton in foul trouble early, and sitting on the bench, Calvin Shortus and Jett Semmens were forced to play big minutes in centre back to help stabilise Shore’s defence.
With such a fast-paced and unusually high scoring game, both teams were visibly tired heading into the second quarter, whilst revisions to the defensive game plans of both sides saw the game transition into a far more defence-oriented style, with both sides pressuring each other into mistakes.
In the second quarter, only Harry Underhill was able to find the back of the net, whilst Newington responded with a goal of their own, maintaining their one goal lead (now 7-6) heading into half-time.
A motivational half-time speech from Harry Underhill helped rally the Shore side, who came into the third quarter with newfound determination to win. Harry set the tone early, with two quick goals of his own (his third and fourth goals), yet Newington responded once again levelling the score 8-8.
In the dying minutes of the quarter, Charlie Bowditch once again outmuscled his opponent, scoring a dominant backhand to give Shore a one-goal lead heading into the final quarter up 9-8. Motivated by their recent goal and new lead, the Shore team came out strong in the fourth quarter, yet a series of saves from the Newington goalie and a decreased shot accuracy due to the fatigue of playing such an intense game saw the Shore side held scoreless.
Despite a truly dominant showing from Tom Serhan in the cage, with a plethora of spectacular saves in the final quarter, including two penalty saves, Newington managed to score their ninth goal, levelling the score with three minutes to go.
Given the pressure of the situation and the defences imposed upon both teams, both teams made numerous unforced errors in the final few minutes resulting in a series of turnovers and missed attacks.
Ultimately, off the back of stand-out performances from Zac Izzard, Tom Serhan, Charlie Bowditch and Harry Underhill, the Shore Firsts were able to draw with a highly skilled Newington side 9-9.
The boys finished the game confused about whether to celebrate or be disappointed in such a result, as the premiership hopes are still alive, yet if both Shore and Newington remain undefeated, it will be a joint premiership.
With just two games left in the season and the final game fast approaching on 11 March against Joeys, this could be the game that dictates whether Shore will be able to win their first-ever AAGPS Water Polo Championship. It certainly promises to be a good game that shouldn’t be missed!
C Ashton
Firsts Water Polo Player
14Bs
With the shallow end of the pool out of play for our match against the quality side of Newington, the boys were well and truly jumping into the deep end. The boys were ready, and the team were keen for a victory after a season filled with drawn matches. Advice from the coaches was to score a few early goals and get a lead on the opposition. This allowed both coaches and parents a bit of breathing space and time to let the blood pressure return to normal levels.
There was some quality passing plays between Jack Massey, Alex Ryan and Gus Pritchard. Kian Austin swam the equivalent of the English Channel ensuring he was there in attack and defence. Ewan de Vries had a scorcher of a game in defence, marking two players at one stage. Hudson Chen did well under pressure from Newington’s biggest player and strategically pushed the ball out to the wing. Max Hill swam, passed, shot, passed, breathed, and swam some more. Charles Griffin was an imposing figure up front and kept the Newington keeper on his toes, peppering him with shots early on. In what has been described as a ‘reverse Maradona’, Nick Whitney was using his hands to stop goals all day.
The highlight of the match was seeing Aryan Jata pocket a shot (rumour is from halfway)… his first of the year. Great perseverance, Aryan. For the first time in four games, the parents and coaches we able to relax for the last two minutes as the boys grabbed a handy lead and ended up victorious.
Mr P Reid
14Bs Coach
Results:
Saturday 25 February
| Team | Opponent | Result | Score | Goals |
| Firsts | Newington | Draw | 9-9 | H Underhill 4, C Bowditch 2, Z Izzard 3 |
| Seconds | Newington | Loss | 3-10 | F Baxter, H Stiel, Z Warden |
| Thirds | Newington | Loss | 3-9 | A Dowling 2, L Cathles |
| Fourths | Newington | Loss | 6-13 | L Cathles 2, A Dowling 4 |
| 16As | Newington | Loss | 3-6 | H Walls, C Harvey 2 |
| 16Bs | Newington | Loss | 4-6 | D Lord 2, T Wensley, S Hassall |
| 15As | Newington | Loss | 0-17 | |
| 14As | Newington | Win | 11-8 | C Semmens 4, J Jagger 2, G Kennedy 4, M Hughes |
| 14Bs | Newington | Win | 8-7 | G Pritchard 5, C Griffin, A Jata, A Ryan |
| 13As | Newington | Loss | 5-17 | H Pope, J Tighe, T Armati, A Tonkin, H Frape |
| 13Bs | Newington | Loss | 6-7 | R White, C Couch, F MacIntosh, F Oddone-Bransgrove, H Crookes 2 |
Miss Z H Dowdell
MIC Water Polo