Otter through to U/17's NAG Qualifers

Otter & Otter Futura teams were both in action yesterday at the ASA National Age Group Water Polo Girls’ U17 Prelims. 

The Young Otter Futura development team were drawn in a very competitive Group A, where they took on the more experienced City of Manchester (12-0), Rotherham (6-2)  City of Liverpool (7-0) & Caledonia (8-3). The team played extremely well against tough older opposition. 

It wasn't smooth sailing for Otter on the Group B side of the draw either where there was nearly another shock. London Otter – going for a hat-trick of wins this year – left it until their last game to secure their spot in the Qualifiers. Last year’s fourth-placed side Exeter won the group, easing to victories over Welsh Wanderers, Cheltenham and Tyldesley after surprising Otter with an 8-3 win in their opening match in Gloucester. Otter quickly bounced back from their defeat to secure 17-3 victories over both Tyldesley and Cheltenham and set up a winner-takes-all clash with Welsh Wanderers for the second qualification spot. And any chances of an upset were quickly expelled as the London outfit came through 12-3 to book their spot at next weekend’s qualifiers in Liverpool.

Full results from there prelims here.

Otter post strong results at U/19s NAG Prelims

Otter & Otter Futura teams were both in action yesterday at the ASA National Age Group Water Polo Girls’ U19 Prelims. 

The Young Otter Futura development team were drawn in Group A, and started the day with losses in their first two U/19s games to Exeter (7-2) & Sussex Marlins (9-3). With two games under their belts the Young Futura team held reining Champions City of Manchester to only four goals (4-1), before giving Caledonia a run for their money before going down (5-3). Undaunted Otter Futura put everything they'd learnt into practice in the last game to finish on a high with a tightly fought victory against Cheltenham (5-4). The team will hope to get a few more wins under their belt at the Plate finals on the 23rd of April, where they will take on Northampton & City of Leeds. 

Meanwhile last years silver medalists Otter U/19s team were having fun on the other side of the draw in Group B. The team cruised to victory vs Hucknall (8-0), Northampton (25-1) & City of Leeds (7-1). The only blip on their radar was dropping their 3rd game of the day vs City of Liverpool (5-3). But it 3 from 4 was enough to see them come second in the group, and qualify alongside Liverpool & Group A winners Manchester, Mid Sussex & Exeter for the Girls’ U19 Qualification Round of the ASA National Age Group Championships in Watford on 9 – 10 April. 

Full results from there prelims here.

Helena defending for Otter. 

Otter battle Europe’s best in LEN Euro League 2016

London Otter took on some of Europe’s best domestic teams in Group C of the LEN Euro League February, 4th - 7th. Competing in the ‘group of death’ in Portuense, Portugal, Otter put five goals past defending champions Olympiacos in their opening match and held 2015 LEN Trophy runners-up Padova to a 15-3 scoreline in their final game. “We knew the games would be tough but we improved from game to game,” said Otter captain and Great Britain international Peggy Etiebet. “To net a score of 15-3 in our last game against Padova who are the LEN Trophy and LEN Super Cup runners-up as well as the Italian champions in 2015, was a fantastic achievement.”
Otter kicked off their campaign with a 27-5 defeat to Olympiacos with goals for Tafazolli, Etiebet, Izzy Dean, Lizzie Dunn and Lex Higlett. Kate O’Brien scored the team’s solitary goal in a 19-1 loss to another Greek side, Vouliagmeni, before a narrow 12-8 defeat to Portuguese hosts Portuense with goals coming from Claudia Ferrone (three), Dunn (two), Rogers (two) and Tafazolli.
Ferrone, Rogers and Tafazolli all scored again in the team’s final 15-3 loss to Padova.

Otter return to domestic action at the British Championships in May. 

Top 2 finish for Otter

Otter have finished the 2016 BWPL season in 2nd place, behind City of Liverpool. Otter needed 2 wins from two games & for Liverpool to stumble against 4th placed Manchester on the final weekend in Sheffield to win. Two strong starts but disappointing 2nd quarters saw Otter go down to Liverpool 10-5 on Saturday, to Coventry 9-5 on Sunday. Claudia, Mhairi & Kathy scored for Otter in both games. The team are now looking forward to British Champs in May, where they will play Coventry in the 2nd vs 3rd play off, with the winner progressing to the final against the winner of 1st v 4th game between Liverpool & Manchester.

Otter Lutra finished their Championship 1 season on a high with two wins from two games. Lutra beat West London Penguins 11-8 in Saturdays game. Sarah Bennett scored 4, Sarah Tollefson & Emma Shkurka scored hatricks, while Lindsey Williams also netted for Lutra. Lutra also won Sundays game against Mid Sussex Marlins 8-6. Sarah Tollefson was once again on fire for Lutra socring another hatrick, with Gari Mulcahy top scoring for the game with 5.

Congrats to both teams on a brilliant season. 

Otter in 2nd place with 2 games to go

The Otter 1st team should finish the season in 2nd place or better after winning both their Round Three matches in Liverpool at the end of January. 

The third round of BWPL Super 5 action saw Otter better Manchester 10-5 & Caledonia 12-6, Manchester beat Coventry, & Liverpool win against Caledonia & Coventry. Leaving Liverpool on top of the table with 12 points, Otter in 2nd with 9 points, Manchester in 3rd with 5 points, Coventry in 4th with 4 points & Caledonia in 5th place with 0. 

With 2 points for a win & only 2 games remaining, Otter should finish the season in 2nd place or better. Otter will face Liverpool & Coventry this weekend in Sheffield & will need to win both games to be in with a shot at the title. They will also need unbeaten Liverpool to stumble against Manchester in the final game of the season. If Otter were to loose both their games, and Manchester win both, both teams would finish on equal points in 2nd place.

Looks like it is going to go down to the wire. Good Luck girls.

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Two more wins for Otter in Liverpool

The Otter 1st team should finish the season in 2nd place or better after winning both their Round Three matches in Liverpool last weekend.

Otter, playing without regular goal keeper Tracey Allen got off to a slow start vs Manchester in Saturdays game trailing 1-0 at the first break before solid defence and an adjustment to the style of the game saw Otter turn the tables & score 4 to Manchesters 1 to be up 4-2 at half time. Otter then kept the pressure on in the 3rd maintaining, rolling with the ebbs & flows to maintain their two goal buffer before running away 4-1 in the last quarter to win 10-5.

Once again Otter spread the scoring around, Claudia, Hannah & Brooke all netted twice, while Turny, Mhairi, Peggy & Kathy got on the score sheet with 1 goal each. 

Lefty Hannah Patchett was on fire this weekend netting twice in both Otters games. 

With captain Peggy & speedster Holly were sidelined with illness, Otter took the opportunity to practice different combinations in game two on Sunday. Otter took control of the game from the very first minute with a brilliant counter goal from Lizi Dunn. Hannah Patchett slotted away the teams second, Lex Higlett got a pair in the 2nd, before Otter hit their stride scoring 4 in the 3rd, and a further 4 in the 4th while keeping Caledonia to 1 goal a quarter. 

Turny scored in both of Otters games, showing her versatility in Extra man & on the counter. 

Special mention to emergency goal keeper Vivi Castagna who temporarily came out of retirement for the weekend to fill in for Tracey in goals & was absolutely brilliant between the posts all weekend. Thank you, we couldn't have done it without you. 

Goal scorers v Caledonia: Lex 5, Kathy 2, Hannah 2, Holly, Turny, Kate 1. 

The team will be joined by Gari & Sophie, and travel to Portugal Wednesday for the LEN European Cup. Before returning for the final BWPL weekend on the 13th & 14th Feb in Sheffield. 

4 big BWPL games this weekend for Otter & Lutra

Lots of BWPL action this weekend with both the ladies Super 5 & Championship 1 games being playing in Liverpool. 

2nd ranked Otter take Manchester & Caledonia again & will be hoping to win both their Super 5s games again this weekend.

Lutra's first game is against 2nd placed Hucknall, who are currently 2nd on the Championship 1 table. The last meeting between the teams was ended in a 4 all draw.  Lutra will go into their 2nd game of the weekend vs the Welsh Wanderers full of confidence, after winning their phase 1 fixture 15-7. 

Game times are: Sat 30th January  - Lutra v Hucknall @ 17:00, Otter v Manchester @ 18:05, Sun 31st January - Otter v Caledonia @ 11:30, Lutra v Welsh Wanderers @13:40 

Good luck Otter & Lutra. 

London Otter Women’s Water Polo team competing in European League competition Feb 5-7 Porto, Portugal

London’s premier women’s water polo team is heading into European competition next week with the start of the LEN 2016 Women’s European League in Porto, Portugal. 

Britain’s only representative team in European senior water polo competition in 2016, London Otter Women’s water polo team is a blend of new talent and established senior GB internationals. Based at the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre and led by barrister and senior GB player, Peggy Etiebet, & Otter club stalwarts Lizzie Dunn & Rebecca Mulcahy. London Otter’s team also includes five GB junior internationals (Brooke Tafazolli, Kathy Rogers, Mhairi Nurthen, Izzy Dean & Sophie Jackson) 4 of whom represented their country last year at the inaugural European Games in Baku. Australian international players, Lex Higlett, Tracey Allen and Kate O’Brien, Scottish international Holly Campbell and Italian Claudio Ferrone.

The London Otter team face four very strong professional sides in Porto, including the hosts who make up the majority of the  Portuguese national team, the defending European champions Olympiacos from Greece, Vouliagmeni also from Greece, and last year’s LEN Trophy winners Padova (ITA),

Head coach Nick Buller says: “Only the top two teams will go through from the Euro League to the knock out stages, and the competition will be extremely tough for our talented London athletes. We will be facing teams of paid professional players in Porto, however the experience will be invaluable for our players and for London Otter as we continue to develop the premier centre for elite women’s water polo here in London.

Captain Peggy Etiebet says: “Having played water polo professionally in Hungary with a team that won the Hungarian Championships I know how difficult the competition will be, but we are keen to meet the challenge. We are excited to be the only GB club side appearing on the European stage in 2016”

London Otter has recently secured sponsorship from London’s  leading physiotherapy and sports injury clinics, physio in the city, enabling the team to start their European journey.

Otter in 2nd halfway through Super 5's

Otter returned to BWPL Super 5's this weekend with games vs Caledonia & Manchester. Otter started out slowly in the first quarter vs Caledonia (2-2) on but picked it up in the second quarter jumping out to a (6-3) lead. From there Otter controlled the game outscoring Caledonia 8 goals to 3 to take win 14-6. Mhairi Nurthen opened her Super 5's scoring account, netting four times for Otter in the win. Claudia Ferrone & Holly Campbell both got their hatricks with Hannah Patchett & Lex Higlett rounding out the scoring with 2 goals each. 

Otter scorers vs Caledonia: Mhairi 4, Claudia & Holly 3, Lex 2, Hannah 2.

Mhairi scored 4 for Otter vs Caledonia. There was a 5th but it was disallowed. 

There was nothing between the teams in the first quarter and neither team were able to break through to register a score. Manchester were the broke the deadlock 3 minutes into the 2nd quarter, before Otters movement paid off earning them an exclusion which Kathy Rogers converted on the post levelling the score 1 all. Shortly after Otter scored again, this time with a brilliantly executed 4 on 3 counter, scored by Holly Campbell, her 4th counter goal of the weekend. The third quarter was all Otter. Otters press kept Manchester scoreless, while down the other end Claudia finished off a dangerous 3 on 2  counter with a very cheekily placed shot to go 3 -1 before Brooke finished the quarters scoring with a calmly executed lob. It was more of the same at the start of the 4th with Lex breaking on the counter & crossing to Peggy who tapped the ball into the next for a 5-1 lead. The final minute of play saw Manchester claim two consolation goals thanks to an extra man goal & late penalty, but it was too late and Otter took the win 5-3. The win saw Otter jump to 2nd on the table, with 4 games left to play. 

Otter scorers v Manchester: Kathy, Claudia, Holly, Brooke, Peggy.  

For more scores & current standings see the BWPL website. 

Brooke, Otter Vice Captain and #8

Otter will be hoping for more of the same when they return to Super 5 actions next weekend in Liverpool. Where they will take on Manchester again @6:05pm, before playing Caledonia again Saturday @11:30am. 

Super 5s in Luton this weekend

Round 2 of the BWPL Women's Super 5's is being played at the Luton Sports Village, Hitchin Road, Luton LU2 8DD this weekend. Come along and support Otter on Sat 23rd January as they take on Caledonia @ 2:30pm & Sun 24th January v Manchester @10am. Good luck girls.

Claudia defending for Otter