Weston water polo reach the semi-finals of the inter-club senior championships.

TWO annual ASA SW Championships were contested at Millfield School recently.

The first was the inaugural inter-county Under-16 female championships in which Gloucestershire, Dorset, Devon and Somerset competed for the Stella Margetts Trophy.

The opening match saw Dorset overcome Gloucestershire in what was the county’s first female inter-county victory for decades and a testament to the hard work put in by the Dorset League over recent years.

Devon overcame Somerset with relative ease, Mel Passmore (Paignton, Devon) being the lead markswomen in that match.

Somerset team: Lucy Greenstreet (Frome), Katie Davies, Charlotte Bradley, Esme Gullick, Emma Simpson, Emily Watkins, Katie Watkins, Jess Dabbs, Millie Dabbs, Maddy Reynolds and Charlotte Bowden (all Weston). Coaches were Mike Coles, Paul Watkins and Nick Purslow.

The second round of matches saw Devon cruise to victory over Gloucestershire, and Dorset continue their winning streak with a comprehensive victory over Somerset. The final round of matches saw Somerset narrowly clinch victory over Gloucestershire to take overall third place, whilst Devon outplayed Dorset to win the final match 6-3.

The second event was the inter-club senior championships for the Edgar Jordan Rose Bowl.

This was the first time the ASA SW had hosted a senior championship since 1994, and a total of eight clubs completed from across five counties of the region.

In group A were Cheltenham, Exeter City, Bournemouth and Newquay. Group B consisted of Weston, Barnstaple, Bridport and Exeter University.

Newquay defeated Bournemouth with surprising ease 7-1 in the opening match. Weston made easy work of first Bridport and then Exeter University, both of which were dispatched with goal differences in excess of 10.

Cheltenham narrowly defeated Exeter City and were favourites to take the title with many ex-GB and current GB youth players in the teams ranks.

The semi-finals saw Cheltenham take on Barnstaple, while the other semi-final saw a hard fought match between Weston and Exeter City.

Liam Coles (Weston) was the lead marksman and inspiration behind the Weston team as they took an early two goal lead. Exeter City’s Simon Heagarty and Ryan Napper scored toward the end of the match to unusually require two periods of extra time. Two goals from Exeter’s Jack Skerritt secured Exeter’s place in the final.

In the other semi-final, Barnstaple caused an upset when they beat Cheltenham after a penalty shoot-out to set up an all-Devon final.

In the final, Exeter went on to beat Barnstaple 5-4.

Weston team: Martin Maloney (goalkeeper), Nick Purslow, Sean Coles, Liam Coles, Kyle Maloney (captain), Matt Vincent, Nick Edwards, George Forbes, Alec Gahame, Tom Simpson, Harvey Reynolds, Guilliame Gouves, Dean Bird. Coach Mike Coles.