South Africa Win Women’s 8 Nations

Ireland Water Polo had the pleasure of hosting this year’s Women’s 8 Nations Cup, in the National Aquatic Centre Dublin. Teams from Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, Scotland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and South Africa joined Ireland for what was some outstanding International Polo. The Czech and South African teams started very strong; leaving no doubts they were here to win by putting up big scores in both of their games. Ireland’s campaign began with a draw against a Scandic selection from Sweden, with missing players returning, they were confident of a win in their second game of the evening, and secured a 2 goal win over Switzerland to round off the day’s events.

The second day of competition kicked off with a very exciting and close fought game between Scotland and Denmark, the Danes took the win with a late goal on this occasion but they would meet again on the final day. All eyes were on the second game of the day as South Africa took on the Czech Republic, many wondering if the Czechs could match them. On this occasion the Southern Hemisphere side proved too strong but by much smaller margins than their previous games. The meeting of Slovakia and the home nation too was a fiercely competitive game, the teams were neck and neck until the final quarter when the Slovakians had a little more left in the tank and took the win by 2. Coach McKerr took Ireland’s second game of the day as an opportunity to experiment with his team, which ended with a very comfortable win for the very skilful team from South Africa. Scotland took it to the Scandic team and pulled off a 1 goal win, whilst the Czech and Slovakian game was a gripping affair to end off the day, with the Czechs edging it by the smallest of margins to take a win into day 3, where they would meet South Africa in the final for a rematch.

Sunday saw the final day of events get under way with a repeat of the previous morning’s line-up, giving teams a second chance to face their opponents. The Scandic team again played to a 3 goal win over the Swiss in their final game of the tournament. Scotland lined out against Denmark, hoping for a win this time. The 5^th place game turned out to be one of the most exciting games of the tournament, with all quarters ending level and taking the game to penalties. The Scots suffered a massive blow losing their captain to a dislocated knee in the final minutes of normal time; this didn’t stop them from going on and earning a well-deserved win, slotting in 2 more than the Danes on this occasion. Ireland was really up for Slovakia this time, and in another exciting game it was all square throughout. The last quarter the Irish girls were unlucky with a couple of exclusions and the game ended as it had on the previous morning with a 2 goal lead securing bronze for the Slovakians. The tournament final brought the Czech and South Africans back to the water, the Czechs gave the SA girls their toughest test of the weekend but unfortunately this was not enough to stop the South African team from taking Gold. They were fast, strong and skilled in the water and fantastic to watch for any water polo fan, we wish them every success in Kazan this summer as they compete in the FINA World Championships.

All that remained to do was to crown the champions and announce the awards. This year’s Top Goal Scorer was Denmark’s Emma Morgen Hansen, Best Goal Keeper went to the Czech Republic’s Anezka Sesulkova and MVP of this year’s Womens 8 Nations was Emma Morgen Hansen for an outstanding display of water polo over the 3 days. Huge thank you and congratulations to the many volunteers who worked tirelessly over the 3 days to ensure a successful and enjoyable tournament was had; led and achieved by Tournament Director Steve O’Brien.

Ireland Team : Izzy Banks, Orla Mahon, Deirdre Cassidy ( C ), Laura Murphy, Mairead Baker, Lisa Kelly, Roisin Baker, Maeve Masterson, Aoife Murray, Sinéad McArdle, Rachel Murphy, Orla Monaghan, Lynna Hanna-Short, Salina Smellers, Aoife Lynch. Coach: Decky McKerr, Assistant Coach: Michael Dempsey, Team Manager: Elaine Alexander.