The heat is on in the pool

Straight off the back of the State Country Championships, Hedland water polo was back on during the weekend with teams looking to state their claim for the upcoming finals series.

With one round left in the women’s league, the Piranhas and the Aztecs saw a close fought game with five goal scorers from both teams highlighting the depth within the league.

Aztecs stole the win from the mouth of the Piranhas, with just a single point between the game finish of 7-6.

Allira Solin-Russell received three votes for her outstanding performance, showing why she made the all-stars team at the Country Champs.

Two votes went to goalkeeper Sarah Blair in her first game back and one to Tayla Russell.

In an extremely defensive second women’s league game the Orcas played the Vipers.

Just four goals were scored throughout the game, which the Orcas won 3-1.

Alex Budge took out the three vote honour, Erin Kelhear took home two and Timara Simpson got the one vote.

All four teams play in the finals of the women’s league game and at this point it seems the gold medal could go to any team.

In the men’s league the Pointers had the double fixture, managing to win one and lose one.

Their first game against the Black Stars was a hard fought battle, in which they unfortunately came up short, losing by just one point despite Craig Buckley’s strong performance which saw him score all four goals for his side.

The game finished 5-4 with Darren Marlow again highlighting the keeping prowess in Hedland water polo, receiving three votes for the game.

Daniel Lacey received two votes and Josh Blair one.

Despite having the double fixture the Pointers were able to overcome their fatigue and post an important win in the final game of the night against the Dragons, with the final score 7-6.

It seemed the Dragons, the clear underdog in the league, were able to harness some of the experience from Country Champs and put on a strong show despite not getting the result in the end.

Nathan Groch managed to take three votes from that game, with Kai Mitchell getting two for his stand-out third quarter performance for the Dragons, and Josh Blair again taking a single vote, proving his consistency.

With two rounds left in the men’s water polo all teams are battling it out for the elusive first place spot on the ladder.