This is a report of the first South-east region men's water polo tournament which was played over the weekend;-

Tournament 1; - Basingstoke Aquadrome

24th/25th January 2009.

Match 1. (Saturday 24th, 13.00)

Worthing 25, Jersey 5.

Quarter Scores; - 5-1, 7-1, 6-1, 3-2.

This was an excellent start to the weekend against a strong Jersey team who feature a number of players with National league experience.

We were quickly into our stride and we scored a number of excellent goals both as a result of turnovers and also from our powerful shooters on the arc positions.

Ben Alcorn played the first 3 quarters in goal and dealt with most of the opportunities that the opposition created. Joel Abbott took over in goal in the final period and was equally as impressive.

All of the squad played well and well and we made full use of our strong bench to make sure that everyone remained fresh for the second game.

Scorers; - Scott Martin 8, Richard Hooper 6, Joel Abbott 5,  Paul Phillpott 3, Ziggy Tate 2, Andy Cawdary 1.

Exclusions; - Sam Abbott 1, Jon Gray 1, Scott Martin 1, Joel Abbott 1.

Match 2. (Saturday 24th, 16.45)

Worthing 14, Southampton 5.

Quarter Scores; - 6-0, 3-2, 2-2, 3-1.

This match looked to be a much harder prosposition but we were well prepared and a fine first quarter was basis of our second victory.

We employed an excellent zone defence which stopped any service to the opposition centre forward and Ben again dealt well with a number of shots from distance.

A 9-2 lead at the mid-point resulted in a more defensive second half display but we always controlled the match and again this gave us the opportunity to utilise all our bench.

Scorers; - Joel Abbott 4, Richard Hooper 3, Paul Phillpott 3, Scott Martin 2, Ziggy Tate 1, Nathan Hart 1.

Exclusions; - Alastair Hardinge 1.

Match 3. (Sunday 25th 11.15)

Worthing 35, Cranleigh 5.

Quarter Scores; - 13-1, 6-0, 6-1, 10-3.

A very one sided match against a spirited opposition who had no answer to our superior fitness and all round play.

We dominated form start to finish and we could have actually scored more goals with better finishing.

Junior Alexander Cranford played the second-half of the match in goal and made a number of fine saves and we played virtually all of the final quarter with a team made up entirely of juniors except with first choice goalkeeper Ben Alcorn outfield.

Scorers; - Richard Hooper 9, Scott Martin 7, Alastair Hardinge 5, Sam Abbott 4, Joel Abbott 3, Ziggy Tate 3, Ben Alcorn 2, Paul Phillpott 1, Nathan Hart 1.

Exclusions; - Jon Gray 1, Scott Martin 1, Joel Abbott 1, Nathan Hart 1.

Match 4. (Sunday 25th 15.00)

Worthing 22, City of Oxford 7.

Quarter Scores; - 3-1, 7-1, 7-3, 5-2.

A fine performance against a talented and physical Oxford team.

We again employed the zone defence which stopped any service to the opposition centre forward and this forced them into taking speculative shots from distance.

Our speed on the counter-attack always caused Oxford problems and we scored a number of fine goals this way.

Once again all the squad played their part in a good team performance which was a good way to finish a busy weekend.

Scorers; - Ziggy Tate 4, Richard Hooper 4, Scott Martin 4, Paul Phillpott 4, Joel Abbott 3, Alastair Hardinge 1, Sam Abbott 1, Nathan Hart 1.

Exclusions; - Scott Martin 2, Alastair Hardinge 1, Richard Hooper 1, Jon Gray 1, Joel Abbott 1.

Squad in full; - Ben Alcorn, Ziggy Tate, Scott Martin, Richard Hooper, Paul Phillpott, Jon Gray, Joel Abbott, Sam Abbott, Alastair Hardinge, Nathan Hart, Rob Osborne, Andy Cawdary (Saturday), Alexander Cranford (Sunday).

This was an excellent weekend for our senior men's team whicn now includes many memebers of our outstanding junior squad. Scott, Joel and Ziggy continue to be part of the GB national junior squad and Alastair Hardinge is making great progress now he is training at the national academy based in Grantham.

The second tournament is in Jersey at the end of March when we hope to remain unbeaten in this competition.