WSL2 Report by Torben Fink-Jensen

We had a full roster on opening night (minor miracle) as we had 13 turn up even with Ash out, and no Sarah or Mietta. New girl Genvieve Keys joined us from Balmain, and she started on the bench so she could get a feel for our game before she jumped in. We were playing Monash with 8 players so we hoped we would have an advantage because of that. And certainly for the first half, that is how it was looking. Alex scored the first goal with a drive into CF and beat her defender. That quickly became a second with Maria shooting from short range, before Monash struck back with a perimeter shot. We subbed in Gen who went to CF and scored with her first touch. At 3-1 up we thought that would be the score at the end of the quarter but Monash pulled out a late score making it 3-2. We poured on a bit more pressure in the second, as Olivia scored a penalty, Gen got a second and Olivia added another 2 giving us 3 goals for the quarter, up 7-3 at half time. In the third, we were a little casual and held off tackles leaving Monash free to shoot. Monash took chances and slotted 4 goals. On our side, a few passes didn't stick and a missed penalty didn't help, but we hung in there with Alex scoring two goals to keep our lead at 9-7. Our troubles weren't over as Monash carried their momentum into the final quarter and we couldn't get our shots to stick. Monash were lethal at the other end as each of their shots slid by the corners of the net. It was quickly 9-9 before we got a goal in as Alex stepped up. Once again we thought this would change the momentum, but Monash scored quickly again to make it 10-10 and then controlled the last 3 minutes to boost their score to 10-12. Not a great finish after being 7-3 up, leaving some work to do for the next few weeks.

Essendon were defeated by Monash : 10 – 12 Goals : Olivia 3, Alex 3, Gen 2, Maria 1, LisaAndo 1

WSL2 Game Night Photos (courtesy of Torben Fink-Jensen) - see more on our FB page

WSL3 Report by Lisa Murray-Segal

First game back and we welcomed two new players into the squad. Laura, who played with us about 8yrs ago and Meg who is new to the club but played waterpolo at high school. Amelia helped out from the 16s to give us a good bench size of 10. Straight off the bat StCaths came charging. They scored 5 unanswered goals in the first quarter. Our defence was lowsy and we allowed too many breaking players to get away unchallenged. We focused better in the second, keeping their scoring opportunities down with tighter one-on-one defence and some great saves in the cage by Sandra. Clare put away our first goal from a penalty, and Isi followed up soon after, seeing us at 2-8 for the halftime break. Our third quarter was equally good, keeping StCath's under consistent pressure. Whilst they scored twice, so did LisaMS down the other end, though only one of those goals was counted after the ref called a free after the shot, instead of playing the advantage. Down 3-10 at three quarter time there wasn't much we could do to turn things around in the final quarter. StCaths kept swimming us around and breaking away but the cost was only two goals, though we failed to score. Their #13 did all the damage (6 goals) and probably should have been playing 1s or 2s... Without that 5 goal first quarter, the scoreline would have been more respectfully 3-7.

Essendon were defeated by St Cath's: 3 - 12 Goals : Clare 1, LisaMS 1, Isabelle 1

JnrW (18s) Report by Danielle Tulloch

Our first round of the season in a new combined Monash - NYP - Essendon team. Essendon were represented by Kyrene and Emily for an early Sunday morning game. Unfortunately due to a miscommunication the team had to hustle to find caps and a game ball before the game was due to start. Once that problem was solved the team had seven starters against Richmond. Both teams had a good mix of experience and speedy swimmers. It was a fast paced game with lots of counter attacks. Richmond made the most of their opportunites, converting all their chances. Looking forward to seeing what the team can do with some more time together!

Ess/Mon/NYPD were defeated by Richmond : 3 - 13 Goals : TBC

YthG (16s) Report by Anne Macdonald

The Youth Girls had their first match against Richmond Black on Sunday. In this grade of the competition there are three Richmond sides (Black, Yellow and 14s), a combined Geelong/Melbourne Collegians team and our team - 3 girls from Essendon, 3 from NYP and 2 from Monash. The team met for the first time before the game and welcomed new player Madeleine for her first water polo experience. Richmond scored 4 in the first quarter, 4 in the second quarter, 3 in the third quarter and 4 in the last quarter. Consistent! We managed to score 3 goals in the second half of the match. A good effort by all and I'm sure there is much improvement to come, as the team get to know each other's names.

Ess/Mon/NYPD were defeated by Richmond Black : 3 - 15 Goals : TBC

MSL4 Report by Bryan Wee

Our enthusiasm and excitement for the first game of the season doubled when we realized we had a bench and doubled again when we realized they didn’t! That enthusiasm unfortunately saw us not score while we were man up but the glorious bench came good and goals flowed. Welcome to Rosie and Paulie our new recruits. We now have two sets of brothers on the team. We got smarter throughout the game and honed our craft to culminate in an almost perfect 4-0 last quarter. Notable performances by everyone. Special mention to Ryan who started with a bang by smashing a backhand into the opposition goalies face to soften him up, and Rucus wanted me to mention he was like a brick wall in goals. I agreed he sunk like one. Hayden still reckons someone stole about 14 goals off him so obviously the opposition stole some too. But all is good in our return to water polo.

Essendon defeated Monash : 13 – 1

Goals : Ryan 4, Bryan 3, Liam 1, Michael 1, Hayden 1, Nick 1, Ambrose 1, Lucas 1

MSL4 Game Night Photo

14&U Boys Report by Tim Elmore

Summer season round one, saw the 14&U rats hit the pool with 9 players and a bit of early morning enthusiasm. We welcomed Lazar to the club for his first game. Up against the MC Seals, the first quarter saw a few defensive errors early costing the side five goals. At the break, a clear defence strategy was discussed and the boys were able to be competitive against a strong swimming opponent and have a few shots on goal, without conversion. Quick turn overs cost the boys three easy goals. At the start of the third the team started to feel the pressure of playing a full Seals side and they weren't able to stop MC from scoring with ease. Some panic started setting in as MC continued their strong defense and the boys started passing the ball in anticipation to get to a teammate and away from danger. To their credit they were all still up and about and did not drop their heads. In the final quarter they slowed MCs attacking play and forced a number of shot clock turn overs. The game left the boys with a lot of areas to improve on in the coming weeks but lots of positives.

Essendon were defeated by Melbourne Collegian Seals : 0 – 16