Spalding water polo players travelled to the Letchworth Lido for the Herts League tournament.
Six games would be played by each team, with a game lasting eight minutes.
Things would not be easy for Spalding as they had several players pull out at the last minute which meant they travelled with only eight players, little more than half a full squad, and no recognised goalkeeper.
Having agreed a rota for goalkeeping, captain Nathan Henfrey took the first game in goal against Dunstable.
Spalding were switched on from the start keeping a solid defence and scoring twice with Adam Found and Sam Murray giving Spalding a 2-0 win in the first game.
The second game against host team Hertford saw Frazer McGruer in goal for Spalding.
Spalding scored first with Dan Leigh, but Hertford were able to equalise.
Spalding then were able to capitalise on a turn over foul which allowed Henfrey to score the winning goal of the game, with the score finishing 2-1.
In the third game Spalding played Enfield.
This time Leigh went in goal for Spalding.
The game was even with both teams scoring twice, both Spalding goals coming from Sam Murray.
However in the final minute Spalding gave away a penalty allowing Enfield to take the win with the score of 3-2.
Going into the fourth game against Cambridge, Spalding’s McGruer volunteered to take the remaining games in goal.
The fourth game saw Spalding’s most dominant performance scoring four to Cambridge’s one.
Goals came from Adam Found, Henfrey, Adam Gibbons and Murray.
Moving into the last few games a couple of players volunteered from Hertford to boost Spalding’s substitute options.
However, the Spalding players were noticeably tiring against what would prove to be the toughest opponents of the night.
Bedford were able to beat Spalding 5-0, and Watford beat Spalding 5-1, Leigh getting the goal for Spalding in the final game.
The Spalding players, including the two not mentioned so far, Lola Westrick and Paige Cheek, deserve great praise for putting in a tremendous amount of effort and working well as a team.
Spalding finished the night with three wins and three losses putting them fourth out of the seven teams.
Watford were the overall winners of the night.
The club has also just heard it has been nominated for the Swim England Water Polo Club of the year, a massive and wonderful achievement.
