Taylor's last gasp equaliser sends Cardiff into BUSA finals
Men's BUSA Semi-finalsCardiff 15-3 Leeds
Cardiff 3-3 Oxford
Cardiff 6-6 Birmingham
Mark Taylor's equaliser with just eight seconds remaining of the last match of the semi-finals, broke Birmingham hearts and put Cardiff University Men's Water Polo team through to their seventh BUSA finals in eight years. Cardiff needed only a draw to qualify having beaten Leeds and drawn with Oxford earlier in the day.
Cardiff travelled to the semi-finals in Walsall with high hopes of reaching the final stage of the BUSA competition after the disappointment of missing out last year. They opened their campaign in impressive style with a comprehensive 15-3 victory over Leeds, with five goals coming from Chris Taylor. Goal of the match came after a delightful interchange between Dave Blythin and Jon Holland, Blythin finishing off a great team move with a skilful lob.
The Oxford match was a low-scoring, tense affair. Cardiff led three times but could not pull away from an Oxford side they had twice beaten earlier in the season. A series of missed chances and a good performance from the Oxford goalkeeper kept them in the match and meant that when Oxford scored in the last minute they scraped a 3-3 draw that they didn't really deserve.
Everything rested on the final match; Birmingham needed a win to qualify and threw everything at Cardiff from the start, taking an early two-goal lead. However two goals from Mark Taylor levelled the scores. Birmingham's strong attack was kept at bay by some resolute defending, with Andy Crayford in particular excelling himself.
With the half-time score level at 3-3 Cardiff started the second half the stronger team, James Hadlow scoring on a man-up to give Cardiff the lead for the first time in the match. After Birmingham's fourth goal Cardiff again took the lead through Darren Eastmond and appeared to be cruising. But Birmingham equalised yet again. With just 23 seconds remaining Birmingham scored again and the dream appeared to be over for Cardiff. However with just eight seconds on the clock, Taylor bounced the ball into the Birmingham net to send Cardiff through.
Despite two poor performances Cardiff will be confident of bringing home the BUSA trophy at the finals where they will face Bristol, London and Oxford (who qualified as group winners). Player-coach Charlie Hinder said “When it comes down to it in the finals, I think we will be very hard to beat, I'm hopeful we can regain our BUSA title”. The finals take place on the 27th and 28th of March.
Cardiff cruise into the finals
Women's BUSA water polo semi-finalsBath 1-9 Cardiff
Warwick 0-4 Cardiff
Cardiff 14-3 Edinburgh
Cardiff university women's team blew away the competition to easily qualify for the BUSA finals. It is only the second time in their history that they have made the finals but they will be supremely confident of winning the trophy after three outstanding performances in the semi-finals.
They opened the weekend with a resounding victory against last year's finalists Bath. Cardiff were always in control, Emma James opening the scoring in the 2nd minute. A fantastic performance including three goals from Laura Smith saw Cardiff lead 6-0 at half time. Cardiff eased off in the second half and were dealt a blow when captain Nicci Llewelyn was ejected from the game for three major fouls, but still scored three times to run out 9-1 winners.
Cardiff expected a close battle against Warwick. A nervy start saw both sides go close before Laura Smith opened the scoring. Further goals from Smith, James and Nicki Harris gave Cardiff a commanding 4-0 lead over one of the favourites for this year's competition. The second half saw Cardiff maintain the upper hand, although some good saves from goalkeeper Jo Barsby were required to keep Warwick off the score sheet.
By the time Cardiff played Edinburgh in the final game they had already qualified, so they used the match to give some of their squad players valuable water time. The game was played in good spirit as Cardiff cruised to a 14-3 victory.
Cardiff will now be strong favourites to win the women's title for the first time in their history. They face London, Warwick and Loughborough in the finals which take place on the 27th and 28th of March at Nottingham University
