Northumbria University M1 Water Polo are the early season league leaders after sending the University of Edinburgh home with a 15-0 shutout victory.
Despite Northumbria’s dominant display, head coach Neil Bowers pointed out that his team still has room for improvement.
“The performance was okay, but there’s definitely room to improve,” said Bowers. “I think they [the players] get used to me being pretty demanding.
“One of the things I like to be able to get teams to do is to defend well, so a nil is always a great result from my point of view. But I didn’t think it was a brilliant performance.
“We left a lot of things to chance and had two penalty saves so I think the guys could have defended better and made a few better choices. That being said, it’s a luxury we can have when winning 15-0.”
While remaining critical after Wednesday’s match, Bowers also expressed his appreciation of the team’s progress this season.
“These past three weeks I have seen quite a development in the team, with players stepping up and getting very confident,” he added.
“Now they have to keep that confidence and start to really apply the basics, and then they’ll be a real threat in this league.”
Team Northumbria will now face a tough matchup when they host current BUCS champions Durham next week.
“Durham have been dominant for the last few years in this league,” added Bowers.
“We’ve been playing catch up for three to four years now and we’re getting closer every year.
“My real desire for the match is for it to be a good, competitive match. If we play them on an equal footing, the result will take care of itself.
“We’re a little bit stronger than in previous years, so I think we’re certainly capable [of beating Durham] this year.”
Matthias Kuhling
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