Man Met’s men’s water polo seal league title with victory over Edinburgh

Manchester Metropolitan University men’s water polo team secured their fourth consecutive BUCS Northern Premier League title with an 11-9 victory away to Edinburgh.

It proved to be a tough match for the league’s runaway winners, who were missing three key playerson the day. Man Met didn’t go ahead in the game until the last three minutes, but they produced a strong defensive performance, limiting Edinburgh to just two goals in the second half. Goals came from Jordan Elliot and Andrea Del Caro to secure the victory and MMU’s passage to the national playoffs.

This is the fourth consecutive Northern Premier League title for Man Met’s men’s water polo, an achievement that cannot be overstated. The team have conceded the fewest goals this season, as well as scoring the most. This is despite having lost three GB players to graduations and playing the entire season without a recognised goalkeeper, with Cam Richards moving from Centre Half to goalkeeper. Having won against Edinburgh, Man Met’s BUCS Team of the year in 2019, has not lost a league game for four years. 

Following the game, Man Met’s Milo Barrett said: “It was a really good team performance. We held firm, played our tactics, defended well and controlled the game, forcing Edinburgh to play at our pace.”

Captain, Jordan Barrett has been a fixture of the team’s success of the past four years. He said: “It’s a really good honour. We’re confident going into the playoffs, but this has been the hardest year, people have stepped-up, and as there hasn’t been a bad team in the league.”

Coming up, the team have a home advantage in the following three games of the season, with the final to be played at Nottingham. And following their league success, the team now have a bye into the next round of the BUCS National League playoffs.