LANCASTER won the British Waterpolo Championsip at Walsall last weekend and finally gained the one national title that has eluded them in recent years. They saw off challenges from London Penguin, Bristol and Scottish champions Portabello in three spirited encounters which Lancaster had to fight to win.

Lancaster 9 London Penguin 6

League rivals London Penguin almost caused an upset when they scored six goals against Lancaster in the first match. However an inspired performance by Burgess and goals from Chris Hartley, Mountfield and Bowers earned Lancaster a deserved 9-6 victory.

Lancaster 10 Bristol 9

Lancaster had to pick themselves up after this energy-sapping win to play Bristol on the same day. However any hopes of an easy game were dispelled by a Bristol side in form and determined for victory. A dramatic finish saw Chris Motley snatch the winning goal with only a minute and a half of the game remaining.

Lancaster 13 Portabello 11

In perhaps the most entertaining match of the competition Lancaster eventually triumphed over the classy Scottish side Who held the lead for much of the match. The introduction of Little and Cooke at half-time forced more pressure onto Portabello and swung the game into Lancaster's favour. With three minutes remaining a great swim from Bowers and a turn of pace by Danny Powell combined to produce Lancaster's twelfth and winning goal and earn them the title of British Champions.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.