Captain Ros Griffiths led Britain to victory in Manchester

Great Britain's women won the final of the European Nations Trophy Water Polo Championships in Manchester with a 9-7 victory over the Czech Republic.

Hannah Wild put Britain 2-0 up in the first quarter but the Czechs hit back with three unanswered strikes.

Wild and Fiona McCann goals put Britain in front only for the Czechs to bring it back to 6-6 in the third quarter.

However, Francesca Clayton, Wild and McCann all scored in the final quarter to seal an impressive victory.

Eight of the top 14 teams in Europe took part in Manchester, and Britain won all five of their games on their way to the title.

Captain Ros Griffiths said: "It was tougher than we thought at times, but we got what we wanted.

"We'll go away now and calm down and reflect on what we have achieved here before getting back into training."

The tournament win boosts Britain's chances of playing at the London 2012 Olympics where only the top eight teams in the world will compete.

The top three from the Manchester tournament and the bottom five from last year's European 'A' Championships - including Olympic champions Holland - will meet in a play-off competition in January 2010.

The top five from that competition will then play in the European 'A' Championships in 2011.

Ukraine earlier clinched third place with a 6-3 win over Slovakia, who Britain had crushed 19-7 in Saturday's semi-final.

Two goals from Fran Leighton had helped the hosts race out to a 4-0 lead - and they went into half-time leading 7-3.

Angela Winstanley-Smith top scored with six goals for Britain who stepped up a gear in the third quarter, when seven unanswered goals gave them control of the semi-final.

The Czechs won the other semi-final 14-8 against Ukraine.

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version