Ever improving Great Britain U18s finish seventh at EU Nations Cup

Great Britain’s U18s have secured a seventh place finish at the Junior Men’s EU Nations Cup in Brno Czechia.

The group of 13 players improved game by game throughout the competition, leaving their best for last to beat a competitive Denmark side 11-7 on Monday morning.

After finishing fourth in their group from their matches across the weekend, it meant that GB ended their campaign at the ‘Za Lužánkami’ pool on a high.

But the Scandinavians didn’t make it easy for them, battling back from two early British goals to lead 4-3 after the opening quarter.

From then on Great Britain tightened up at the back, limiting Denmark to just a goal per quarter for the remainder of the contest.

And going forward they had plenty of threat too, as a Will Bamborough double, plus goals from Jack Hinton-Davies, Ed Carpenter and Dusan Crompton fired them into an 8-5 lead at half time.

From then on they managed the game expertly, keeping Denmark at arm’s length with Bamborough getting his fifth of the match before Crompton and Sidney Gruber extended the lead to four to complete the contest.

You can catch up on all the results from the Junior Men’s EU Nations Cup here and all the matches are available to watch back on the Czech Water Polo YouTube channel.

Plenty of positives

Before taking on Denmark, Tom Wall’s side built on the momentum from their training camp in Hungary in the summer with a number of competitive displays against national sides from across the continent.

It was a development tournament for the group, who’s major target is the European Championships in 2025, so the chance to play and experience international competition in Group B was a vital one.

They opened up the event on Saturday with an 18-7 defeat to a Slovakian side that went on to secure the bronze medal. But the young group bounced back quickly with a dominant 19-2 win against Estonia.

Miles Kinloch, Gruber, Bamborough and Carpenter all grabbed a hat trick whilst Crompton and Oliver Salimbeni both netted a brace.

Hinton-Davies, George Billington and Oliver Phillips were also on the scoresheet in a game where Great Britain only conceded in the third period.

On Sunday they suffered back-to-back defeats, but the performances were something to be proud of.

Taking on tough opposition in Belgium and Ukraine, Great Britain particularly impressed in the second half against Belgium and the first against the Ukrainians.

Belgium burst out of the blocks quickly, scoring five in the first period to put them into a commanding lead and never looked back. Great Britain steadied the ship after half time, impressing to win the final quarter 2-0 but couldn’t overturn the deficit as they fell to 10-7 defeat.

Their final match of the group with an unbeaten Ukraine was set to be the toughest test of the tournament but Great Britain made them work for their win.

Tom Wall’s team defended expertly to limit the Ukrainian attack and had enough at the other end to be on level terms until 12 seconds before half time.

Eventually competition winners Ukraine’s pressure told but Great Britain took a lot from the 15-10 defeat which no doubt helped them in securing the win over Denmark on the final day and beyond as they continue to prepare for the European Championships in 2025.