After a strong season in their new home at York Sport Village, both water polo teams are looking to overcome Lancaster in one of the marquee fixtures of Saturday night.
The men’s team have dominated in BUCS and UPolo (the university polo league), winning both their leagues by a considerable margin.
They narrowly missed out on reaching the final of the BUCS shield in March, coming second out of four in the semis.
They will be looking to repeat their 15-12 victory from 2012, a close contest where the score was within one goal for most of the match.
That match was played in front of a large crowd, and the club are hoping for another strong turnout this year.
When asked to pick key players from the side, president Chris Snowden exuded confidence: “There’s too many to name; we have at least 5 players cable of breaking the nets.”
“Our side is significantly stronger than last year after appointing a coach, increasing training hours and playing more fixtures,” added Snowden, “not to mention the influx of talent we had at the beginning of the year.”
The women’s team has seen massive improvement with a mid-table BUCS finish and an undefeated season and division championship in UPolo.
They are confident of completing a first Roses win since 2007; though they lost 12-5 last year, the sides have since met in BUCS where the final score was 2-2.
Snowden heaped praise on his counterparts in the women’s squad. “We’ve got a lot of talented players this year.
“Newcomer Gilly Jago has proven invaluable in defence, while Roses veterans Hannah Carter and Louise Highton are likely to give the White Rose something to cheer about.”
The water polo matches will be played back-to-back on Saturday evening, so get down to York Sport Village for what promises to be one of the best atmospheres of the weekend.
The women start their match at 7pm, with the men following at 8:30pm, and it should be an entertaining spectacle.