TAUNTON Deane Water Polo Under-15 Girls played in the Manchester Festival of Water Polo for the first time last weekend.

Entering the event was all in preparation for the National Age Group Championships later in the year.

Despite being the only all-girl team in the festival, they finished 14th out of 20 teams, playing seven matches in one day.

Evie Saunders made some crucial saves, keeping them in the game during key matches, while Amelia Jones and Nyah Tomlinson shared the honours of top goal scorers for the team.

Things are looking good for the Nationals in a few months’ time.

Meanwhile, the men played a crucial league match against nearest rivals, Weston-super-Mare.

Taunton have struggled to find form this year and although they produced some good performances, the experience the other teams had was telling.

However, at the beginning of June, the men pulled off their first win (against Weston-super-Mare), winning 14-9.

Taunton started strongly, dominating play and racing to a 3-0 lead before Weston pulled it back, finishing the first quarter Taunton 5, Weston 2.

After the break, Weston came back and the first half ended up 5-5.

With Taunton confident playing into the deep, the third quarter ended up 9-6 to Taunton.

Weston came back to 11-9 but Taunton held firm, the highlight being a fabulous back shot from Joe Owens, eventually winning 12-9.