Stirling win oldest water polo trophy

The world’s oldest water polo trophy will remain in Stirling for another year after an exciting win for the local side on Sunday.

The National Swimming Academy at Stirling University hosted the West Cup final between Stirling and Western Baths which the home team won 20-18.

The West Cup is the oldest water polo trophy still to be actively played for, dating from 1886 and is fought for by the senior teams within the West District of Scottish Swimming.

In a match of youth versus experience, Stirling fielding four players from their Scottish Under 16 Championship winning team along with a further six players all under 20 while Western Baths (Glasgow) brought through a significantly older team with a number of Italians and Hungarians within their ranks.

Stirling played a high-tempo game from the start to rely on their speed and fitness and the first quarter saw them lead 6-3. But the experienced Western Baths players kept fighting back and with less than a minutes to go in the fourth, they had narrowed the lead to one goal with Stirling leading 19-18.

With Western pressing for the equaliser, Stirling stole the ball with under 30 seconds to play and cleverly worked it to an unmarked player to score the decisive goal with only three seconds left.

Stirling were presented with the trophy by West District President Janice Morgan.

Throughout the campaign, they were assisted by two senior players, Mark Speed and Vygantas Kersulis, who both live locally but play for Dunfermline WPC, but they readily agreed to play for Stirling in this competition. Their experience and knowledge helped the young players raise the level of their game and gave them invaluable experience of senior competition.

Team: Reuben Bowman, Cameron Harris, Angus Cameron, Elliott Harris, Lewis Goldie, Calum Hope, Harry Gray, Alexander Harris, Gregor Rodger, Tommaso de Nova, Vygantas Kersulis, Mark Speed and Tasos Mbaltadakis.