Narrabri Dolphins Water Polo Club’s open division teams farewelled 2023 with a massive splash at the Narrabri Aquatic Centre on Sunday afternoon where they combined for the largest scoring round of the season.

Just two weeks after setting a new 2023/24 campaign record of 44 goals across the two matches, they went two better in round 11 when the four teams netted a total of 46 goals.

Thirty of those were scored in game one when the ladder leaders Barwon downed Nandewar 22-8, and 16 more were scored in the second game when Kurrajong defeated Wilga 13-3.

Those wins saw the two top-ranked teams extend the points gap between themselves and the two lower-ranked teams.

Barwon are undefeated following their 11th win from as many games as they moved to a maximum 33 points. They have piled on an impressive 150 goals so far in the inaugural Dolphins season and have only conceded 58 while being the only team to boast a positive for and against total.

Kurrajong almost got into the plus territory following their round 11 win on Sunday as they moved to negative two, having scored 79 goals so far this season and conceded 81. They are 12 competition points behind Barwon on 21 following four wins, two draws and five losses.

In third place on 18 points following three wins, a draw and seven losses are Nandewar, and then in last place on 15 points following a win, three draws and seven losses are Wilga.

In Barwon’s 14-goal victory against Nandewar in round 11 on Sunday, the ladder leaders came out of the blocks flying and went into the quarter-time break with a 7-1 lead. They extended their advantage to seven points at half-time as they outscored their opponents three goals to two in the second quarter to lead 10-3 at the main break, and they scored seven goals to one again in the third term to go into the final break ahead 17-4. Nandewar put up a fight in the final quarter but were outscored five goals to four as Barwon prevailed 22-8.

The in-form goal-scoring duo Darcy Gleeson and Dean Clarke were both sharp again as they scored 15 of their side’s 22 goals, including all of their first-quarter goals. Clarke finished the match with nine after netting three in the first quarter, five in the third and one in the last, and Gleeson finished with six after netting four in the first, one in the second and one more in the third.

Teammates Tilly Gleeson, Melanie Clarke, Emily Nott, Lachlan Clarke and Liam Mair all scored a goal each and Alex Mison bagged a double.

Nandewar duo Pip Donaldson and Sean Allen both finished the match with hat-tricks and their teammates Andrea Fernance and Kobe Bennett netted a goal each.

In the second opens match of the day, Kurrajong outscored Wilga four goals to one in the opening quarter to take a three-goal lead into the first break and then piled on five more unanswered goals in the second term to lead 9-1 at half-time. They then scored three goals to one in the third quarter to stretch their lead to 10 goals heading into the final quarter as the scoreboard read 12-2, and then both teams added a goal each in the fourth term as it ended 13-3.

Sean Allen finished the game with five of Kurrajong’s goals, teammates Matilda Wallington and Nick Brennan netted hat-tricks, and Todd Dunn and Lillie Carter chipped in with a goal each.

Wilga’s goals were shared between Sam Donaldson, Lachlan Dunn and Paul Bushby.

The under-14 match began the day’s play once again on Sunday, and it was Namoi that prevailed over Kaputar by a scoreline of 9-6.

Namoi won the opening quarter 2-0 and then led 3-2 at half-time after Kaputar outscored them two goals to one in the second quarter. Namoi then scored three goals and conceded twice in both of the next two quarters to win the game by three goals.

Chelsea Clarke netted four times for the victorious team, and the other five goals were shared between Maddison Connole, Elsie Barton, Amelia Elms, Gracie Lawty and Lexie Fernance.

Kaputar’s Ruby Greentree scored four goals, and her teammates Ruby Irwin and Lachlan Dunn chipped in with a goal each.

The Dolphins’ 2023/24 season will now break for Christmas and the New Year and also the remainder of the school holidays, before resuming on Sunday, February 11, with the round 12 games. The opens fixtures will see Barwon challenge Wilga before Nandewar meet Kurrajong, both of which will be played after the under-14s game between Namoi and Kaputar gets the season back underway.

There will be four more rounds played next year ahead of the March 10 semi-finals and the March 17 grand finals.

To order photos from this page click here