Pembroke retained their top position in the 46th Welsh National Octopush Championship held at Haverfordwest Leisure Centre.
This year’s competition, held on December 11, was contested by Pembroke A (defending champions), Pembroke B, Cardiff & Newport and Llwchwr with Bristol as a visiting guest team.
Llwchwr hold the longest reign of championship wins (totally 13) and provided strong opposition in the early stage of the decisive game but were unable to add to their tally with Pembroke A winning 9-0 and remaining undefeated taking their 12th championship and scoring 44 goals in total.
The strength of Pembroke’s squad was clear with a strong Pembroke B team finishing in 3rd place for the second year in a row.
Pembroke Octopush Club would like to thank all the visiting clubs for making this years Welsh Championship a success (and for travelling in the icy conditions) and special thanks to Dan Johnson from Underwater Hockey (UWH) Wales for organising the event.
Pembroke Octopush Club’s best result was achieved a couple of months ago, when Pembroke Octopush Club competed in the annual UK National Nautilus competition at Ponds Forge International Sports Centre, Sheffield on October 16.
The competition has a traditional ‘league structure’ with 41 teams from across the UK competing in six divisions. Each year the top two teams in each division are promoted and the bottom two teams are relegated. Pembroke started in Division 6 many years ago and over the years have climbed the divisions and been a consistent presence in Division 2.
This year, Pembroke selected a strong team of 11 players, and following a successful tournament at the National Finals in June 2022 where they made the ‘trophy final’ and finished 9th in the UK, they were optimistic about their chances.
The opening game was against Plymouth and Pembroke started well by winning 5-3. Despite an average performance in the next game against Southsea B narrowing losing 3-2, Pembroke regrouped and beat a well organised Yorkshire B team 5-0. The next two games were going to be crucial, as both Orkney and Dunstable were last year’s Division 1 teams. Despite a good team effort, Dunstable won 5-2 but spirits remained high and Pembroke put in an epic performance to beat Orkney 5-1 and kept the momentum going to secure a decisive final victory against Bournemouth & Southampton, winning 7-1.
At this point, Pembroke had done everything they could and their fate came down to the last game – Dunstable v Orkney. If Dunstable beat Orkney then Pembroke finish 2nd and are promoted to Division 1. Dunstable lost a player to the ‘sin bin’ early on, and Orkney kept the game at 1-1 for most of the first half; however, Dunstable showed their strength to win 5-1 and claimed the gold medal in Division 2. This confirmed that Pembroke had done it – a silver medal and promotion to Division 1! Pembroke will be joining the top seven teams in the UK to play at the Nautilus 2023.
The result also gained automatic qualification for Pembroke to join the top 24 teams to play at the National Qualifiers, which will take place on March 18-19, 2023 at John Charles Centre for Sport, Leeds.
Do you want to try a new sport? Then why not give octopush a go?
You can find out more about this amazing sport and how to take part by following and contacting the club on: Instagram: @pembrokeoctopushclub; Facebook: Pembroke Octopush Club; Facebook: Pembroke Junior Octopush.