JERSEY’S water polo team lost both their matches in the South-East Region play-offs at the weekend but can still be proud to have come away with fourth place from the season.

Having progressed through to these play -offs with second place in the West Division, they first took on Hailsham, the winners of the East Division.

Captain Nat Snook gave Jersey the lead with an early goal – just one of six he would score in the match – but a lapse in concentration in the final quarter gave Hailsham the advantage and they closed out the game 16-12 despite strong performances from Jersey’s Daniel De Oliveira, Stefan McGreevy and John Woodward.

Now into the third-place play-off, Jersey faced last year’s winners, Hythe, and although the Island side showed a lot of promise, with Matt Gregory scoring an outstanding four goals and Bruce Hutchinson filling in as goalkeeper for the injured Rick Godson, they were defeated 20-14.

‘The results mean that we take fourth position in 2008 for the South-East Region,’ said Snook. ‘It’s a couple down from last year, but with the Sussex teams joining the region for the first time this year, I think we did very well, and if we continue to improve I believe we will be able to challenge for the title next year.’