Blizard vs ICSM 1s - 20/01/2020

BLWP 11 - 10 ICSM 1s

2020 started with a bang for LUSL BLizard against an ICSM team who promised so much when they came to visit at Shadwell, a pool we were rapidly making a fortress. Our usual rallying call of Duel of the Fates blared out as we made our way poolside, intimidating our opposition more and more with every note that pierced the air. It made us feel like we were home.

ICSM could not have felt any further from home. The district line had claimed all but of their girls and in negotiations more tense than Boris’ Brexit deal, we struck an agreement with our South Kensington counterparts. The deal, brokered by our chief negotiator, Renos, stated that they must play the game with a man-down for the entire duration.

In our pre-match team talk we got ourselves pumped, ready to win and set our new decade off on the right note. As the first whistle blew, Emma flew out of the blocks and claimed the first swim off, we attacked and were immediately on the right foot. ICSM defended for their lives as we probed in the opening minutes, their defence watertight as we pushed for an opening. However, after a lucky turnover, ICSM countered and scored past our stranded goalkeeper. We replied with a quick move up to Jono in pit who mercilessly dispatched one to level the scores. Playing with a man up seemed to fox us a bit, we kept losing our man and didn’t quite know who to double on, some cracks in communication allowed ICSM to score a couple more. A Renos long shot supremo found the top corner as the quarter ended a disappointing 5-2 to ICSM.

A strong chat at the interval focussed our minds on the task in hand. Regardless of their quality, we should never be losing to a team who have one less player than us. In the second quarter we were much more well organised as eased through the gears. Our wings in the form of Jasmine and Imy were stretching the ICSM defence so that we could get the ball into our two dominating pit players in the form of Jono and Connor. With Mark and Renos bossing the top of the arc, we were able to find our pit men and allow Jono to score another two to keep us in the hunt. Our defence was better oiled too, gone was our confused attempt to subdue the ICSM big shots and in its place, a well communicating defensive unit that formed a wall to protect the huge goal that ICSM were trying to score in. After a goal line scramble when were defending an evens situation, a very rare scenario in the game, the ball fell luckily to ICSM resident pile driver who drilled one into the net to end the quarter a more acceptable 6-5.

With desire pounding through our bones we could sense ICSM tiring and we summoned the strength to wrestle ourselves into the lead. The cobwebs here were fully blown away as we took full control of the game. Some great defensive work from Kevin allowed Leo space on the wing to deliver a perfectly weighted pass to Jono whose eyes lit up even more than when he sees a plate of wings. Another swift move, this time initiated by a good team up steal by Ava and Emma set Mark free to feed Connor in pit who gobbled up his first of the game. BLizard for the first time this match took the front. It didn’t stop there, great work from Mischia and Yian in defence alongside our resident Virgil van Dijk in the form of Renos ensured this quarter remained a clean sheet. Absolutely watertight. With our defence on better lockdown than most of China, we released our men up top to wreak havoc on the fatiguing ICSM warriors. Some great high pressing from Imy led to a mistake by the ISCM defence which Jono capitalised on as always, winning a penalty by sinking the keeper to a new depth. The penalty, converted. The quarter, over. The score, a resounding 10-6 to BLizard.

We knew now, we had enough to see this game out. We just had to defend well but were vary of the late fightback that ICSM could produce. Our worst fears came to fruition, ICSM scored 3 quick goals to put the game back in the balance. They hassled us on the ball and we made some mistakes that stopped us from getting the ball up the pitch. ICSM nullified our attack and took full advantage of the big goal. When they thought they had a chance to draw level a penalty save saw their hopes slowly fade. But, to their credit they scored another with 45 seconds to left on the clock to level it up again. We were devastated, all our hard work could have been undone. LUSL teams of the past would have accepted the draw at this point, but not this BLizard team however, we fought until the very end. We won a penalty, 25 seconds to go. Jono converted and then executed possibly the slowest ever return to the centre swim in history to run down the clock. We recorded our second victory of the year with a 11-10 nail biter.

A huge congratulations to the members of our LUSL BLizard team who gave everything in this very tough match. We showed spirit, desire and fight to very end and it paid off with a massive three points!

Over and out,
Liam

Goals:
Jono - 8
Renos - 2
Connor - 1