Blizard vs ICSM 2s - 14/11/2019

BLWP 17 - 3 ICSM 2s

​A narrow loss to UCL in the last match had the warriors of LUSL BLizard reeling. We arrived at the Shadwell fortress for our first home game of the season, determined to make the league feel our presence with a crushing victory. Even before ICSM 2 had arrived we were already in their heads; Water Aid giving an exhibition in allowing the opposition to walk straight past the pool as he followed them from behind. Things did not get easier for ICSM as they were subjected to the LUSL BLizard rallying call as they walked past us on poolside, with Duel of the Fates blaring out from Drip Drop’s speaker, the unassuming opposition must have been wondering what they had actually turned up to. After an excessively long warm up which must have been an attempt by ICSM to delay playing us, the game got under way.

A self-believing LUSL BLizard team came flying out of the blocks in this game. The cobwebs and rustiness that characterised our opening fixture were gone. Our arc was geometrically perfect and this allowed Hooker to crash one in early; the barn doors cleanly knocked off their hinges. At this point the floodgates opened, ball after ball found Drip Drop in the pit who kindly obliged in dispatching a huge six goals in the first quarter alone. It’s safe to say ICSM were rattled.

Dreaming of a big score that would send a message to the rest of the league, our thoughts turned to how we would be cast up in Water Polo legend should our current scoring continue, this thinking clouded our mindset and our well oiled machine began to develop more faults than a candidate on the Apprentice’s business plan. We treated the ball like a hot potato but our positional play again was superb, the hours we spent in training obviously paying off. Our high line was backed up by a tight press and rarely did we let our man get away, ICSM capitalised on these mistakes however to score 2 of their own in this quarter. We responded with a goal that had all the hallmarks of two people who spend way too much time together, an unspoken, telepathic communication between Barnacle and myself saw Barnacle play a through ball Steven Gerrard would be proud of to put on it on a plate for Liam to dispatch. The first half ending a resounding 8-2 to us.

Our half time team talk was a fiery one, we were determined to play better and not let ICSM outscore us in a period again. Some great work early in the 3rd quarter from Dustbin and Tadpole Leo forced a steal which was dropped into pit for the unstoppable Drip Drop to convert. Some strong defending from Garra Rufa allowed us to counter ICSM relentlessly and mercilessly with our wings Mudskipper and Cyanofish doing to damage in the wide areas. Drip Drop scored another two, all while having hairy legs wrapped around his pelvis. The third quarter ended with our lead extended again to 11-2.

Our legs at this point may have been tiring but there was still blood in our veins and fire in our bellies and we were determined to see this one out. With Angela Mackerel and Smegma marshalling our defence only one cheeky backshot found its way into our net. After a couple of kicks in the hip from Cutty Shark to ICSMs veteran pit player, which may have dislocated his hip, we will never know, some direct play into pit allowed both Hooker and Drip Drop to keep the scoreboard ticking over. An absolute rocket from 2 metres by Cutty Shark had ICSM reeling and they barely felt like creeping over the half way line. However, there was still time for Cyanofish to demonstrate her exceptional knowledge of the rules and gain an exclusion for taking an oppositions free throw for them, what fantastic sportsmanship she displayed. Finally, after a defeat inflicted by our warriors, James put ICSM out of their misery and back on the District Line to endure the 40-minute commute back to South Ken, where undoubtedly more sorrow awaited them when they learned of the service alterations and the fact that however they vote, it will still be for Boris.

A very solid performance from our band of heroes ensured that we took the spoils in front of the capacity crowd. Our ultras making sure that ICSM had a difficult time as much as we did. After locking and popping during the match, we decided to go for a different craze to celebrate our victory, T-posing took over the boys changing room as our rallying song once again blared out. Our hunger for goals, victory and T-posing mean that this LUSL BLizard steam train is rapidly gaining pace. Next up, a trip down to bagel infested South Kensington to face an IC 2s team who no doubt are quaking in fear after hearing about our latest exploits.

LUSL BLizard, I salute you.

Wet, Watery Love,

Tadpole Liam xxxxxxxxxx

Goals:
Jono – 12
Renos – 3
Connor - 1
Liam - 1