Men vs LSE - 18/11/2018

BLWP 12 - 14 LSE

What a match that was!

The game started before the match, really, as we were eyeing up our opponents. Each player bigger than the guy before they all got out of the showers and into the pool to prove Archimides' theorem. The pool had risen by a foot and we were ready for the swim-off.

From the get-go we showed them how much we wanted this win. Jono was winning every single swim off, our defence was locking them down and they had no answer for Marco's outside shots at 5 meters. First Quarter ended with a 3-2 win!

The second quarter we dominated the pool and watched as their heads started to fall. Our offense was working like a well-oiled machine. We were using the width of the pool, calling out moves and manage to utilise a lot more players for shots - Omar, Rula and Jono each scored one and Marco scored 2 to end the second quarter with an 8- 5 lead on LSE.

The third quarter was the death of us. We might have gotten cocky, tired, or both, but we allowed a team we could have (and should have) beaten to have a comeback. Our defence was slow and sluggish, our offence resembled an abstract minimalistic painting where the shapes don't make sense and it makes you want to tear your eyes out and cry. They took advantage of that and scored many a man-up and we lost our lead. Third quarter ended on a tie: 8-8.

The fourth quarter, although a much better played period than the last one, wouldn't see us win. LSE had tasted the sweet nectar of scoring and came out more physical and aggressive. For the most part it was our defence that let them score as many as they did in that last quarter. It was obvious we couldn't keep up with them, leaving them open for too many 2-on-1 situations. Our offence was better executed than the third quarter with Hughes, Jono, Marco and myself each having one goal, but unfortunately was not good enough to overcome their newfound gnarliness, and the fourth and final quarter ended 12-14.

All in all I feel this is a match we can be proud of and learn a lot from. Yes, at times the ref was blind, and the opposing team was less than sportsmanlike, but there's always going to be things outside our control, and all things considering we played really well as a team. I just want to say a huge well done to those who played. We all put a shift in and we played one of our best matches yet! Thank you all for coming down. Let's keep our heads held high and focus on our next game - against Cambridge 1st this Sunday.

S/O to Alex Ribera - well done on your inaugural match!

Goals:
Marco Coronelli (6)
Jonathan Amoah (2)
Alex Hughes (1)
Omar Elhalwagy (1)
Aleks Rula (1)
Renos Jeropoulos (1)