Men vs LSE - 03/11/2022 (H)

BLWP 7 - 24 LSE

Basking in the glory of the core 6, the men hosted LSE at the fortress looking to continue the winning ways. In an unexpected twist, Barts lined up with not only a full team, but also with substitutes hoping to give a strong LSE side a good fight.

The game started ominously as LSE raced out to a 6-0 lead by the end of the first quarter. In the second quarter Barts finally found the back of the net as Tadpole Cole and Tadpole Christian continued to underline their dominance, scoring the first of several goals each. Seahare battled hard against a tough pit player but managed to instigate the ire of the referee, racking up all three major fouls relatively quickly to end his game prematurely. Inspired by his example, Tadpole Christian and Lumpfish also jumped on the major foul bandwagon, each getting their first of two majors in the first half. Indeed, so inspiring were these actions that LSE’s captain decided to join Seahare, picking up three majors of his own and ending his involvement as well. However, despite the signs of a fightback from Barts, LSE again showed themselves to be strong contenders, favourites for promotion, scoring another five despite WaterAid’s Gordon Banks-esque showing between the sticks keeping them at bay for long periods. Score at the half was 11-3.

The second half largely mirrored the first, with LSE racking up the goals and extinguishing any slim hopes of a comeback quickly. However, there were still plenty of bright spots for the men from Whitechapel. The tadpoles continued their fine form, with tadpole Christian scoring another two goals to complement a further goal from Tadpole Cole. Tadpoles Brandon, Adrien and Theo fought valiantly against strong opposition, further proving just how strong a year this had been for Barts on the transfer market, with some excellent recruitment paying off as they ran their opposite men ragged. Poonami also came in to great acclaim, leading many to ask how he hadn’t featured more previously given everything both in the pool and on the sideline in support. Barnacle and Chundy Shark once again showed themselves to be invaluable members of the men’s team, leading from the front on the wing and swimming themselves to near hypoglycaemia in pursuit of what was, by then, a lost cause.

As the game continued into the later stages, and as LSE continued to increase their lead, the game began to deteriorate. Lumpfish showed he has a future in medical educations as he broke out the wagging finger to reprimand the LSE forward for being ‘incredibly disrespectful’. The referee forgot what sport he was supposed to be officiating as LSE gave the fans at Poplar an incredible display in jumping and diving, arguably more at home in the olympics than the fortress. As the game got scrappier, chances became harder to come by, and as a result there wasn’t any further real change in momentum or lead.

Final score was 24-7 to LSE, a disappointing result but a vast improvement on last year’s score and with a lot of positives to be taken in the build up to our next fixtures.