Men vs Southampton (A) - 29/11/2023
Twas a chilly winter’s evening as the motley mens crew descended to the south pole of the UK Southampton. Despite being far away from our beloved London we still felt at home as we were greeted by a lovely Big Sains. Quick pit stip and and advent calendar’s acquired and we were ready to play. But tragically we would soon find out that the degree we study would betray us…..
The whistle blew and Lumpfish sailed down the wing to claim possession of the ball. This was a statement of intent as the boys started out strong this quarter. Tadpole Dimitrios was an absolute animal in pit defence not offering the opposition the chance to score, pillaging the ball every time it came near him. On the counter Jole soon broke free sending a bullet into Southamptons net. He would soon double his tally after some steadfast defence and a man up Jole scored again. Unfortunately Southampton quickly responded with a shot going above Chundy’s head in an abnormally large shallow-en goal. Disaster then struck when tadpole suffered a suspected pec major strain ending his game. Off a counter at the end of the quarter Southampton equalised leaving it all square at 2-2.
The second quarter began and the boys were keen to put right the missed opportunities from the first quarter. Both teams traded blow for blow with Tadpole Adam firing a shot into the top corner which was quickly responded by Southampton. Poonami was incredible in this quarter at acting as a decoy in pit allowing Jole to make us take the lead again. However Southampton kept probing in attack and equalised the proceedings. Chundy Shark was soon in the action, as a Southampton player thought he looked too dry and swiftly dunked his head into the water resulting in a major. Grouper too had his chance to shine exceptionally chasing down his man and panicing him into chucking the ball away resulting in a turnover. Unfortunately after this moment momentum shifted to Southampton. Their counters became unrelenting leading to two penalties. Tragically these were guaranteed goals as Chundy would have to be out of the pool for his head to actually be in line with the goal. On top of this the opposition Pit D kept wriggling free from our defence resulting in another 2 goals to the opposition. 7-4
In the third quarter Grunion took all the spotlight. Despite being constantly dragged into pit from the wing, he made this part of the pool his own. Tensions were high and this was reflected in the play from both teams. Constant turnovers led to a messy quarter. Lumpfish and Tadpole Adam kept breaking free from the opposition but the Southampton keeper played a blinder denying any shots to reach the back of his net. Unfortunately some soft goals were scored by the opposition with Chundy too slow to react to a weak shot, and Southampton scoring from a ricochet off the bar. We didn’t let them get too far ahead with Lumpfish finally beating their keeper leaving it 9-5 at the end of the quarter.
With Barney Bear moving into Pit D, the fourth quarter became his playground. He took great delight in making Southampton’s pit A drink as much pool water as possible. Unfortunately the pair were both sent to the naughty corner and their fun was over. MarkyG was also an absolute animal stopping every single opposition counter attack in their track. This wasn’t the finest quarter of water polo and unfortunately we weren’t able to close the gap to the opposition. Only one goal was scored this quarter and this was by Southampton.
Final score 10-5
Scorers
CarCar: 3
Tadpole Adam: 1
Lumpfish: 1
Chunky Shark -10
