Last Sunday our Spitfires (yes, I will keep on coming up with nicknames) hosted a game against Bath University. This match concluded the first set of games for our 1st team in the U-polo tournament, meaning that we will have to play against the same teams once more. Winning this game would not mean that we would certainly proceed to the next round but it would surely bring us one step closer to achieving it.

The first quarter started with our boys attacking on the deep end. The ball was being moved around the arc nicely in order to create spaces in the pit. With plenty of space and a few good passes in the pit the team managed to score two goals from the pit and a shot from the arc. Unfortunately, although our defence was very strong, and effective, the opposition scored a shot from great distance. So the score at the end of the first quarter was 3-1 for Soton.

In the second quarter the game got a bit more levelled; as our team suffered the scoring of two goals, from a man down and a counter attack. The Southampton lads, however, managed to score two goals from counter attacks and proper setting up. The score at the end of the first half was 5-3 with the Stags leading.

As time was passing, the game was becoming more and more physical; meaning that mistakes in defence and attack increased sharply in number. This reached its peak on the third quarter when setting up for an attack seemed like something impossible for both sides. But Southampton always has a trick up its sleeve and this time it was a shot from a long distance (by Will D.) that increased our lead to 3 goals. The score at the end of the third quarter was 6-3 for our team.

The last quarter continued being physical with many challenges and great spaces in the defence as returns were slow. Fortunately, great defence by Will (el Loco) in the pit gave no chance to the opposition to score from that position. Our team managed to score with a long shot and a pass in the pit thus reaching the final total of 8 goals while Bath scored one more goal reaching their final total of 4. The final score was 8-4 for the Southampton team.

Our 1st team this year has not even come close to losing a game, with our wins having a double goal difference (at least). This is all thanks to the great composition that this team seems to have mainly in its defence and due to the ability our players have to overpower the other teams in the pool. On Sunday we had the first full bench exclusion in the final minutes of the game, this will not be repeated. Plus we had the first premature goal celebration as the team’s captain (C. Wanos) forgot that the ball has to pass the scoring line in order to count as a goal. Poolside supporting us, we had our girls and the 2nd team boys that made the game much more enjoyable for us. Thank you very much for the support and thanks to the table and Amy for refereeing again. Hopefully one more victorious report is coming up!

Scorers:

2 – Will Divall
2 – Will Logothetis
2 – Panos Logothetis
1 – Josh Rowland
1 – Henry Perkins