The second game against Southampton City in the Hampshire league took place on Tuesday. Our last game against them proved that City is a tough side, as we managed to win by only one goal’s difference (9-8). Unfortunately, our team had only had one official training session before the return game, which took its toll in our game play. However, pool time in the form of training or games was essential to prepare for the u-polo finals that will take place in Cardiff on Saturday (27/04).

In the first half of the game, and especially the first quarter, the lack of composure of the team was obvious in the pool. The Stags’ defence was rather disorganised and allowed for 4 goals to be conceded in the first quarter, and 3 in the second. In each of the first two quarters, City’s players were constantly dropping in the pit, thus creating several shooting opportunities from the top of the arc. Some of them were successfully converted into goals, but many were wasted. Our team managed to score 2 goals in each quarter. The score at the end of the first and second quarter were 4-2 and 7-4, respectively, with City in the lead.

In the second half, our team entered the game with a fresh mentality. The defensive mistakes were kept to a minimum and during our attacks everybody was constantly driving, creating various opportunities on the arc and creating space for the pit man to receive the ball. These changes led to our defence conceding only 2 goals per quarter while being able to score 3 goals per quarter. Unfortunately, this was not enough for our team to turn the game around. The score at the end of the third quarter was 8-7 and at the end of the game was 11-10.

The final score was really close, with the numerous majors and penalties given against us, it was difficult for us to ever get the lead in the game. Our team managed to have more majors than goals, with Nick Tankov getting expelled late in the third quarter. In total our team amassed 11 majors and had to watch the opposition take 4 penalties, the decisions for which were in many cases quite ambiguous.

After some people suggested it, it has been decided to add a majors list to game reports as well. This presumes that the majors have been correctly recorded on the game sheet.

Scorers:
3 – Nick Xenakis
3 – Will Logothetis
2 – Panos Logothetis
1 – Michael Stephanou
1 – Josh Rowland

Majors:
3 – Nick Tankov
2 – Josh Rowland, Owen Stephens
1 – Tim Walton, Will Logothetis, Nick Xenakis, Will Divall