The men’s first team crammed into a minibus with most of the girls team for  a long, boring drive up to Cardiff for our next u-polo match. With many of the first team unable to make the whole day commitment, the boy’s team was mostly second team players, who graciously stepped up and filled in for the missing firsts. With only 8 players in total, we knew we were in for a tough match against Cardiff, historically one of our better oponents.

After watching the girl’s game, the boys match began. The first quarter was difficult, with Cardiff putting away 5 goals to our 2, with Hereerma managing to surprise the Cardiff keeper with a bounce shot from far out and Connor scoring another. Cardiff clearly were the stronger team, with players who were both physically fit and mentally playing well together. Despite this, we tried to stop their attacks, but too often were broken off or outwitted by simple but effective team plays.

The second quarter followed the same pattern as the first, except now we were shooting into the late-afternoon sun, which we can take as our only excuse for scoring only 1 goal to the oppositions 4! However, the one goal was superbly placed by Mitchell, whose quick shot from a good clean pass easily found the back of the  net.

The third quarter again was easily won by Cardiff, with a 5-2 scoreline. Another goal from Mitchell and one from Robin (who swapped with BKS in goal at half time) were the only positives from our perspective.

In the final quarter, we managed to slow the steady stream of goals that the opposition were scoring; with only 2 goals, our defence finally had some success! Conor scored another goal, before picking up his third major, having to sit out the last few minutes of the game.The final score was a disappointing 17-6 defeat, next time, with a stronger team, we will do better! Shout out to Alex for superb red light game technique on the way home, and for all the seconds boys who stepped up and played, excellent work!

Goals:

2 – Mitchell Clarke
2 – Connor Hogg
1 – Paul Heerema
1 – Robin Liquorice

Majors:

3 – Connor Hogg
2 – Owen Stephens
1 – Mitchell Clarke
1 – Paul  Heerema
1 – Alex Perry
1 – Malcom Szuplewski
1 –  Robin Liquorice