Report by: Jack Nash (Social Sec)

Game: Southampton Men’s 2nds vs. Portsmouth (02/02/17)

After a long and relaxing Christmas break, the time had come, the first match of 2017 and the first of many for the seconds in the coming weeks. It started off fairly well, everyone was hyped, especially as we had journeyed down listening to the musical stylings of Stormzy. As we got changed and into the pool, everyone was quietly confident that this would be a good game; a game we could possibly win.

As the first quarter begun; after such a long break, it was a shock to the system for many, especially in a double deep pool. Within the first two minutes, Portsmouth were already up, and the goals just kept on coming in for Portsmouth, all of which from the change of possession. By the end of the first quarter, we were already 6 goals down. Portsmouth 6, Southampton 0.

Something needed to change for the second quarter. Portsmouth were still quicker when the direction of play changed, but Southampton were catching up. We still hadn’t scored any goals by the end of the second quarter, but Portsmouth had only scored 3 more in this quarter. Portsmouth 9, Southampton 0.

Third quarter, and third time lucky. Portsmouth snuck in a couple more goals before the tables turned. Perry planted two great goals in the back of the net, within two minutes of each other. Unfortunately, this luck didn’t last for long, as Portsmouth started scoring again. At the end of the penultimate quarter, the score was Portsmouth 14, Southampton 2.

The final quarter started, and Portsmouth put a few more goals past us. However, Southampton’s Tom Harrington-Vogt scored the last goal of the match, putting the final score at 17-3.

Even though Southampton lost, it was a really fun game and the best game of polo the seconds have had in 2017 (mainly because it’s the first). We celebrated our loss with a lovely Mackie-D-efeat before coming home to Southampton.

Final Score: Portsmouth 17 – Southampton 3

Goals:

A.Perry – 2

T.Harrington-Vogt – 1