C U L8er UCL! (16/10)

SUWPC biggest boys found themselves hurtling up the M3 to the London Aquatics Centre in Stratford (aka THE 2012 Olympic Pool!) to play the league’s newest team – UCL. Several supporters from the London area were also present, and morale was high – the boys were excited to get in the pool once again. Despite the impressive facility, UCL forgot that a scoreboard and shot clock are pieces of equipment that are quite crucial to a match of water polo, i.e. the match was played without either, a fact which will become crucial later. Another important note is that the official match sheet contains about as much information as my hungover head after a social and so I pre-emptively apologise if I fail to mention someone’s goal, and for the lack of detail in the match report!

The match kicked off with SUWPC winning the swim-off but failing to convert this into a goal. Team Junior Fernando Alvarez quickly found himself in the naughty corner and UCL opened the scoring in the ensuing man-up. It quickly became apparent that this would be a gruelling match with the teams very evenly balanced but eventually, an exclusion against UCL was won and Michael Scott drove into pit to equalise the (non-existent) scoreboard about halfway through the first quarter. The boys clearly thought this was quite a nice tactic and repeated the earlier play to put themselves 2-1 up, with Max Björkman scoring a very nice goal. The quarter proceeded relatively uneventfully, with one more exclusion for each team and no more goals scored.

The second swim-off was won again by Southampton, and a chaotic phase of the match kicked in, culminating in Alvarez earning his second visit to the naughty corner, which UCL managed to convert to level the (still non-existent) scoreboard. Mr Scott scored his second goal for the boys, along with a magical goal for UCL that, according to the match sheet, was scored by no-one at the exact same time as Mr Scott’s! UCL managed to earn a penalty from debutant Daniel Bourne which they converted for a score of 4-3 to the home team. The team played methodically, allowing President Finn Thomas to bring the (non-existen…you get the idea) scoreboard to 4-4. Our Team Junior aka Fernando Alvarez aka Silly Fresh decided that now was about the right time to earn his 3^rd and final major of the match, meaning that he would be joining the several spectators for the remainder of our time in the pool. That is not to discount his extremely good defending in the first two quarters – his absence was definitely felt in the latter half of the match! After another goal from UCL, Mr Bourne repented for his earlier sin by slotting away a lovely goal for a quarter-end scoreline of 5-5.

It was at this point rumours began to circulate that UCL were switching match officials and players around for what would be effectively a 14-man roster! Also unclear was whether our beloved Mr Thomas was wrapped – it turned out to be just another bit of confusion from the table!

The 3^rd quarter frustrated the team, with UCL winning the swim-off and Alvarez’s absence from Pit D contributing to 3 goals for the home side in quick succession. Don’t worry – the boys were not to go down without a fight! Ed Wilkes stepped in to score a hard-earned goal for Southampton, with UCL scoring two more to end the quarter 10-6 in their favour.

Following a quick bit of investigation, it became clear that the lack of required equipment, as well as the presence of only one referee (who did a splendid job officiating despite the circumstances), meant it was certain that the match would have to be replayed at a later date! With the pressure now off the team, the fourth quarter was much more enjoyable for the boys, with Captain Howard Teng getting some nice shooting practice in to give Southampton Boy’s a final total of 7 goals scored in the diving pool of the London Aquatics Centre! The now voided match ended 12-7 in favour of UCL – a score which, in my opinion, does not reflect the quality and morale that was displayed by the team on this day!

The boys are looking forward to playing UCL again sometime in December – bring it on!

Written by Michael Scott!

Man of the Match: Captain Howard Teng for a lovely penalty and stepping into the Pit Defence position, as well as fantastic team-talks that bolstered the team’s morale at several crucial points in the game.

Dick of the Day: UCL for not bringing a scoreboard or shot clock to the match.

Goals/Majors:

Sam Ellis 0/0

Michael Scott 2/0

Ben Lynch 0/0

Finn Thomas 1/2

Max Björkman 1/0

Daniel Bourne 1/1

Ed Wilkes 1/2

Jack James 0/0

Fernando Alvarez 0/3

James Popple 0/0