Men II Match Reports

Please find (in chronological order) match reports from the latest second team games.

UPolo - Bath II vs Gloucester 

Mighty II team went to Gloucester (well actually Cheltenham rather confusingly), in high spirits! With memories of last years BUCS victory, we returned with new blood in search of a similar result. So confident wasOllie "eyebrows" Brenman of not only securing a victory, but of himself scoring three goals, he was willing to bet his eyebrows on this occurring. Did he manage it you ask? Well you'll find out shortly...

It proved a slow start, with the usual Bath rush hour traffic providing a surprise early challenge for the big man Sawley himself, when a momentary lapse soon saw him coined James Stalley. Despite this blip, and a few brain teasing quiz questions from Anthony "Quizmaster" De Rauville, a two hour marathon of tune belting/murdering ensued and by the time we arrived, we had most definitely been risen up, with a little help from Westlife.

*TOOOOOT*, before we knew it Jacob "legs" Salisbury was flying down the pool to comfortably take the ball. A quick attack followed with Alexnarrowly missing the target. However, he was not to be denied, when moments later he leaped out the water, like free willy himself, to intercept a Gloucester pass and slammed it home, what a start!! With only a single minute more on the clock, Mr G was at it again. Cleverly winning the foul and firing home his second from 7m! Gloucester managed to claw their way back into the game with a couple of quick fire goals, with one agonisingly dropping just out of the reach of Matthew in net. Alex fed a wondrous pit ball into Elliot who pivoted, faked and converted past the keeper before he knew what was happening, quarter end 3-2.

A relatively subdued second quarter saw only a goal apiece. A bit of a scrap for possession, with the Ollie proving the victor, claiming the loose ball and calmly firing past their keeper. We had Matt "the wall" Lunt to thank for some outstanding saves, with a superb diving save from a 1-on-1 the highlight! A Gloucester disallowed goal saw the only other event of note. Half ended at 4-3.

The third quarter, however, proved more entertaining. A slow start saw Jacob narrowly miss out on the swim-off, yes we were in disbelief too, with Gloucester using this initiative to their advantage. A quick interplay saw them through on goal, but yet again Matt proved inspired as he brilliantly saved a shot from their big man! Unfortunately the rebound fell to their number 10 who put the ball just out of reach of Matt. Another Gloucester goal saw us trail for the first time. However, fear not, as a pass from Ollie found Elliot "the placer" Potter on 7m. He fired a ripping shot into the top corner of the net to level the scores at the end of Q3.

Yet again, at the start of Q4, as two Gloucester goals, and a penalty that was given but waved away, saw us trail 7-5. With four minutes left in the quarter we really needed to dig deep and salvage something. And boy, did we do this. Like an unrecognisable team we rose at this time of calling, starting with Captain Sawley himself. Two missed back shots from him saw the ball bounce out to the arc. Yet this did not phase him, since a few passes later and he had fired the ball into the top corner of the yet, beautiful!! Alex thought he'd levelled it with another smart goal, only to see it chalked off unnecessarily, scores remained 7-6. With 90 seconds to go,Adam "Schmaucher" Davitt blitzed down the wing, with a pinpoint pass from Mr Potter finding his hand and he slammed home. 7-7!! An unfortunate misunderstanding saw Sawley sent out for 20 seconds, handing a timely boost to Gloucester. However, defending like champions we held on, and claimed the ball back with 20 seconds to go, with Elliot jumping into the pit and stealing the ball. Adam once again flew down the wing and fired home, we'd done it, 8-7!!

A great win to start the UPOLO campaign! Man of the match goes to: Elliot for a solid attacking and defensive display! Well done to all!

P.S. The eagle eyed amongst you may have noticed that, sadly, Ollie did not manage his three goals. However, because he played well we decided to let him off, be careful with what you say next time mate!!

BUCS - Swansea I vs Men II - 16/11/2014

Fuelled on a quality breakfast, plenty of sleep (for most of us) and the promise of a trip to wales and we were raring to go! We arrived on campus super early, along with a cracking number of spectators (6 in total!) to find a 16 seater minibus at the bus stop… for making it out of bed only to be turned away (sorry), keen beans Emma’s (plural) and Hannah deserve themselves some chocolatey goods (make sure you’re at land training - let me know if there is anything you don’t like!).

The bus journey was the standard we would expect - we would have done the National Welsh Male Voice Choir proud. 2 hours later and a la pool we were…

Cheeky hours chill, massages from my true love S&C coach Chrissy, team change and onto pool side - let the intimidation commence.

You could smell the fear as we walked past the opposition dressed to the nines in our stash. A team talk, team poolside warm-up and team sprints only added to the terror. We were psyched!

BOOM! Before I knew what was happening, Salisbury was off the line and already in possession of the ball. Wow, that was quick. Holding possession we set up a super man-up, pass it over to the right wing and KAPOW, Goodall slams that ball into the net. Winner. A poor substitution from the swans left us with a penalty opportunity, convincingly scored by Pearce. An average goal answered the call bringing the score to 1-2 at the end of the quarter.

Quarter 2 was rather uneventful for both teams, primarily due to the might of Lunt in goal. Some cracking saves; only letting two balls slip from those fingertips (to be fair those shots were deece!). Brenman levelled the score with a screamer from the top of the arc… 3-3.

Now the second half of the game is where we played began to play as a team. Trusting each others game we halted our individual efforts on goal and stormed forwards together.

In a speedy turn of events, fired up from the team talks both teams scored in quick succession, always answered by the opposition. I’d particularly like to highlight Goodall and (not to blow my own trumpet or anything…) myself for two left-handed back shots from pit. Deece. End of quarter 7-6

Crunch time.

A couple of quick goals from the dragons put us down at the start of the quarter. Firing up our hearts we answered the war call and pulled the score up to 9-9 (thank you Pearce, and Goodall). With 20 seconds left on the clock, Cymru lob the ball from half way, Lunt dives and touches the ball as it drops into the corner of the goal. A feeble attempt from myself to replicate (should probably go to the gym more) and the final whistle blows.

Swansea I 10 - 9 Bath II

Which of your heroes were playing this game, I hear you ask? Well, not being one to disappoint… 
01. Matthew Lunt
02. Tom Pearce
03. Chris Vine
04. Jacob Salisbury
05. Nick Winn
06. Ollie Brenman
07. Ali Bacon
08. Ashley Ball
09. Adam Davitt
10. Alex Goodall
11. Ali Inverarity
12. James Sawley
13. Will Hall

Fellas this was a quality game. I think Coach Kennerley’s heart stopped on more than one occasion as we didn’t make it easy for ourselves. Some silly passes and wasted opportunities (I hold my hand up to that also), but once we stopped playing as individuals and began to depend on one another our game showed a serious improvement. This is only our first BUCS game as a team and there is plenty more time to smash matches to become the best of the west! Make sure you are attending those training sessions to secure your place on the team for the upcoming games!

For the first time in the history of the world (OK, maybe not), MOTM votes were so close that a single player cannot be decided - both Alex and myself received 5 votes a piece... Deece. I will proudly wear my medal for the coming week and I expect you to do the same buddy!

Special thanks to Coach Kennerley and the rest of our supporters (those at the pool and those there in spirit): Honor (Adam please thank her again!), Emrys (especially because you walked to campus - dedication!),Sam (and Mrs), Emma, Emma and Hannah.

UPolo Bath II vs UWE I

26.10.14 - UPolo - Bath II vs Aberystwyth (by James Sawley)

After our cardiac arrest breakfast, team talk and casual dip in the icy depths of the leprechaun sea in the morning we were ready to face the titans from Aber. 

Sending evil eyes down the pool during our warm up only unsettled the Welshies, putting them on the back foot for the swim off...