A second game of the week, a second draw of the week. A home game to a below strength Sutton team, apart from their 1st team player, who decided to actually start playing at half time and rescued them a point.
Bolstered by the late cry on of Dan “gladiator” Bedford and Tadija “back to full fitness” Popovic, the Narwhals quickly took a 3-0 lead with a classic top corner goal from Mr Potato Head and some lovely shooting from Woody. A second of the quarter from Woody, one for Gladiator, and a couple for them, meant we ended the 1st 4-2 up. 3 more goals from Woody (2) and Mr Poo (1) saw us in a strong position at half time, 7-4.
They were down, and we started the 3rd with solid defence and a goal apiece for Mr Poo, Gladiator and Goggles to go 10-4 into the lead. But then their 1st team player decided he should probably make some effort… The match sheet then reads Blue 5, goal, Blue 5, goal, Blue 5, goal, Blue 11 (because we dropped so hard on 5), goal. 10-8 at the end of the 3rd.
This continued into the 4th, and as we tired we struggled to get out to the shooters from the drop and blue 11 and blue 12 capitalised with some good shooting. Another goal for Woody and Mr Potato head meant we managed to pull 12-10 ahead, but 11 and 12 pegged us back again to end 12-12.
One thing I forgot to mention in this last quarter is during a blue attack we did manage to drop properly and win the ball. A quick counter saw Gladiator 1 v 1 with the keeper, but with the defender about to pounce he made the correct decision to pass the ball across to Woody. With 5 goals to his name already, his confidence was up, but somehow, with the goal as empty as Gimli’s bank account, he couldn’t apply the finish which would have won us the game. For this he unanimously wins Fluffer, including the self nomination. Hasn’t been a less close vote since Kim Jong-un.
However for his strong start to the game and bagging 5 goals Woody does get man of the match as well. Let’s hope next time he can keep it up further than half way. But what about the water polo? Shout out to Mr Potato Head for a couple of good goals and also Richard who sacrificed his maddy to play in goal. He also wins moment for a cracking penalty save, the first of his 45 year polo career!
In other news, Tony Popovic was spotted in Lisbon on Wednesday, presumably having a nice holiday now the football season is pretty much over. Zach is currently under review by the DMC, and may be joining Tony on his holiday soon.