Tomorrow (22/05), Downham, 12 noon, End of league BBQ and throw-ins.

Can someone bring a broom? It desperately needs a sweep.

My notes, taken on Vidals phone which I didn’t know how to operate so a few details may be wrong but here’s the jist of tonight’s game:

BAD wins the charge and it’s a slow pace to start out with, both teams playing very cautiously, bad won the charge and has 2 shots In 1st minute. Still very cautious play from both sides. Bad is playing the double team strategy not allowing the clear passing. Malice is playing very defensively but aidan scores at 3:56. Matt comes out of goal and has Malice’s 1st shot on goal but it’s blocked by dt. Malice are playing a bit too cautious and Aidan scores at 6:50. Andy puts Maice on the board with a goal at 8:54. dt is released and scores at 10:00 and Aidan scores at 1055 and again at 11:48.
Final for 1st game 5-1 BAD

Aidan wins the ball with the lefty charge taking Iain out. Brendan scores first at 3:01 This one is turning out to be not such a cautious game as the first with neither team having complete possession. Malice are playing 3 out and Brendan scores again at 8:20. Iain puts one in for Malice at 9:04. Aidan scores at 11:00 Brendan at 14:00.
Final for 2nd game 4-1 BAD

Malice has 1st possession and first shot on goal with a miss. Good defense from malice but dt is released, he takes it up to the crease and Brendan scores at 2:29. Dave is still released with no result yet, but he scores at 4:15. Brendan goes 1 on 1 with Iain in goal and loses, but promptly takes him out and Brendan scores at 6:55. Aidan scores at 7:54 and 8:41.
Final for 3rd game 5-0 BAD

Both teams played progressively better as the games went on. BAD just out-did Malice who just couldn’t get proper control of the ball or finish on the many breaks they created.
BAD were playing complete coverage, often double teaming any member of Malice with possession completely blocking any chance of a clear pass.

Matt is my mvp, creating several breaks with some unorthodox plays and almost always coming up with the ball when it was near. Too bad he can’t pass properly or shoot straight!

Los Coños V Black Rebel BPC
30th March, Newington

Game 1 (3-1)
A hatrick from Ali 1.48, 5.57 and 12.45
Goal from BR sub Andy Lockett at 11.00

Game 2 (1-5)
Andy put BR ahead at 2.40 and Jo got one back at 3.17. The goals from BR just kept on coming after this and the 5th was scored at 10.45.
The five goals from Black rebel reads like a BAD scoresheet… ADDAD

Game 3 (2-1 GG)
Over 10 minutes with no goal.
Ali opened scoring at 10.18 for Los Coños, followed by an equaliser from Andy with just a minute remaining.
Two minutes into Golden Goal, Dan had a good break and almost scored, but collided with Sarah’s mallet and ball was saved. The winner came at 17.40 by Jo after a battle in front of the BR goal and Ali and Jo were fighting who wanted to score the winner.

Cold, but enjoyable games. Good to see Black Rebel back on the court!

BAD Polo v Black Rebel BPC
27th March, Newington

An early morning weekend start equals no ref or goal ref volunteers, so sorry its not much of a report as I was concentrating on the game too much to make notes.

Game 1 (5-1)
Aidan 1’00
Dave rides into the fence and breaks his brake
Brendan 5’10. A time-out is called to fix Dave’s bike
Aidan 5’45
o/g Dan 8’00 (Aidan’s shot is saved and the keeper goes down, there’s now an open goal with both Brendan and Aidan waiting to tap the ball in, but Dan gets in there first!)
o/g Dave 8’40 (Dave gives one back to BR when the ball was rolling towards him in goal, he goes out to meet it to push it away with his mallet but it clips the edge and he knocks it in!)
Aidan finishes the game at 10’05

ABAogA – og

Game 2 (5-0)
A faster paced game than the first which saw BAD getting 5 goals in 6.5 minutes.

Dave 1’45
Brendan 4’40
Aidan 5’15
Aidan 5’55 (a special mention to his counter attack goal here. Aidan’s speed gave BR no chance.)
Brendan 6’33

DBAAB

Game 3 (5-1)
Aidan wins the charge and takes the ball up to score in 7 seconds
Aidan 3’05
BR sub Andy Lockett gets one back at 4’04 with a powered shot straight through BAD’s goal.
Aidan 7’17
Brendan 8’19
Aidan 9’40

AAABA – L

I came down to watch this game with Dave’s parents. A shame a broken brake and an own goal meant Dave couldn’t show his magic to its full potential, but a brilliant performance by the BAD boys anyway

1. if you have put your foot-down immediately before a goal is scored, you do not have to tap-out in the centre.

2. after a goal, even though all 3 players have to return to their d, the scored-on team can cross the half-way line after 2 of the scoring team have gone back to their d.

3. Any member of the scoring team can cross the centre line as soon as they have been back to their d, the opposition has control of the ball, and the ball or a member of the opposition has crossed the centre-line.

All the league rules are here: http://www.londonbikepololeague.com/rules/.

Zombie United vs. Polo Fiasco

Having finally deciphered my scrawled notes from the evening, here’s the match report.

Played at London’s famous Mitchison Road court, this fixture had a certain air of desperation from the start. Following the changing of the clocks, it was almost certain that the lights would go out before the three games could be played.
Would the games be completed? Had the timer on the lights been changed? Only time would tell…

Game 1

Fiasco are the quicker out of the blocks, Josh and Tony both well warmed up by some pre-fixture throw-ins. Zombie on t’other hand look sluggish, and their lack of focus is swiftly punished as Tony fires a wicked shot through a very surprised Yorgo’s rear spokes. A mere 35 seconds gone, and Fiasco are in the lead, a situation compounded just over a minute later as Josh puts over a second.
Zombie settle down a bit, a Yorgo break drawing a loud (and effective) “Penis!” from Josh, but they’re not using the space well, and it takes some solid keeping from Hassan in keeping out three one-on-one attacks from Fiasco.
10 minutes gone, and finally Zombie get a foot in the door, Yorgo pulling one back, but Fiasco continue to pile on the pressure, Mike making a great save with his front wheel, then popping up a shot from Tony, who tries to head home the rebound, before re-gathering the ball and slotting home Fiasco’s third.
Zombie desperately go in search of goals, but Fiasco hold the line, Tony recovering from a foot-down to streak back into defence at warp factor 8 and blocking Mike’s certain goal right at the death.

Zombie United 1 – 3 Polo Fiasco

Game 2
A quick turnaround, and Zombie come flying out of the blocks. No prizes for guessing who wins the charge, or where the ball ends up… “Where are you Mike?” calls out everyone’s favourite pistachio muncher.
“Where I usually am!” comes the laconic reply!
Some fast play ensues, and the treacherous under-tyre conditions lead to some hairy moments, Hassan hitting the deck and going knee-sliding on more than one occasion. His commitment pays off though, as he nets the opener, beating Tony as Mike, Josh and Adrienne all tap-out following a goalmouth domino rally session.
Fiasco look to hit back quickly, and come close, but Snoops declares “No goal!” whilst stuff, and Adrienne lets slip the secret behind her “Best keeper in the league” tag – “My boobs got in the way!”
Into the middle of the allotted 15 minutes, and the match really catches fire, with goals from Josh (following a lovely BB pass from Tony), then Yorgo, then Josh. All this excitement is lost on the spectators however, who are more intrigued by Yorgo’s appearance in Rupert’s helmet (he’d left his own in the pub).
Em: “Don’t you think he looks like Chan in that helmet?”
Gabes: “No he looks more like a human cannonball…”
It’s a tight game, and Yorgo’s cries of “Sorry!” (12 in the first game) are being replaced by “Fuck!” and “Merde!” culminating in an anguished cry of “FUCK – ADRIENNE!” Fiasco’s keeper produces her umpteenth solid block of the tie, and tips the game past the 15 minute mark and into Golden Goal territory, where finally Yorgo gets his reward, scoring after nearly 19 minutes of hard-fought hardcourt action.

Zombie United 3 – 2 Polo Fiasco

Game 3

The timekeepers are nervous. If the lights do go out at 9 o’clock, then we’ve only got 12 minutes of play. The teams agree that they’ll take the result when darkness falls.
And it looks like a result might be on the cards! An even quicker start than the first game sees Tony ping the ball through Yorgo’s spokes again!
Zombie regroup, and discuss the situation…
Yorgo: “We don’t pass enough.”
Spectators: “We’ve been telling you that all evening!”
Zombie take the ball upfield, and another domino rally session results in Yorgo’s cry of “It’s you and Tony, Mike! Don’t fuck it up!” Mike fails to score… There’s a real edgy feeling to this game, everyone’s after a result before darkness falls, and the pendulum swings towards Zombie as Hassan and then Mike find a way through Fiasco’s defence. Yorgo almost puts the tie beyond reach when his outrageous t-bone attempt on Josh fails, and he nicks the ball! He’s through on goal, but a wild shot flies across the D and into the corner.
With Gabes looking at his watch, Fiasco push forward, and suddenly Josh fires home an equaliser! As he wheels away in celebration, there’s a click, and the lights go out.

Polo Fiasco celebrate their equaliser:

2-2, what to do? Decamp to Broadway, that’s what! Everyone quickly packs up, and a convoy of blinking LEDs twiddles its way East…

With four minutes left to play, Zombie re-start at London’s favourite rail-garnished polo den. As the teams adjust to their new surroundings, play is initially cautious, but a couple of minutes in, and Yorgo scores Zombie’s third. A couple of minutes later, Gabes calls time and it’s all over.

Zombie United 3 – 2 Polo Fiasco

Cosmic v Polonium 210

5-0
5-0
5-0

La Schmoove V Polonium 210

5-0
5-0
5-0

Polo Fiasco v. Dinosaurs

4-2
5-1
2-1

Not much to report.  The three teams that were expected to win, won.  Dinos put up a heck of a fight, but the shots were finding the BB.

The police came and searched a bunch of us while we were hanging out, looking for knives.  That was exciting and results in oh-so-many laughs.  We also had some visitors from Oxford.  Not much else to say except polo rocks.

Rupert's score card

5-2, 4-1, 0-5

Also available below the overall standings on the results page