Water polo dunk the opposition

Despite a good season so far in the London League, Imperial College's Mixed Water Polo team went into their final match of the year on Monday, UCL 1sts away, knowing that it would be their most challenging match so far. A clear three point lead going into the match meant that only a draw was needed to hold the top spot, but with several team members injured the outlook was not good.

The game started badly, with UCL capitalising on an early blunder to take them into the lead, but some good offensive play eventually paid off, allowing Daryl and Stefano to bag one goal apiece, taking us into the lead going into the second quarter. Capitalising on UCL's disorganisation, some fast counter attacks at the beginning of the next period saw Imperial score two more goals in quick succession, which was followed later by a third. With excellent defending from the likes of Peter, Anna and Andreas, only one goal was conceded in return and at the end of the first half victory seemed certain.

Imperial launched into the second half with gusto, with swims from Lisa, Alex, David and Vera nearly paying off, but heroic ball protection by goalkeeper Petros saw him pick up a leg injury. Daryl stepped in to take his place but was unable to stop the ball on three occasions, meaning the teams were level at 5-5 with only one quarter left to play. As the match entered its last few minutes it was clear that the girls' tireless swimming had paid off, allowing Sarah to put the ball into the net. This was followed shortly by another well placed shot and Ian finished in style, scoring in the dying moments to give a final score of 8-5. This meant that Imperial had won the league for the first time in three years by a comfortable margin of six points.