Men’s Water Polo handle their balls right

The men’s water polo team are midway through what has already been our most successful season to date. This year we found ourselves in the top division after being promoted last year, along with Warwick, Oxford and Cambridge in what some would call the most intellectual sporting league in the UK.

After our first match however, we certainly thought much less of Warwick. Arriving one and a half hours late for the match, some would be happy to call it a walkover, but the Imperial boys were keen to play and we would not let some incompetent navigatorput us off. Indeed it was total annihilation. Due to lateness Warwick were neglected a warm up and were forced to jump straight into the match. They were sluggish in attack and defence, and Imperial could work the ball easily around the arc and into the pit. We were also superior on the counters, with Andreas and Daniele taking advantage of their less than able defence and goalie. Final result 15-3 Imperial, the season ahead was looking promising.

Up next was an away game at Oxford. We once again had to be subject to Jackson’s stereotypical, awful Greek driving – “oh I forgot I had to stop at red lights, it’s not like being on my bike”. We made it to Oxford, in one piece, just. This we knew would be our hardest game of the league, and it was a physical, scrappy game. Daniele played so well in fact he was wrapped after the 2nd quarter; he claims he just needed a rest. We were subject to some very suspicious refereeing on Oxford’s part, who managed to miss a very clear Imperial goal, and award an Oxford goal that very clearly hit the post. Going into the final quarter with a minute left and 9-10 down, timeout was called by coach Adam to discuss a play that could see us get equal. It worked to perfection and brought the score to 10-10 with less than 40 seconds left. A strong Oxford attack followed and they were awarded a penalty for reasons unknown. Of course the Oxford number 4 smashed it into the back of the net, bringing the final score to a disappointing 11-10 loss for Imperial. Special mention has to go out to Brad Sanders for scoring 6 of our 10 goals, an almost impossible feat some would say, but not for Brad. Not forgetting Andreas too who drove the bus back: far better than Jackson, but still with three stalls.

Finally, our deciding match against Cambridge was played just this last Sunday. This served as the decider for who went through to the semis, and it was either Cambridge or us. This was to say the least, the most important match this season. We played a tight game, with a drop defence to deal with their tricky centre forward who whenever got passed the ball found himself drowned by 3 people. This worked wonders, save that of one or two sending outs, and subsequently only allowed Cambridge to score 2 goals from outfield play. Their third goal came from a penalty, foolishly given away by Vincent. Thankfully at this stage it didn’t matter, as Imperial were already 6-2 up with 1 minute to go, after strong offence from Nick Von G, Andrea and Daniele. Daryl kept things under control in defence and we dread to think what these score lines would be if it weren’t for our ninja goalie Jen Wei.

Imperial have exceeded all expectations this year in the top division where we are normally relegated back to division 2. Never have we got through to the semi-finals from the top division before: a historic achievement for both coach Adam and captain Alex. We will now probably face Bristol and Bath, along with Oxford again in the semis at the University of Bristol Pools on the weekend of the 9th/10th March. If we’re successful here it’ll be up to Leeds for the finals on the 23rd/24th March. Onwards and upwards!