Imperial leave it late to snatch victory against Hult

Last Saturday IC 7s faced off against Hult International Business School 2s in Victoria Park. The day got off to a bad start when Giles Wane decided he would miss the meeting time altogether after his alarm just decided it would not go off that morning. The tube journey to Victoria Park took us past all of the great sights of London, including Whitechapel, a place where one of the team feels more comfortable and cosy than anywhere else in London.

Upon arrival in Victoria Park it was clear that this was not going to be 90 minutes of footballing delight. In fact it wasn’t going to be 90 minutes of anything, but more on that later. While the changing rooms were of a more spacious variety than those at Fortress H, many rogue items were found on the floor and this encouraged a quick change allowing for more warm up time once on the pitch. However, a quick pitch inspection showed the conditions to be even worse than expected and the Shaguar has since considered buying the plot of land we played on to grow his potato, describing the conditions as “perfect”. It was even discussed if goals had to be converted using the Klinsmann method, which was turned down by the opposition, something that became more and more surprising during the game as it was evident that they all enjoyed a good dive. The referee then decided at 2pm that kick off had actually been scheduled at 1:30pm instead and tried to tell us both teams had shown up late. After much discussion it was decided that 35 minute halves would be played. Hults were given kick-off as the ref had forgotten the coin for the toss in his bag which was unfortunately placed 20m away on the touchline.

As the game kicked off it was apparent that the midfield duo of Sam Monk and Euan Graham was ideally suited for this style of football with their destructive ability, conquering the middle of the park early. Rob Harris played his usual style with minimal running but great efficiency in laying off the ball to his supporting cast of Ignacio Deprit, Tom Fenning and Chris Caulcrick. This created opportunities early but Harris missed a one on one and Chris fired a free kick just over the bar. Hults were convinced that playing on the ground through the pool of mud that was the pitch was their best option and this made it easy for the IC defence to stop their attacks. Throughout the game their only opportunities arose from set pieces but man of the match Jaime was able to pull off some exceptional saves in goal.

During the second half IC were really able to show their dominance and the breakthrough came in the 67th minute (three minutes from the end) when their keeper decided to take a leisurely country stroll back into his net after punting the ball 15 metres downfield. The ball was poked through to Chris who did well to score into the open goal on a pitch as unstable as Frank’s hands after a union night.

The day concluded with Louis offering the best treats of the season as he ensured that everyone received not only a starter but also a main and a dessert. Upon returning to the union the 7s also decided to dominate Bola Bola with two semi-finalists, kicking out many favourites on the way #justice. Overall, all the players who had invested into the 7s were rewarded with an exceptional return.