2016
Championship 1, weekend 2: Lancaster
The first weekend of the new year was both treacherous and opportune. Fitness after the Christmas break was always going to be troublesome and Poly were hampered by the cancellation of our normal Wednesday night session. Both games were against Div 1 opponents, with all to play for in a tightly packed top four.
Caledonia 8 - 8 Polytechnic
Caledonia look likely to go down from Div 1 and it was disappointing to share points from a match Poly might have won. Understandably the standard of polo was affected by a lack of fitness and match sharpness from both sides, but Caledonia took advantage of Poly’s myopic defensive work to force the draw. Lacking dynamism, too often players were left unmarked, or allowed to swim through to 2m without defensive reshuffle. Ultimately this cost Poly the game, because in static attacks Caledonia presented little danger. Only the referee was more shore sighted, deciding that Carlos Ardid had gained an unfair advantage but “mouthing” the back of the centre-forwards head, for which he received a split lip and an exclusion. This was a moment when we needed Gary Simons for a running punt of the 2m cone. In attack Poly looked dangerous against the drop, largely thanks to the shooting arm of newcomer Lorenzo Cacciola, who netted three times from distance. This changed when the left-hander was outside the pool and Poly would do well to remember that attack is prospective, with much needed movement sorely missing. With a right-hander on the weak side, a drive from 4 was needed to create the space to play a second centre-forward, shoot off the pass or pick off one of the post men. On the positive side, this is a game Poly could as easily have lost, but it speaks volumes that the result felt like a defeat. Maybe just one volume.
Sheffield 10 - 9 Polytechnic
Sheffield now lead the table with maximum points from four games. They are a strong team, with decent players and strong pit forwards, but ultimately Poly were the cause of our own undoing. Mistakes get made, what matters is that we learn from them. Someone important said that and therefore it must be true; sadly Poly received a D- for this test. The attack proved variably successful and once again Lorenzo Cacciola scored four fine goals from the arc, with his compatriot Sergio Schiaffino slotting another four from close range. It became clear that Sheffield had a strategy for shutting down Chris Icely in centre-forward and Poly might have benefitted from a tactical change in this regard, using a jobbing centre-forward to create space for Chris at number five, where he has proven effective all season. Defence is where the mistakes were unmistakeable (that’s some sort of pun); Poly opted for a press defence, but failed to divine the meaning of the word, making it far too easy for Sheffield to work the ball around and feed a pass in to 2m. This left either Ardid, or Jeremy Johnson looking like a “Melon” and ultimately, Poly shipped the majority of goals from 2m. Apparently we were playing an M-zone for the final quarter, but this message had apparently not been communicated to the players. Either that or the team needs a bit more sign-posting…or perhaps a lobotomy? Jokes (and puns) aside, defence has traditionally been a relative strength of the Poly historically, but it is critical that we remember that defence is active, not passive. A collective understanding of the precise nature of our defensive duties would go some way to making this side truly dangerous. This team has pedigree and experience, but this needs to be translated into better in-game communication and tactical decision making.
Overall there is as much positive as negative to be taken from the weekend. Poly have only lost one game so far and have no more division 1 opponents to play. With 3 weeks of the season left, we need a focused attendance at training, along with a positive attitude to the final weekend. Crucially, we must play with positivity, both offensively and defensively.
- Jeremy Johnson
Men's Team Tour to the Netherlands
The men's team visited the Netherlands as part of their final pre-season' preparations. A strong Poly team visited Leiden and Katwijk, and played three games against LZ 1886, a De Zijl U17 team, and Poloclub Katwijk, notching up three comfortable wins in the process.
The team are now looking forward to the start of their BWPL campaign this weekend in Sheffield.
BWPL Weekend 1 - Sheffield, 8/9 October
Polytechnic welcomed the first weekend of the 2016/2017 BWPL season with quiet optimism. Pre-season training has been committed and focused, with captain Chris Icely directing a thoughtful programme combining raw fitness with tactical development. Regular friendly matches, including a blistering weekend in Leiden with upstanding performances both on and off the pitch, individual performances have been directed at enhancing team performance. Added to this, Poly have made an effort to add grit to our performances, knowing that there are times on a cold night away, that getting the job done with a scrappy performance in suboptimal conditions is what champions are made of (something this author has first hand experience of). Time to put this to the test.
Polytechnic 10 - 6 Worthing
Worthing are an awkward opponent; without clear threats in attack, they have an accomplished goalkeeper and play a conservative defence, with multiple drops off the arc in an attempt to stifle centre-forward and encourage shots from the perimeter. This tactic did not represent a surprise, given Worthing are essentially the same team as last year, where they employed a similar defensive set-up. The Poly plan was clear - drive through the drop, create space at second centre-forward and exploit the individual weakness of the players to draw exclusions or create goals. The problem was, Poly reached 3.30 minutes of quarter 1 before the first drive was deployed. Needless to say Poly were ineffective in attack, peppering the goal with tame shooting, without posing any real threats. At the other end, Poly started with a press defence, having worked on transition from press to M-zone for much of the pre-season. The press was a touch off the pace of the game, with Joan Seca gaining the dubious accolade of giving away a penalty 14 seconds into the match. Not to be outdone, the South African power pair of Chris and Chris (Brown and Icely) quickly threw in an exclusion each, before Brain Hoy arrived late to the party box (a first in this author’s memory), with yet another exclusion. This was still not enough, so goalkeeper Matteo Gaspari gracefully slotted the ball into his own net using his face. Job done. By the second minute of Q2 Poly were 0 - 5 down. In times past this would have signalled the end of the game, with Poly turning inside themselves and giving up the fight, but it speaks volumes that this time things were different. A shift into an M-zone defence, drives in attack and some reshuffling on the arc brought three goals from captain Chris Icely and a further from debutant Chris Brown. Suddenly Poly were in touching distance at 4 - 5. Defence was now on lockdown, with Worthing scoring only once more in the second two quarters of the match. Joan Seca repaid the debt of his previous defensive lapse with a fine goal from the perimeter, whilst Ice-Brown (I did that Brian because I have lyrical skillz) kept the scoreboard ticking over to close the game out relatively comfortably 10 - 6.
Polytechnic 11 - 9 Welsh Wanderers
This was the first game on Sunday and Poly were determined not to repeat the anaemic start of the Worthing game. A good, long warm-up with a brief recap of match tac-tics - press into m-zone defence, tight on Dan Laxton (Wales’ most dangerous player) and drive to create space at second centre-forward. This was a tight match from the start; Luke Jones slotted home a tight flick with handy wrist action following neat interplay with Jeremy Johnson, whilst Ice-Brown bagged a brace. With both teams trading blows for parity at 3 - 3 by the end of Q1. In Q2 Poly began to take control of the match, with newcomer Lyndon Cranley opening his Poly account, with deposits from Ice-Brown causing bookmakers all over the country slash the odds on a Poly victory. Half way through Q3 and Poly were 9 - 4 to the good after another Poly debutant Jorge Fariou ripped a scorcher over the keepers head. Unfortunately standards began to slide, Poly allowing the Welsh glimmers of hope, conceding three goals needlessly from 5m to create a tense final quarter. Poly would only score once in Q4, a blistering effort from Luke Jones, again employing swift hands to push the ball off the water in a rapid breakaway goal from his own half. Rumours are that our ex-captain has rediscovered the use of his hands and wrists following recent changes in personal circumstances (this is unverified and requires fact-checking). Nonetheless, Poly closed out the win with cool heads in the face of a Trump style final minute from Laxton, parried by our Kenyan author in the style of his countryman Mr Obama. #micdrop.
Poly remain unpolished, but the first weekend was truly successful, with the greatest regrets being the failure of M&S to remove hair from their sandwich packets, some wayward gambling on female waterpolo and the image of a certain player’s (absent this weekend) haemorrhoids burned indelibly into the team consciousness. Just don’t ask.
- Jeremy Johnson
Poly Men Qualify for Championship 1
After a bit of a set back in weekend 2 at Watford, the team knew they still had work to do in weekend 3 - the scenario being having to pick up at least one point from the two games in Swansea to be assured of qualification into Championship 1. Not as easy a feat as it seemed, given a team missing a few regulars, our Saturday game being against the undefeated Team Northumbria, and Poly's recent history of making life extremely difficult for themselves.
Poly 12 - 4 Team Northumbria
Both teams had endured a long journey to get to Swansea, which explained a rather lethargic first quarter which ended 1-0 to the Poly. We had highlighted the importance of not letting opponents score in the first quarter - sluggish starts being one of very few criticisms of the team this season - and this gave us a good platform to produce a great team performance. With our defence proving very difficult to penetrate for the previously free-scoring Team Northumbria, we pushed ahead our advantage through smart goals from Sergio Schiaffino, Fede Carucci, Captain Chris and Joan Seca. Poly continued to be rampant in front of goal, and stingy at the back, and our very own social media czar, Lyndon Cranley, seized the moment to shine via a mesmerising mixture of sharp-shooting and pirouettes, to score 4 goals. The twittersphere erupted. Not to be outdone, Sergio Schiaffino bravely overcame a particularly nasty bout of "posterior vascular inflammation" (note: Anusol is a confirmed TUE), to notch a further 4 goals to his name. The feisty Italian can't seem to stop scoring at the moment...............
Poly 9 - 12 Exeter
The previously day's victory had ensured our progress to Championship 1, and we had thereby taken the opportunity to indulge in what Swansea had to offer on Saturday evening. Exeter had to win this game for any slim chance of qualifying for the next round, and so were not going to hand us the easy game our booze-sodden brains desired. A long warm-up ensured we weren't as fuzzy as we may have been, and we began the game in the same vein as the previous day - only allowing one lucky deflected lob to squeeze in to the net. However, it came at a cost, with Sergio suffering a bad cut on his eye after a wild, albeit accidental, arm caught him in the face. Coupled with our depleted squad, it meant we only had 3 subs left on the bench - not an ideal situation when the previous night's exuberance had already taken it's toll on the team. That said, Exeter were playing for their polo-lives, and produced some fantastic polo to score 5 goals in the second quarter. Our previous day's M-Zone defence was being undone by some great shooting from the top, and so in the 3rd quarter we switched to a press, with instant results. We began to catch them on the break, but whilst Exeter were pinging their shots in off the cross bar and posts, ours were flying back out at us. The spirit in the team ensured we came back from 10-4 to 11-9, and we could have easily pulled off an unlikely victory; but the polo Gods were on Exeter's side, and another wasted opportunity from the Poly resulted in a very fortunate break and goal, which put the result, and the boys, to bed.
- Luke Jones
Mixed bag to start of Champ 1
Invicta 11 - 3 Polytechnic
Frustrating. We'd had a good few weeks of training prior to this weekend, and were only missing the two South African Chrises from an otherwise strong squad; coupled with the fact scoring in the first phase had come fairly easily and was spread throughout the team, this was a result, and moreover a performance, that we didn't see coming.
Invicta travelled to Lancaster with only 7, albeit strong, players, and as such had a clear strategy to slow the game down. Initially Poly managed to deal with this tactic, and with 2 minutes of the second quarter remaining went into a 3-2 lead. However, from then until the final whistle the team failed to find the back of the net, and conceded another 9 goals in the same time. The team lacked the gumption that had served them so well in games in the first phase, and suffered with as heavy a defeat as they have had in recent seasons.
After a solemn post-game discussion between the team, we resolved to put it down as a blip, and to use the result as a wake up call. We concluded that the best way to prove to ourselves that this was simply an anomaly was to perform strongly the following day.
Team Northumbria 8 - 11 Polytechnic
Buoyed by the return of Captain Chris, who had admirably made the early morning drive up North after missing Saturday's game because of his sister's wedding, the team were biting at the bit to get in the pool and prove their point. On Saturday, Team Northumbria had taken a Division 1 scalp by beating Bristol, and were full of confidence. The scene was set for an exciting game.
We've concentrated hard on our defence this year, and when it all comes together it's tough for any team to breach us. In the first two quarters it did all come together, and the only goals conceded were from two very contentious penalties - both conceded in the corner with the player swimming away from goal - and a third from a man-down. What was more encouraging was that the team rediscovered their virility in attack, and were finding the net from all positions. However, as we pulled into a 7-3 lead the team were guilty of either nerves or complacency, and let a commanding performance slip into a shoddy mess. Some of the previous day's passing and shooting reared their ugly heads, and it led to a very frantic third quarter in which the teams shared just 2 goals between them.
Rattled and knocked out of their rhythm, the Poly suddenly found themselves pegged back to within a goal mid-way through the fourth quarter, and the previously water-tight defence was leaking heavily. Thankfully, the gumption and fight that had been so evident throughout the first phase, returned in the nick of time. The team composed themselves and scored a couple of goals to no reply to see out the game for a victory which was very well deserved, and needed.
Given results elsewhere from the weekend, and the manner in which the team came back and learned from Saturday's disappointing performance, we're still in a very strong position. The next weekend, in Watford on 14/15 January, will be pivotal. We play both Penguin (13:00) and Sheffield (16:45) on the Saturday, and would really appreciate any support. Have a great festive period, and hopefully see you in the New Year.
- Luke