January 16th saw the first game of the 2019 season for the mighty Narwhals. Eastern Otter were the visitors and everyone was hugely excited to dust off their speedos and take a dip. Charles was so excited for the game that he gave himself a dead leg, meaning he picked up the first MDM of the season. Good one.
If I had to pick one adjective to describe the game, it would be rusty. If I had to pick a second, it would be lazy. A third? Clumsy? It wasn’t the best game of polo you could have seen, but at least we got a win. Our typical January “pre-season friendlies” are always an opportunity to re-find that old form and grab a few goals in the process. Messers Ogg, Finch and Shute helped themselves. Passing could have done with some improvement too.
Sadly the game saw a lot of penalties against us. In game where we should have been much quicker and fitter than the opposition, I think we gave away 5 penalties. Perhaps that is because we were still working out our front marking, or perhaps we were just slow and lazy… Andy W did his absolute best to keep the penalties out – I think he saved 2 of the 5 – clearly all the 5 lives practise is paying off… but even so, when half the oppositions goals come from penalties, we need to look at our own defending.
Regardless, a win is a win. Man of the match went to El Presidente, Andy Ogg for a four goal haul and some fine battling in the pit. He also grabbed Moment of the Match for a casual back shot from said pit. He narrowly beat Andy W who got a few nominations for his penalty saves. Rob Loveless ignored his fine training form and proceeded to fire high and wide from all over the park. Clearly when the match day pressure is on, he fails to perform. Apologies to Mrs. Loveless. For his aimless attempts, Rob picks up Fluffer. I think he also got some votes for not being able to pick up the ball properly… was it three or four attempts?
Next week is Blue Marlin. Will we improve? Probably not…
Forza Narwhali!!