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Polo - Domestic Season Opener 
Viking attended this, the first Div 1 of the season in Coventry, on the back of a decent set of warm up tournaments and of course the European Club Champs.
It was anticipated that the league would be a lot tighter this year with some of the so called “lesser” teams showing great improvement towards the end of last season and over the summer. This is exactly what Viking were wary of when they took to the water for their first game of the evening against Meridian “C” and so it proved with Viking making some silly handling, passing and decision making errors in attack. Some indecisive defending allowed Meridian to take the lead. However, as is so often the case, this brought Viking out of their slumber to get the equaliser almost straight away. The next few minutes saw Viking show some improved defending and counter attack play to go in at half time with a 2-1 lead. The second half saw yet further improvement from Viking which was rewarded with a third break away goal. They were however unable to quite get their defense in order with a soft second Meridian goal conceded. It could have got worse had Meridian been more decisive with a breakaway chance that was very well defended by Viking in the end. As the game moved into the last few minutes Viking started holding on to the ball a little more and this patience finally paid off with a forth goal. Yet again though, Viking allowed Meridian another sniff to leave the final score at 4-3 to Viking.
Viking, relieved to have got through their first game relatively unscathed, knew they would have to improve when they took to the water for their second game against Meridian “A”. This they did with some far more solid defending and better play while in possession. Viking’s good work finally paid of with a well taken long range effort. Again Viking had to show some good defending as Meridian immediately went in search of an equaliser. The game started to get a little scrappy at times as the first half began to draw to a close, but a quickly taken free throw on the edge of the Meridian zone seemed to catch the defence out, allowing Viking to snatch a second goal to go in at half time 2-0 up. The second half saw the anticipated Meridian onslaught on the Viking goal which eventually paid off as they were able to pull a goal back. Viking found themselves in more trouble as a loose ball was picked up by Meridian and quickly moved down the pitch allowing them to get a relatively unchallenged equaliser. This didn’t deter Viking who remained calm and stuck with their game plan which yet again paid of as they were able to regain their lead. With time running out Meridian pushed 5-out but were unable to take the ball of Viking who played the clock down to run out 3-2 winners.
The last game of the evening saw Viking up against newly promoted Bedford Raiders, on paper their easiest game of the night. In their previous games against St Albans and Dragon Bedford had shown some decent play at times and had only just lost by one goal on both occasions. However Viking very quickly put any upset fears to bed by sweeping into an 9-1 half time lead. The second half was much the same. Bedford had really been knocked out of shape as Viking were able to run in a further 5 goals making the final score 14-1.
This was a very satisfactory opening tournament but the team know there is a long way to go and some hard teams to play. The preparation for the next tournament is already under way so come March hopefully Viking will be stronger and less prone to making silly mistakes that could so easily cost them.
Thanks very much to Glenn Summerbell for the photos.
(Posted on the 10th Feb 2008 by timb) |
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