Michaelango the Sistine Chapel, Nicola Salvi the Trevi fountain, OUWPC Women the Iffley Road Sports Complex; all great artists need their canvases for their magnus opus. The team continued their perfect run of form, with yet another win in the BUCS league. The first quarter was a tense affair, with goals from Emmie and Rosie, tempered by a Leicester goal. However, it was in the second quarter, that the dark blues began to pull away with Rosie finding the net again, along with Anna and Lulu, leading to a 5-3 lead at the halfway interval. The second half started as the first with more Oxford goals, and at the other end, an intensive defensive effort marshalled by ‘keeper Alice, and pit defence Anna strangling the supply to the pit attack. Going into the final quarter 7-5 up, the strong fitness and extensive bench of Oxford showed, with another 3 goals, including a brace from Soraya, to ease to a 10-6 win over Leicester. The counter-attacking improved over the match, with the wing-play strengthening, as to best utilise the excellent swimmer the team possesses. The team looks to continue its unbeaten run over to the Christmas vacation, and hopefully through Hilary, with Loughborough coming up in the next few weeks.
Oxford 2nds 17- 7 UEA Just like the film crew of Blue Planet 2, Oxford Men’s Water Polo Second Team were back in the water; the millions of years of evolution giving them not the ability to live miles below the surface of the ocean, but the ability to play high level water polo in BUCS Midlands 2A. The team were looking to get into the winning ways of early season, after a close lose to Nottingam last week. There was a debut for Jorrit Donner-Wittkopf, who quickly opened his account with a first quarter goal, to take the team in 2-0 after the first period. The second quarter was a tighter affair, with the half whistle blowing at 5-3. The highlight was a delightful backshot by the debutant, and the full pool press was very successful, pushing UEA back out of shooting range, making the job far easier for deputising ‘keeper Rottoli. This pressure, combined with excellent match fitness, began to show in the scoreline during the third quarter. Bram, Birch and Isaacs all scored in a fantastic team display, with the arc and pit looking strong, despite lack of usual pit attack due to injury. The team did struggle against man up, but good discipline limited the situations in which this was applicable. The fourth quarter was a true feat of strength, the 7 Oxford goals in no way flattering the team, as wet passes were better directed to avoid interception, and Oxford managed to keep the structure even as the game broke up. The final score 17-7. The second team look forward to the next match away at Leicester, a chance to win the prestigious M40 double. 1. Luca Rottoli 2. Calum Bradshaw 4. Ameen Chekroud 5. Barclay Bram 6. Stuart Birch 7. Alex Picksley 9. Patrick Isaacs 10. Tom Morcom 11. Fergus O’Leary 12. Joost Kimpel 13. Jorrit Donner-Wittkopf Oxford 17- 1 Nottingham Trent
Oxford were off to a great start when Charlotte won the swim off (no surprise there). The first goal was a belter from Lulu after just over 20 seconds putting the team in front from the go ahead. The Dark Blues were strong in defense with Ashley in pit defense making a superb steal and Alice in goal proving why she is known as OUWPC’s best goalie with some fantastic saves. Oxford looked dominant throughout the match with Lulu scoring 3 more goals, Hannah scoring a hat-trick and a number of goals from Ashley, Lucy, Charlotte and Ruby. Oxford improved on their man-down defense tactic since their last match. Nottingham Trent didn’t score a single goal from the 3 man-up’s they had across the match. The Dark Blues were held their own in defense against an aggressive team. Trent seemed to fatigue in the third quarter and Oxford took advantage of this. Ruby, Anna and Ashley scored from a one on one shot against the goalie- the Trent players were no where to be seen. The Oxford girls dominated play and made some really strong and well calculated drives to score some excellent goals. Nottingham Trent’s goal came towards the end of the match but didn’t dent the score line as Oxford claimed a win with a goal difference 16 (apparently a magic number for the women). Oxford 2s 29- University of Leicester Firsts
The season started as all seasons do, with the first game of the season, as Oxford 2s romped a 29-2 victory against University of Leicester Firsts. Oxford were playing an experimental side, with surely the one of the few times a GB player has played for the 2s. It was a mixture of the old names avid 2s know by heart, and a few faces raring to showcase their talent to the new coach. The first goal of the new season was slotted in by Matt McLoughin after only 22 seconds, one of 7 goals for the prolific left-hander. He was quickly joined on the scoresheet by Luca Ameri, with a quick fire hattrick before the break; Oxford going in 8-0 after the quarter. The second quarter was largely more of the same, with Silverbeck and Waloschek grabbing their debut goals for the Dark Blues, though Leicester got a consolation before half time, going in 15-1. The third quarter was probably Oxford’s strongest quarter, with the arc properly setting up, and the dominance continuing, with five more goals. In the final quarter, Oxford scored 9 more, Leicester one, as the play broke down into more counterattacking play, with the fatigued opposition suffering from a severely diminished bench. Final score: Oxford 29-2 Leicester. The 2s hope to continue their goal fever in two weeks’ time against Nottingham, on the march to BUCS promotion, and – later – eternal fame. Oxford 11-6 Cambridge Some absolutely amazing work from the girls, especially considering this was their first match together and they were a goalie down! The first half was just the team getting used to playing matches again, but by the second half they were on fire with our players holding their own in defence, Cambridge barely got a shot at the goal. Our counters were fantastic- everyone reacted fast to the whistle and swam down the other end of the pool to get a great advantage. Excellent (and super strong) goals from Lulu, Rosie and Ruby. We can’t forget Charlotte’s double hat-trick! Really amazing drives from Char with the ball, the defenders were nowhere to be seen. Unbelievable plays from Davina and Lavanya in their first ever water polo match! Well done to both of you, by the end you were sticking to your players and doing some really great passes. Lavanya was marking strongly on the arc, and Davina tackled the ball off a tab! #shoe Soraya did an incredible job in goal in the shallow end. You made some really strong jumps and blocks, as well as grabbing the ball from pit attack. There was some really nice goal keeping from Emmie and Ashley as well, you both focused really well on the game play, always knowing where the ball was and judging the next pass round the arc. Anna, your steals we’re incredible! There were so many times a Cambridge player comfortably had the ball and you would just claim it and sprint down the wing. After all that great defence work you didn’t even get a foul! Rosie you made some great calls with switching in and out of pit, this type of communication is really vita in a match. Thank you to everyone who came, you all played incredibly! Special thanks to Emmie for the heavenly muffins! Cant wait for the rest of the season with such a strong team. The OUSWPA annual old members' dinner will be held this year on the evening of Saturday 13th May (3rd week) at Somerville College.
2.30 - 3.30pm: OUSWPA AGM (Massey Room, Balliol College) 4 - 5pm (tbc): Old Members Water Polo Match (Rosenblatt) 7pm: Drinks Reception (Somerville) 7.45pm: Dinner (Somerville) This is a lovely event where current and former members of the swimming and waterpolo clubs come together to celebrate the year’s achievements and generally catch up and have fun. You are all invited and strongly encouraged to come! There will be a prosecco drinks reception followed by a three course meal. A "wine with dinner" ticket includes a bottle of house wine at an additional cost of £14.70. You may wish to share a bottle of wine with a friend so please co-ordinate this amongst yourselves. Tickets are priced as follows: Standard ticket: £31.30 (students); £40.30 (alumni) "Wine with dinner" ticket: £46 (students); £55 (alumni) Please fill out this form to confirm your attendance: https://goo.gl/forms/qXEM32moPJRFk1RK2 |
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