October Results

1st Oct 2012

Avondale I - Sutton & Cheam  = 9 - 15

London Premier League

A game that had to be won to begin the climb up the table and stay out of the relegation battle was badly lost with a performance that could easily be ranked as one of the worst of the season.

Not sure what we were trying to achieve with all the confusion we created with every attacking situation , too many trying to drive in  from every position leaving no space to the hole man ,an attacking D that seemed more like an R , an A and a K all mashed together and a few nerves that need to be controlled.

8th Oct 2012

Avondale I - Otter = 5 - 13

London Premier League

Another game that had to be won  , another game that was badly lost.We didn't play particularly bad ,they were just better . Sadly this was the last opportunity to beat a direct rival in the relegation battle as ,as things stands , it looks like we are going down. 

15th Oct 2012

Eastern Otter - Avondale II = 9-11

London League One

Everybody Hurts. A sad day as the second team were relegated from the first division. Going 4-0 down in the first quarter didn't help. We’ll have to make sure we go back up again…

Final Tables

	Premier	Pts
1	Croydon	40
2	Poly	30
3	Beckenham	28
4	Sutton	27
5	Penguin	26
6	Otter	26
7	Avondale	24
8	Bexley	19
	Div. 1	Pts
1	Watford	26
2	Ealing	22
3	Croydon II	22
4	Reading	20
5	Eastern Otter	15
6	Avondale II	14

September results

3^rd Sept 2012

Avondale II – Croydon 2 = 11 - 14

London League 1

What started as a neat and ordered game, with good positioning, containment of their main foil the pitman (good work Nige), and some cracking shots from Ed and a cracker from Jonnie, the game looked under control. But then in true REAL style confusion, pandemonium, and loss of concentration had the opposition take control in the second. Despite a late flurry and some impressive shots from Migs (how he got that high out of the water for the tip in he still doesn’t know) the opposition stole the points. We certainly weren’t outclassed in anyway – despite the bulk of their goals coming from the one opposition player suggesting that perhaps we won’t see him as opposition for the second team for much longer! Encouraging – but we’ve got to start winning!!

10^th Sept 2012

Avondale II – Sutton 2 = 15 – 13

Surrey 2

Some of the veterans of the game dusted off their rubbers and donned some seemingly tighter hats in pursuit of glory in an extremely good natured game. Although due to a customary Avondale fixture fiasco the opposition were in fact Sutton (2). In brackets as the opposition turned up with 2 players who were (openly) first teamers. But in good spirit, one of the players who had just got off the Olympic bus, played in the field and had downed a few shandies before the game. Avondale started brightly, with the score line being only limited by a game of catch shots were playing with the keeper. In customary fashion a second half capitulation followed and a little nervousness set in with the lead down to 1 goal. But then Focco found his shooting arm, and Brookey was drawing penalties to see Dave "cross hairs" Brooks put them away. Despite some amusingly slack defending (amusing only because we won) the game settled in the last quarter with some decent possession play, ball going round the "d" and some nice goals being slotted in. A solid performance after sacrificing 3 to the first team and being down a further 7 players. There’s life in the old boys yet. Good to see you Tim, Duncs, Greg…. ;-)

10th Sept 2012

Croydon 1 - Avondale I = 21 - 16

Surrey 1

No match report on this match but apparently it was an enjoyable one despite the loss.....

24th Sept 2012

Avondale II – Reading = 6 – 3

London League 1

Real Avondale WINS! Psychic Pete goes the right way every shot they make. Otto returns as the wall in defence with remarks about his opposite number like "he’s rubbish". Dave steadies the ship with an assured display. Migs tireless drives, Jonnie’s steadfast defence, Focco mauling in the pit… i can’t mention everyone, but safe to say that whilst we didn’t score many we certainly blunted their attack. Judging by the table this could be reviewed as a (near) bottom of the table 6 pointer. Croydon 2 and Eastern Otter to come. Perhaps we’re not out of this yet…

August results

6th Aug 2012
Avondale I - Poly = 12 - 10
London Premier League

9th Aug 2012
Kingston - Avondale I = 6 - 11
Surrey 1
Some decent polo , no hole man worked well and we had some good drives and cross passes.

13th  Aug 2012
Avondale II - Ealing = 5 - 12
London League 1

20th Aug 2012
Avondale I - Penguin = 16 - 15
London Premier League
Avondale only led for 30 seconds of this entire match...the last 30 seconds though!

July Results

30th July 2012

Avondale I - Croydon I = 9 - 15

Surrey 1

3 very late pull outs , no keeper , one's son's first birthday forgotten , a ref who thought a day at the Olympics was a better way to spend a Monday night , a full Croydon squad.

What else can be said ?Not a bad game for Avondale though considering the limited number of subs and the continuous changes of goalkeepers.Star of the evening the "new" scoreboard that took its place on the "new" table ; not the electronic scoreboard that everyone voted for but at least it is a start.

26th July 2012

Ealing - Avondale II = 17 - 13(or something like that)

London League 1

Injuries, dismissals, internal bickering, referee controversy… just like an England world cup campaign. In the darkness of the dimly lit Ealing pool where parking costs until 10pm (wtf?!) a summer squad of players assembled mopping the brow from another scorching day. As the game lept to life Ealing quickly established a press and the Avondale 2 team did the same, "Real" seeing out the first quarter winners, only last minute conceding a goal to see a 5-1 lead push to 5-2. But then the wheels fell off. 

Groin injury to goalie (sub out), internal bickering and shouting, illegal pool exit, illegal re entry, wrap up, 3 major foul exclusion, another 3 major exclusion, cracked chest bone injury (get well soon Maarten. A&E at 0100hrs is no fun), meant that a squad of 11 left us with 7 players by the end. 7 very tired players. Random consensus decision making from the referee (decision reversals at the request of the bench) then when referee realises mistakes "levels up" the decisiions the other way with some soft shouts made the game very bitty with decisions likely to go either way with little relevance to the actual match. Lovely chap though. Glimmers of class from Jonnie Beder (available last minute – what a relief) and some notable play in the pit from Focco. Seany snuffing out their pit attack nicely. Shame he didn’t last the game. Again ;-)
Captain suggests a second team drinks soon. We need to show a little more solidarity going forward. Remember who the enemy are…

12th July 2012

Croydon 3 – Avondale II = 6 - 10

Surrey 2

Old men chase small boys round pool. Not a Gary Glitter dreamworks presentation, but more a reflection of the age gaps. The Croydon team were very young, and also worryingly promising for the future! But the old boys prevailed with Focco grabbing his useful santa sack of goals, Nick making another "debut" and Greg Curtis showing wall like qualities in defence. Dave steadied into his role as voice of reason and John busied himself in the pit, entertaining anyone within reach. I’ve probably missed people out… Emile’s pace etc… but the stand out was Wayne-o in goal. Constantly denying some young armed shots. Good effort VC....oh and Brad should take penalties from now on

5th July 2012

Kingston - Avondale I = 5 - 7

Surrey 1

We like to leave the best to the very end. Don’t know how we could only score one goal in 3 quarters but it was definitely  a game of bad passes , bad shots and generally bad play.

The last quarter was eventually played in a more Avondale style and , from 5 – 1 down with the last eight minutes to play, we found ourselves  6 – 5 up to the disbelief of the opposing team.

Then Louis thought Christmas should come earlier this year and gifted Kingston one last chance to level the game ,a beautiful pass to their player just as he was clear on goal.

Big Greg had to come to the rescue with an exclusion and they couldn’t take their chance ;we got away with it and scored another goal ,just in case.

Santa was seen wondering around New Malden looking very confused!

2nd July 2012

Avondale II - Old Whits = 6 - 5

Surrey Cup Final

After a nervous wait as the referees settled themselves that the markings were correct, the match began with a flurry of pressure from REAL (Avondale), which could easily have ended up with more than 2 goals converted. But then running into the second quarter we rather lost our way. We were frantic, wreckless, wasteful, disorganised, lazy… hey… this is REAL AVONDALE! Who cares? Throw a malaise of end to end plays and general confusion, having dropped 2 goals behind, the come back began. Brad got one (all the killer training paid off), then Nige to draw us equal (all the lack of training paid off), only for Migs to score a cracking top corner goal to rapturous applause from the bench. Despite the best efforts of the captain to gift the game in the final seconds to the opposition (ah-hem!) we held on to win the Tom Dwyer cup. REAL has silverware again. Well done to those who played, but also well done to the guys who played in the matches that got us there. You all contributed to this result.

June Results

24th June 2012

Beckenham - Avondale I = 12 - 5

London Premier League
Not the best weekend to choose to play several waterpolo games when a EURO 12 quarter final was the highlight of the day.
Three very late pull outs and most notably without our full time keeper ,it was never going to be an easy task.
That added to our losing one of the two subs within the first five minutes of play , we did all think it would be a very long afternoon.
Steve and Greg did magnificently in goal but in the end we couldn't score enough to put any pressure on the opponents.At least we tried to take our chances which is not what you can say of some over paid Primadonnas dressed in white somewhere in East Europe.FORZA AZZURRI.

21st June 2012

Sutton - Avondale I = 14 - 15

Surrey 1
Very balanced game but the win was never in doubt.The ref didn't turn up so we shared referring duties;they didn't seem to get the point of having a non qualified official making decisions and they took their best player out to show everyone how is done.That was fine for us and we won the game.

17^th June 2012

Poly - Avondale I = 11 - 9

London Premier League

Not the outcome we wanted but a very tense and level game in which the keepers made the difference(ours carrying a severe hangover but that didn't seem to show)

1st quarter was a bit of a slow start ,not just because the blue caps materialised 10 seconds before the game.
Gone 4-1 down and managed to get back into the game in the 2nd quarter , the two teams just matched each other goal after goal(actually we had several misses one on one with their keeper who seemed to save any rocket from short distance).
Still level going into the last quarter,we conceded twice and were never able to recover.
All in all a very good game.


11^th June 2012

Avondale II – Croydon II = 12 – 15(tbc)

Surrey 2

Unlucky for some. Unlucky for us.No13 in Blue was super strong scoring from some rather impressive back flip reverse shots. The likes many of our players could have done maybe… oooh… 25 years ago…! Quarters 1 and 4 were bit of a letdown, but quarters 2 and 3 much better. Indeed when we took the lead in the 3rd we looked to have them on the ropes. Some standout performances from Angus and Focco being strong as ever in the pit. Another rare appearance from Steve Moorhouse trying to gain some value for money from his annual membership. I think it’s fair to say, we let this one slip through our fingers. Shame.

May Results

29th May 2012

Bexley - Avondale I = 12 - 17

London premier league

Sweet victory for the first team away in the most east end of London you could imagine.

Great defensive display which just consisted of not fouling their number 5 and avoiding his powerful and more than not unstoppable shot.

Always in control of a game that we led right from the beginning and also included an awful penalty miss , a one on one from a yard that went terribly wide and a goal from the half way line with their keeper too busy with himself on the other post.

28th May 2012

Avondale II - Guilford II = 23 - 3

Surrey 2

Bit of a white wash really. First quarter was won 9-1 and apart from a second quarter of spectacular mediocrity, the goals kept on coming. Some noteworthy work from Otto and John in the pit, and a rare appearance of Stevie M showed he ain’t lost it yet. Some other dutch bloke scored 7 but can’t remember his name ;-). Brookey was EVERYWHERE. Ed finding space with some intelligent swims. We lost structure and became frantic, but a win is a win. Dissent in the ranks after the game about amount of pool time someone had. If you have an issue with the captain: take it up with him in private. Happy to discuss solutions. Keeping a squad of 24 happy and playing is going to have issues. Roll on the creation of a 3rd team! ps: does anyone know of where we could get more pool time?

21st May 2012

Avondale II - Croydon III = 16 - 6

Surrey 2

An impressive outing for a much changed side, with seemingly 2 teams playing for REAL. Great to see players like Angus on the score sheet (2). Despite playing against some younger and undoubtedly fitter players, the old boys grizzled it through. Nice. Good vibe and back slapping all round.

14th May 2012

Avondale II – Old Whits II = 12 - 10

Surrey 2

Baxter makes soup of the defence. Ed gives a master class. Majors all round. Cheers!
What a pleasant change a satisfying first half makes. After some cunning eves dropping on opposition team talks by "sir", a press was employed to great effect, snuffing out any meaningful attacks. On the return attack Dave found the referee much more understanding of what it looks like when a strong lad works hard and was making mischief, sending their team into confusion of "to drop or not to drop",, and combined with some effective positioning in attacks, the pressure turned to goals. Apart from a little wobble in the 3rd, holding onto the possession paid dividends in the final quarter, running Pete’s hourglass down until there was no way back for the opposition. Tim (remember him?!), and rather fittingly Dave’s last quarter brace settling the match. A good team were beaten. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come.

Avondale Waterpolo own rules

1.     It is advisable to eat something heavy at least an hour before a game

2.     It is better to go three goals down straight away, this will serve to find the right motivations that will make you play with a determination never seen before

3.     When the opponent swims off in counter attack, it is preferable to count until three before trying to catch up. It is fair and noble to give everyone a chance

4.     When your team is playing the “man up” ,the pass of the ball between team mates must be as slowly as possible and to the most marked player when he’s not looking

5.     You can’t win all the time ,it’s the taking part that counts…and you get one point

6.     It is advisable to do at least a dozen shots from 10 metres away, preferably from very awkward positions

7.     Before making a drive  , check there is another player who’s willing to drive in with you

8.     It is preferable to pass the ball in the middle ,when the hole man is in great difficulties

9.     In the event the game is played more than 10 miles from your home , here are some suggestions for excuses you could tell the captain:

-Unfortunately my cat has acute conjunctivitis and I need to put eye drops every hour ,this prohibits me to attend

-The little finger of my left hand has become increasingly swollen; I can’t even hold the ball

-I thought the game was to be played next Monday and I have already booked a holiday that I can’t cancel, I will be thinking of you all

10.  While the captain is talking ,you must tell the man next to you about the bender you went on the night before

11.  Obtain the minimum with maximum effort

12.  It is always possible to make the remark at the end of a game:”I think we could have won this”

13.  When your goalkeeper saves a penalty, it is preferable not to sprint for the rebound.

14.  Before passing the ball in the middle, draw a circumference with radius AB(with the centre in B) , draw a isosceles triangle ; if the triangle has two congruent sides then it will also have two congruent angles ; taking into account that in Euclidean geometry the sum of the internal angles of a triangle is always 180 degrees , divide 180 by the number of players of the opposing team whose girlfriend you secretly fancy and count up to the result of the division ; at that point someone will shout something from the bench and shoot immediately.

15.  It is best to call the time out when the ball is in the opposition’s hand or in our hand and with a clear opportunity to score

16.  It is advisable for everyone to go to away matches with their own car so as to make it difficult to find parking and optimise costs

17.  Substitutions during the game can be done like in basketball….the player from the bench can get in where he wants, when he wants and how he wants(waterpolo standards recommend the flying bomb)without waiting for the other player to be already out of the water

18.  It is possible to fart very loudly when sitting on the bench ,but only if the offender does claim it immediately after , otherwise it will not be considered valid and disallowed

19.  Better slow than fast

20.  Remember to let the referee know at every opportunity available what you really think about him; in the likely event of a disagreement , members of his family could be used 

April results

23rd Apr 2012
Avondale 1 - Sutton = 11 - 4
Surrey 1
Powerful display from the team against a very decimated Sutton  who could only bring 7 of their players to the game.Good defending and very efficient in attack ; Great show from new comer Alex...until his lungs supported him.
Post match refreshments slightly disappointing without the usual display of crisps....need to work on that


23rd Apr 2012
Croydon 2 - Avondale 2 = 10 - 4
Surrey 2

Well that wasn’t supposed to happen. A generally flat performance with little invention in attack, and way too many incidences of being caught on the break. Whilst our cause wasn;t helped by some young referees thinking that a head needed to be removed before a foul was conceded, the opposition showed that a new generation of players are coming through who are both fit and strong. To compete, we’re going to have to up our game. All hands to the pumps dear friends. We’re going to have to be better than this. training thursday

19th Apr 2012
Reading vs Avondale 2 = 10 - 5
London League 1
Poor warming up skills meant the extent of the loss was the same as the first quarter deficit. Reading proved how inept we dealt with being pressed. They played well. A few of our good players were off form on the night and unwilling to drive and pick etc. All in all: a painful learning experience, but a learning experience all the same. Maybe we’ll all be 10 minutes earlier to the pool for the next game.

15th Apr 2012
Avondale 1 vs Penguin = 8 - 20
London Premier League
Cheered on by the newly created Avondale mini supporters club and on the scoreboard with the fastest goal in water polo history , the Avondale first team just couldn’t keep up with the speed of a team that’s one of the top five in the country and ended up scoring more than half of their goals in counter-attack.
Much better play in the last two quarters but unfortunately too little too late; with more than a month until the next league game and marathon runners/child parenting/injured players to make a comeback , the future is bright.

12th Apr 2012
Avondale 1 vs Sutton = 15 - 8
London Premier League
First game of the London league season for Greg and co. against a Sutton team that were missing some key players ……and most notably a goalkeeper. This was all too obvious by the inability of any of those who tried their luck in goal , to stop or even try to stop anything that resembled a shot. At the call “ they don’t have a keeper” Jo definitely saw the opportunity to have a few cracks and oh god, he didn’t stop! Worth mentioning the legendary Pete in his first game outfield in over 30 years ,or was it 40?.Unfortunately it didn’t last long and after three majors , he was left watching the game from the side and yet again another shot from Jo.

29th Mar 2012
Avondale 2 vs Sutton and Cheam = 15 - 9
Surrey 2
Milos turns goal scoring hero. Focco manages to last the whole game. The old kingston lad is still a pain in the a££. Generally we make heavy work of a pretty weak side. Blayney gets greedy at the end. Sorry Brookey.

26th Mar 2012
Avondale 2 vs Blue Marlins = 17-16(after handicap)
Surrey Cup
When does a win not seem like a win? This one. The scoreboard said we’d lost but we’d actually won. Overcame a 10 goal handicap. The result only confirmed on the second pint in the pub after careful examination of our learned colleague on the table’s handwriting.
Notable moment: Focco’s red mist. Despite him chasing / hitting the opposing player around the pool, prompting the opposition subs to jump into the pool as support, the referee still didn’t see him as a threat. Mind you – he did score 5 or 6 goals while he was in the pool – exiting to the big exclusion sign. Classy.

15th Mar 2012
Avondale 2 vs Kingston = 8 - 8
Surrey 2
So much enthusiasm for the game that we ended up with too many players in attendance. Classic second team match where we failed to hold the ball for more than 10 seconds. A host of missed chances. Fitness looked pretty poor (something to work on)and in true tradition, when the whistle blew, Tim had one hand around the neck of a player with the other hand in a fist shape making "pretty waves". Immediately wrapped up, an outstanding display from Milos saved the day.

Eastern Otter Int. WP Tournament

9 of the finest athletes from the Avondale squad ventured in the far and unknown of east London for the Easter Otter International Tournament on Saturday.
5 games in total or 4 and a half for the three lucky ones on the Blaney bus which took more than two hours to navigate through perennial traffic jams between Kingston and Beacontree ; this with the help of 4 Sat Navs and some very uplifting music which almost knackered Johnny other eardrum.

Moments to remember in no particular order:
-A goal from the opposition from the half way line
-2 goals in the last seconds of the same game
-Quite an animated discussion(or telling off maybe)between a dodgy Italian and a German referee(weren’t used to be friends these two!?!)
-5 people jammed into a Mini on their way to post tournament refreshments.
-Angus entering the Olympics Diving team
-Focco top scorer for Avondale
-Liam’s great ability to work on a three storey basement project between games.
The unanimous winner of “highlight of the tournament” has to be the Enfield boy who , after been kept under the water for more than two seconds by an unnamed Avondale player ,got so upset that was seen leaving the pool in tears and made his way home.
Results:
Group B
B&D Aquatics - Enfield = 1 - 7
Avondale - TUS Syke = 2 - 3
Enfield - Avondale = 5 - 6
B&D Aquatics - TUS Syke = 0 - 8
Avondale - B&D Aquatics = 12 - 1
TUS Syke - Enfield = 9 - 6
Semi
Rotherham - Avondale = 5 - 4
3rd-4th Final
Eastern Otters - Avondale = 6 - 4

Final Table
1st Rotherham
2nd TUS Syke
3rd Eastern Otters
4th Avondale
5th Basildon
6th Enfield
7th Regensburg
8th B&D Aquatics

Eindhoven 2012

Great weekend for the Avondale delegation at the European Championships of Waterpolo in Eindhoven.

12 matches and a lots to learn for 2 Dutch, an Italian, a kiwi and an Englishman that represented the club.

Game of the weekend has to be the semi final between Hungary and Montenegro ,a game so fast and furious that can only be compared to a Tom Dwyer cup match in Walton with a 23 goal deficit.

The rest of the weekend was spent embracing a few new things of the local culture: Italians and New Zealanders seem to be considered to be too short for Dutch standards , Focco’s desire to have a Chinese on Saturday night meant he was trying to convince us all that Indonesian food is also served in Chinese restaurants, the longest street with bars and clubs in the whole of Holland and maybe in the whole wide Universe was right there in Eindhoven(merely a 5 minute walk to the end between drunken teenagers),the central station is meant to look like a radio but after three days and a long debate it could only be described as something more similar to a television.

All in all a good weekend, good beer, good food ,good polo.
See you all in Budapest in 2014

Killer 2012

6th Dec 2012 –Last Killer session before the awards at the Crooked Billet in Wimbledon tonight and the old boy Titanium Pete signs off the season with another win.
Well done to Pete and all the rest who managed to get into the points , next season will be even tougher.

New entry for 2012 , the “Killer World Series of South West London”

(3 points awarded for the winner on the night , 1 point for the runner up)

Thur 6th Dec(double points) Winner Pete , runner up Steve
Thur 29th Nov Winner Alex , runner up Jonnie
Thur 15th Nov Winner Titanium Pete , runner up Alex
Thur 8th Nov Winner Mark , runner up Dave
Thur 1st Nov Winner Dave , runner up Big Greg
Thur 25th Oct Winner Steve , runner up Jo
Thur 18th Oct Winner Dave , runner up Steve
Thur 11st Oct Winner Big Greg , runner up Pete
Thur 4th Oct Winner Fergal , runner up Jonnie
Thur 27th Sept Winner Dave , runner up Titanium Pete
Thur 20th Sept Winners Pete & Steve
Thur 13th Sept Winner Focco , runner up Dave
Thur 6th Sept Winner Mark , runner up?????
Thur 30th Aug Winner Titanium Pete , runner up Wayne G.
Thur 23rd Aug Winner Mark , runner up Nick A
Thur 16th Aug Winner Focco , runner up Steve
Thur 2nd Aug Winner Big Greg , runner up Brad
Thur 19th July Winner Jonnie , runner up Big Greg
Thur 12th July Winner Lele , runner up Pink Parkin
Thur 5th July Winner Jonnie , runner up ?????
Thur 28th June Winner Big Greg , runner up Pete
Thur 21th June Winner Pete , runner up Jonnie
Thur 14th June Winner Brad , runner up Jonnie

Thur 7th June Winner Wayne G , runner up Big Greg

Thur 31st May Winner Sean , runner up Steve

Thur 24th May Winner Brad , runner up Wayne G

Thur 17th May Winner Emile , runner up Sean
Thur 10th May Winner Jonnie , runner up Pick Parkin
Thur 3rd May Winner Pink Parkin , runner up Brad
Thur 26th Apr Winner Steve , runner up Brad
Thur 19th Apr Winner Titanium Pete , runner up Lele
Thur 12th Apr Winner Brad , Jonnie
Thur 5th Apr Winner Jonnie , runner up Brad
Thur 8th Mar Winner Titanium Pete , runner up Jonnie
Thur 1st Mar Winner Pink Parkin , runner up Lele
Thur 16th Feb Winner Martin B , runner up Titanium Pete
Thur 26th Jan Winner Fergal , runner up Lele
Thur 19th Jan Winner Focco , runner up Steve
Thur 12th Jan Winner Lele , runner up Dave Brookie
Thur 5th Jan Winner Focco , runner up Jonnie

Killer World Series of South West London
Pete 27 points , Jonnie B 19 pts ,  Steve 14 pts , Brad 13pts , Focco/Big Greg/Dave 12pts , Lele/Mark  9pts , Pink Parkin 8pts , Fergal 6pts , Wayne G 5pts , Sean/Alex 4pts , Martin B/Emile 3pts , Nick A/Jo 1pt