Dolphin’s fine form continues

Event: Bristol & West Division II League Fixture

Teams: Bristol Central II v Swindon Dolphin

Venue: Bristol University

Date: Thursday 7th June 2007

Swindon Dolphin continued their fine run of form with a somewhat suprising result against Bristol Central II.

Dolphin had travelled with the bare seven after stuggling to raise a full squad throughout the week.

The match started badly for Dolphin, they conceded goals at regular intervals throughout the first period. Bristol scored on four occasions, Swindon were unfortunate but were unable to hit the net.

Swindon coach David Quinlivan had a good chat with the side at the end of the first quarter. The tactics were changed so Swindon could play the match at their own pace. This worked well for the side as they clawed back three goals by the half way point in the quarter, Matt James, Andy Snowball and Michal Trzeciak scoring. Fatigue started to show at the end of the quarter, Bristol managing to sneak a strike just before the half time whistle.

Swindon Kept the work rate up in the third period, and again managed to outscore the Bristol outfit. Dolphin won the quarter by four goals to three, Trzeciak with three strikes and one from James Godden.

This meant Dolphin trailed by one at the start of the final period. Things seemed lost for the team with four minutes left to play; Central had scored twice meaning the lead had been extended to three. This is where the fightback began, Trzeciak netted once and two strikes from James meant the teams were tied up at ten each. Central had the ball with one minute left on the clock, their attack was snuffled and a time out was called. Dolphin set up an attack which won them a man up situation. The team played it well and David Quinlivan found enough space to score the winner. Dolphin winning by 11 goals to 10.

Coach Quinlivan said after the game “I’m so proud of the 7 lads, they never gave in, it was a real fighting performance. This will go along way to ensuring we play division 2 polo again next season. I hope we can continue this good form in our next game at home to Frome on Sunday.

Result: Bristol Central 10-11 Swindon Dolphin

Team: Ian Brewer, David Quinlivan (1 goal, 1 major), Mark Lawlor (1 major), Michal Trzeciak (5 goals), Matt James (3 goals, 2 majors), Andy Snowball (1 goal), James Godden (1 goal).