Tourney: 2010-03-20/21 - Barcelona

Ace weekend!

The round court is a lot of fun... It’s pretty slippy but once you get used to it its a great to play on.

I arrived on Friday quite late, (Spanish time) Jon at this point had already split his chin open on the rail that goes round the court. We ended up playing thowins till the early hours as more familiar faces were rolling up.

The Elks stayed in Charlies house near the arch de trionf, not too far from the bull ring court.

The tourney started around 10ish, at parc del clot *( http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=barcelona&sll=51.500152,-0.126236&sspn=0.069353,0.201359&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Barcelona,+Catalonia,+Spain&ll=41.408025,2.190423&spn=0.000909,0.002106&t=h&z=20) *an amazing venue with 2 courts side by side and dead flat and grippy. There were steps on the sides of the court (a bit like downham) which gave a great view to all the spectators and foot two bridges that at either end. GREAT VENUE.

The Spanish were mega organised and had done a great job with finding the space. By the time the draws for the groups had taken place the it was around 10ish. The boys and me had gone to the market to get some brekkie and came back to Sarah saying “oooo, you got a tough group... Munich, Apologies accepted and Polosynthesis.

So our first game were a Barca team (cant remember the name) we beat them 5-0 and were feeling pretty good... I couldn’t stop farting as id drank a shit load of beer the night before.
Next up for us was Polosynthesis (annas team) they were pretty good annas pretty unshakable in goal and the other 2 have got good shots... Actually most teams were on pretty good shooting form lots of whippy snappers! I cant really remember the score we won though.

Next up was the AA. We’d kinda knew that this was gonna be a toughie as Marc was on good form and garlic boy Louis seemed to have got into his groove... Combining well with marc and tackling really well... Yorgo was yorgo, actually looking pretty solid in goal. This match for was a bit of a blur, It felt pretty tight, friendly and fair. I think there was either 2 goals or one goal in it. Either way was a great game. Which means we had to win our next game to see us through to the knockout stage.

Munich's team consisted of Eddie, Laurence and Jamie. Also we knew this game would be pretty tight. Eddie and Laurence had been playing well the night before and Laurence was finishing really well also that combined with Jamie's hard shooting and bike handling we were gonna be in a bit of trouble... Jono and ali were hooking up really well and it felt like we were gonna get a result as we scored two quick goals to make it 2 all with a few minutes to go.... Jon parked the bus (if we’d finished on a draw this would have gotten us through!) then Laurence came at us me blind side and slotted a shot in front of Jon’s wheel and right through my bb. (GUTTED!!!)

All in all a good tourney for the Elks and a great to have played the 2 teams to make the final 3.
London support was GREAT through out the tourney with Howson polo and the AA boys being a massively vocal! Cheers guys x

As I was asked to reff the last two games I really cant remember that much... I remember the football style chanting.

Alex (Barca organisers) had clearly stated in the rules briefing that play can not happen through the goals. Ie a mallet can not play the ball through the line of the goal from behind.

During the semis between Munich and Barca, Eddie defended a goal from behind the line... And then munich scored, as the scores were tied at 4-4. At this point the crowd went mental!!! Barca and Munich get together with Alex to discuss. At this point Barca were willing to concede the goal which would have put Munich through. After a bit more discussion it was decided to replay the point. (the right thing to do)

The ball was reset 321POLO!!!

Probably the longest point of the game both teams pushing pretty hard to find a hole. I think the crowd may have won this tourney for Barca as the crowd support was incredible. The cheering and booing seemed to be taking its toll. Lucas from Barca had had an incredible day and was Barca’s best player for sure with a zig and a zag around two players then converted the last goal! The crowd went mental, even more.... Cans and cones being thrown on to court and banging of the rails from around the court. Barca were now in the final against AA. Yorgo was not happy. Ha.

The final, the Marc/Lucas incident.... I am of the opinion that Lucas did not intentionally ride into marc to damage his bike. Agreed that Marc was stationary and Lucas was going pretty fast. On reflection now it seems a shame that a “mechanical” may have effected the result of the final. But generally I feel that Barca had the upper hand and the momentum on this and the last game. Sometimes that’s all you need to win a tournament final!

I really had a great time thanks Barcelona!

Rx

PS. SHOOOOOTTTTT IT!!!!!!!
Ejaculate,
candle in the wind,
butt-er-fly

xx howson xx