London Bike Polo League

Season 2 is underway!

2009-10-13T09:17:00.001-07:00

Follow it at the new website, www.londonbikepololeague.com (*pretty flash, eh?). Courtesy of Gabes at Pixelbreaker, you've seen his handiwork over at the EHBPC site as well.

You can also follow the banter over at london fgss if you're bored...

The league is getting all sorts of hi-tech this season*, there are twits, there is also the league photo pool on flickr - which judging by most of those pics this season should be renamed the Newington Gardens Bike Polo League. Nice courts those... There's also a London Hardcourt Bike Polo Association somewhere out there - not league related though.

2009-05-06T14:48:00.000-07:00

Come out and have your say about London bike polo.

Inaugural London Bike Polo League Finals

2009-04-01T02:41:00.000-07:00

Voted by the players for the players:
Player of the Season -
1. dt Dave - BAD Polo
2. Mike - Zombie
3. Brendan - BAD Polo
Most Improved Player -
1. Todd - Malice International
2. Tomasito - Malletov Cocktail
3. Hassan - JiHaD
Most Valuable Substitute Player -
1. Todd - Black Rebel Bicycle Polo Club/Malice International
2. Tomasito - Various Teams
3. alockett - Various Teams
Best Game -
1. BAD v Malice International
2. NS v Zombie
Best Ref -
1. alockett
2. Gabes
3. Hassan/Bill
Fair Play Award -
1. dt Dave - BAD Polo
2. Hops/Ali - both of Los Coños
Notable mentions go to the following -
Best Supporters -
Hops for sheer enthusiasm and dedication, Gabes for attendance.
Dirtest Players -
The Sick Buckets, all off them !

Final standings:

31 - BAD Polo
26 - Malice International
22 - Zombie RMY

2009-03-20T12:16:00.000-07:00

Los Coños v Black Rebel Bicycle Polo club - 3-5, 3-5, 3-5

From Roxy (BRBPC):

That Allie has military trained aim and precision on shots.
Jo and Allie work super together, they always know where the other is and have a rhythm to when they pass and shoot.
Sarah is a wall of a goal keeper.

BRBPC, um, we had a lot of fun. Pretty crap at staying in the goal but all got some great shots off. Fun games.
BRBPC are finished with the league (well pending eventual sick bucket's fail) and I for one think it was a huge success!!!
The main goals of the league as I understand it were to keep polo going over the colder months, keep regular players/teams with others to play against, and to get new people interested in/playing polo. Success on all fronts.
There's been whinging about people taking too long to play and the wrong people playing, but I think that's all a bit too much and too high of expectations for the first time (in the world) that a group of polo players formed a league. Those complaints drown out the fact that we got to play killer games all winter, always knew we would get killer games (even if it took longer than expected), got lots of new folks interested, and the level of London play has dramatically improved!!
Long Live the London League! Party?!

More Catch-up Matches...

2009-03-13T10:48:00.000-07:00

Los Coños v. JiHaD - 1-5, 4-5 3-5

Hassan says, "They woke up after the first game, with Ali and Jo passing and shooting very well, lots of great long shots perfectly on target, and as Jol said, Sarah was a wall in goal. Very well played Conos!

Thanks to Ray for stepping in.

So apparently in the second game when someone asked the score, Yorgo shouts "4-2" which Ali replied "Not anymore!" and promptly hits a perfect long-shot through the shambolic JiHaR defense! Making it 4-3, brilliant!

Sarah Hops:
The other fixtures where we came close to getting a point (v DBTownies and v No Sympathy), its fair to say there were lots of occasions that we could have scored but didn't, making losing a close game really frustrating. The difference with this game is I think we managed to score on almost all our attempts at goal.

Malletov V DeBeauviour Townies - 5-4, 3-5, 5-3.
At Mitchinson Road. Harry, Rik and Gabes played very well and definitely deserved the middle game.

JiHaD V. Moving Targets: 5-0 5-0 5-4

Hassan: Good games, Joel and Ray were a great combo in the first game, passing very well and easily taking the 5 goals. The middle game was more of the same, but I managed to wake up for this one. The last one was alot of fun, MT started passing and taking more shots, and both teams had lots of break away opportunities that needed (and often were) to be reeled in. Both Daves had some speed and bit of the old MT's bike handling techniques; there were a fair few tap outs. JiHaD went up 3-1 then 4-2, but the Targets pulled out a couple of good goals to draw even before we were able to finish it off.
Thanks to Ray for subbing in again.

Ray: Yeah, to be fair MT missing Janky and Ryan quite a bit. As Hassan says JiHaR - wasn’t really tested in the first and second games. We played with a last man floating in the half for the first 2 games, Some great goals in the first one run involving Hassan to Joel then Joel to me for a nice little slotted finish. Hassan pretty much scored all the goals in the second game, with his speed alone MT struggled to keep up.
then let off the gas abit for the last game where MT came back with a few nice long shots... Mikey scoring a cracker from their half. Then we D’d up a bit to take the game.

Thanks JiHaD for the games.

BRBPC V. Moving Targets - 5-2, 5-2, 5-0

Matt (BRBPC): Yah, have to say a big thanks to MT and Hassan/Ray for the excellent goal reffing. Yeah right! hahaha! lame-o's. :D ha! MT were excellent fun, great shit talking, great interference, terrible passing, but good fun! Dan was on fire, as usual, with fast breaks and good shots. You knew where Roxy was all the time, excellent communications ("I'm here, Matt, behind you, Matt, here, behind you, on your right, one your right .... no! not that far!" etc). Dave (Harry Potter) was brutal one-on-one, doling out the tough love. Mikey, well, what can you say? Big love! :D

great games, long and tiring, but amazing. :D

BAD vs Los Coños - 5-0, 5-0, 5-0

Ali (Los Coños): I think the scores are right, Guys? Ha ha.

We managed to hold BAD off for longer than we thought we were going to, however, they ran rings round us and we didn't stand a chance. I was amazed that they barely even talk to each other but they know where each other are all the time.

No Sympathy V. The Zombie

2009-03-11T06:28:00.001-07:00

From Hassan (referee):
Zombie v NS - 5-0 5-3 3-4 (last game to be finished at a later date)

fucking hell, three (well 2 and a half) rediculously long, hard fought games. the score doesn't reflect the first game, NS held Zombie at nil nil for over 10 minutes before the goals started, but Zombie's determination gave them the shut-out. and the game still lasted around 30 minutes. and was the shortest. NS got the first goal of the second game, but it was quickly retaliated by Zombie. this one lasted closer to 45 minutes. the last game was the hardest fought of all, with NS goin up to 3-1 before Zombie started to make some goals back, by which time the lights went out.

good passing between Zombie, their best asset was their ability to always be in the right place at the right time. NS also passed very well, with their strongest point being that they just fought. constantly. most balls that got stuck on the wall or in the corner came out in their possesion. but with yorgo's (silly) speed combned with mike's break aways and mike's and brian's shots made zombie come out on top for the first two of the three. with the last game still to be decided.

very very good games.

Update:
continued last game of NS v Zombie: 4-5

They started playing, Yorgo pedaled in circles, Mike scored, NS took possession and had a decent attempt at goal, Yorgo pedaled in circles, Zombie took possession, Yorgo pedaled in circles and Mike passed to Yorgo, Yorgo scored.
Final game 5-4

Last Fixtures!

2009-03-10T16:15:00.000-07:00

Malice Nnternational vs Moving Targets
Black Rebel Bicycle Polo Club vs Los Coños
BAD Polo vs JiHaD
The De Beauvior Townies vs The Sitting Ducks
Malletov Cocktail vs The Zombie
No Sympathy vs The Sick Buckets

Home vs. Away respectively, please announce 48hrs beforehand.
This fixture is due to be finished by March 21.

No Sympathy vs. DeBeauvior Townies (catchup match)

2009-03-10T15:22:00.000-07:00

From Ray (NS):
Yeah fun league fixture for us... BDT a bit lost tactically, caught out at times by our attack and defence. Seemed to struggle slightly in goal.

TBF gabes was hitting some tight angled shots, and em was being pretty aggressive on and off the ball.
Rik was solid for DBT and GoHarry fast on the break as always.

Chase the ball,Chase the ball,Chase the ball,Chase the ball,Chase the ball!

my man of the match was gabes.

Malice Nnternational Vs JiHaD

2009-03-05T16:16:00.001-08:00

Really good games tonight.
I knew it'd be a tough one and was surprised to see tomasito turn up.
(not been on forum all day!!!!!)
Games were tactical, fast, and occasionally annoying (broadway side and behind goal issues).

JiHaD passed beautifully and threw the Malice defense on a few occasions. Malice continued to push with mixed success but made the breakthroughs they needed in the end.
JiHaD defense was awesome too.
The game really deserved an audience and a ref!

Malice V JiHaT

5-3, 3-5, 5-2 (malice were 3-0 up in the 2nd game)

Black Rebel ... Vs Malice Nnternational

2009-02-27T05:30:00.000-08:00

From Matt of BRBPC:
Wow. Malice were awesome. After some initial faffing about where we were playing, when we got started it was great polo. The first game went steadily to 2-2 with dan making some great goals but Todd and Matt dominating to to take the game 2-5. Malice have a great sense of where the team mates are but some un-lucky passes and my defence and set-up saw BRBPC get Malice 4-2 down in the second game. BRBPC couldn't seem to clinch the last goal with some great intercepts and defence by Iain, and Todd's great swerving passes (sorry about breaking your mallet Todd), Malice claimed the game to our dismay. A quick time out and we were back on the court but BRBPC weren't in the zone, perhaps rattled at not getting the last game in the bag. Some fast intercepts by Malice, Todd's excellent and accurate strikes and the game was wrapped up 0-5.
Thanks to Matt, Iain and Todd though and my teamies for a great game. To the ref guys who snubbed out my girl's ref volunteering, up yours ass hats.

brbpc vs mallice

2-5, 4-5, 0-5

New fixtures already!

2009-02-24T14:16:00.000-08:00

The Zombie vs No Sympathy
The Sitting Ducks vs The Sick Buckets
The De Beauvior Townies vs Malletov Cocktail
BAD polo vs Los Coños
JiHaD v Malice Nnternational
Moving Targets vs Black Rebel Bicycle Polo Club

Home vs. Away respectively, please announce 48hrs beforehand.
This fixture is due to be finished by March 7.

Sitting Ducks v. No Sympathy

2009-02-23T05:29:00.001-08:00

Buffalo Bill:

Sitting Ducks vs No Sympathy 5-2 5-0 5-1

alockett:

Ref says -

Sitting Ducks vs No Sympathy 5-2 5-0 5-2

JOL:	Blimey, who was the third man?

alockett:

Big Bad Brendan

JiHaD v BRBPC

2009-02-13T17:45:00.004-08:00

I think they went 4-5, 3-5, 5-3. Correct me if I'm wrong.
The games were really, really fast! Dave has no fear! Hassan, technical with mad acceleration and a super reach as well! JOL is one of those guys who is always in the right place at the right time. An excellent keeper!

Roxy had some awesome saves and was denied her coup de grace by a dancing so and so... She played excellent defense, ran good interference and took some hard hits tonight.
Dan... mad fast as well. I'm going to start callin him 'The Lever' for those massive crank turning levers he calls legs! The combination of Dave, Hassan, Dan and myself was a recipe for disaster (not to mention JOL's long bars !) and I feel I came off the worst. Not really tho, really nice to have some intense games even though I feel battered.

There's one thing I can say though, it's a hard effort to make individual skill/speed make up for team work. JiHaD was passing the ball in circles around us, our (Dan's) goals came out of sheer force or (my) sheer luck! We had more shots on goal but they definitely played the better game.

All in all, I'm so glad I subbed in against you lot, our (zombie's) game was pants due to the weather, court, and the fact it was the 1st fixture.

9th Fixtures (only a month late...)

2009-02-10T15:28:00.000-08:00

Black Rebel Bicycle Polo Club vs Malice Nnternational
Los Coños vs JiHaD
Moving Targets vs BAD Polo
Malletov Cocktail vs The Sitting Ducks
The Sick Buckets vs The Zombie
No Sympathy vs The De Beauvior Townies

Remember, this is home and away respectively.

2009-02-10T15:20:00.000-08:00

Holiday fixtures still to be played:
JiHaD vs. Moving Targets
The Sitting Ducks Vs. No Sympathy
Moving Targets Vs. Los Conos
JiHaD Vs. Black Rebel Bicycle Polo Club

Fixtures still to be completed:
No Sympathy vs. JiHaD - 2-5, 3-5, TBD
The Sick Buckets vs. Black Rebel Bicycle Polo Club - 2-5, 4-5, TBD

Forfeited fixture to be played:
The Moving Targets vs. No Sympathy - Postponed points awarded to NS

A few more stragglers finishing up the holidays.

2009-01-31T10:20:00.000-08:00

NoSympathy v. Malletov Cocktail: 0-5, 3-5, 3-5.

It was a good game, but NS just wasn't having any luck with the shots or the finishes. Good to see Object back.

Good fun games, fast paced but still quite long, lots of good defence play by both teams especially Max and Horatio. NS didn't seem to get going in the first game, but turned it on in the second, coming from behind to level the scores twice before tomasito finished them off.

Malletov Cocktail V's Sick Buckets: 5-1, 5-3, 5-3

Swift play by Malletov. Solid keeping with Horatio. Picked up the pieces and finished the shots well.
Took a while for Sick to get into the game, but once they warmed up they played well and deserved a better result. Just couldn't finish their good play with a goal on many occasions. Malletov did.
Again, Mark was a brick. Mr alockett is making a quality impression too. Good game.

JiHaD v Sick Buckets - 5-3,5-1,5-1
I think, in a fucking blizzard. I subbed in for JOL, PiQue for James Brown. The court was frozen and icy, one or two snowballs may have been throw. Games were sedate but quick, all of us thinking about staying up, plus the prospect of a pint in a warm pub, meant nobody rode too aggresively. WiganWill even appeared for a minute or two. Emma, Gabes and Bianca were excellents refs and support. Beautiful to be out in the snow, but very very cold. Nice one folks!

Match of the League!

2009-01-26T06:53:00.000-08:00

Saturday, 24 Jan. at the Newington courts in Southwark saw BAD vs. Malice Nnternational battle it out. Bad defending their no loss sweep of the league and Malice having to step up to their trash-talking was the making of 3 intense games. Probably the most intense games any of us have witnessed in this league! There were loads of falls and crashes mostly due to the court being a bit slippy. I would love to have seen this on a dry court so it would be easier to distinguish maliciousness from accidents although it still appeared to be fairly clean action for bike polo.

Reports from Dr. Vidal of Malice Nnternational:
" Not sure about an MVP, because everyone played so well. I feel as if BAD played a much prettier game. They seemed to be getting more shots and better looking shots. But Malice just scrapped it out, barely.
Malice came out tough and won the first one pretty clean and clear. BAD then got their shit together and dominated the second game. Aiden had at least three beautiful goals in the second game, and they earned that shutout well and proper.
In the final game I was quite worried about getting shut out again, and Malice hunkered down the defense. I think BAD got up 3-0, but then we just toughed it out, got it up to 4-4, and then got the final goal. That was definitely anybody's game.
All of the falls notwithstanding, the game felt very clean to me. It was fast and hard, but mostly clean shoulder checks. It was serious fun. BAD is still rightfully the top team. But everyone is ratcheting it up, so next league is going to be tough."

And from photographer GrowUp:
"Before the game Brendan broke excalibur,devastated. And then a second mallet during the game.
A lot of pressure on BAD to maintain the unbeaten record.
Every ball was fought for.
The Malice defence and goal tending was there strength.
Matt always rocked up to protect the goal, in front of Todd. Thats clever. It worked.
Ian checked Brendan throughout, but not in a sexual way.
Matt smiled a lot.
Dave is a gentleman.
BAD I thought had more shots on goal. Aidan missed a couple of open goals.
Only a couple of close calls on goal for the refs to make a decision.
Second game 5-0 probably due to the shock of the first win over BAD. Very fast 5 goals. I think Malice were trying to catch there breath as all the players were prepared and did go down.
I think the last game BAD were up 3 - nil so Malice never gave up, and prevailed over the evil BAD.
Awesome game to watch, they were absolutely knackered and must have ached the next day, week.
Very physical game without being malicious. Thats the important bit.
The evidence is in the photos.
BAD can relax now and win the league."
GrowUp's photos here.

Gabes' photos here.

In the end it was BAD Polo Vs. Malice Nnternational - 3-5, 5-0, 4-5

Slackers!

2009-01-22T13:59:00.000-08:00

With only two teams having completed all fixtures, I'm going to allow most of the rest to catch up before releasing the next matches. This coming Saturday aims to be sunny and mild but slow on the league front...

Holiday fixtures results (so far...)

2009-01-22T13:23:00.000-08:00

Dr Vidal:
Los Conos vs Malice International:
0-5, 0-5, 0-5
Played with Rob (Slamm) subbing for Jo.

Buffalo Bill:
BAD vs Sitting Ducks 5-2 5-4 5-1.
Ironically, that was probably the best that the Ducks have played in the season so far.
At 4-4 in the second game, two shots off the post.
Nice games!

Baddesigner Matt:
wow. so today was, like, totally rad. here are the results:

BRBPC v BAD
1-5, 0-5, 0-5

BRBPC v MY Zombie
0-5, 0-5, 0-5

or something like that. awesome! what a day! i love polo! hahahahaha!
i'll leave it to someone else to write the dramatic summary, including how we totally deserved more goals and that yorgo is the laziest goal keeper ever (haha!) :D

Buffalo Bill:
Zombie vs Sitting Ducks
5-4 5-0 4-5
Long, long games.

Muppets International v. Mulletov Cocktail
5-4, 2-5, 5-3
(Aiden subbing for Andy)

DBTownies vs DYM Zombie
5-4 2-5 2-5
Long, hard games! The League is getting so competitive!
3 league games in 1 day. I am shattered.

DBTownies vs Moving Target
5-3 5-4 5-0

DBTownies vs Sick Buckets
3-5 4-5 5-3

I think.

Bingalo Bob:
Oh, BTW, James Brown and Mike Tramps tied for Man of the Day that I played against.
James, you played awesome - shame about the rest of your team.
Mike, a player and a gentleman.
Ryan of MT 3rd place.

Rik 'The Matador':
the zombie game, was good, long and hard
first game we won, the other two were for them, Mike is vgood
a few falls, Mike, Yorgo and me, mine one a bit hard
we play in NE, so more tactic than fast

the MT, was good but they miss Yanke, I guess
we where strong but they always were behind us very close, except in the last one
in mitch, that court is very long

the Sick B one, they were stronger and more lucky towards the goal
in the three games were some disagreement with the score, was the only one with refeeree, Scott and Horatio

good and hard games, very tired now

Los Coños Vs. No Sympathy
3-5, 0-5, 0-5
DT:
first game was really close and looked like it could go either way. Sarah did great in goal, made a lot of saves that frustrated NS. Jo and Ali doing their usual great link-up play in midfield. Ali missed a sitter that would have made it 4-4 that could have led to their first win, ah well - i'm certain it's just around the corner.
After winning the first, NS stepped it up and took control cruising the last two games.

Holiday Fixtures

2008-12-09T05:55:00.000-08:00

6
Los Coños Vs. No Sympathy
The Sick Buckets Vs. JiHaD
Black Rebel Bicycle Polo Club Vs. MY Zombie
Malice International Vs. Malletov Cocktail
Moving Targets Vs. The DeBeauvior Townies
BAD Polo Vs. The Sitting Ducks

7
No Sympathy vs. Malletov Cocktail
The Sick Buckets vs. The DeBeauvior Townies
MY Zombie vs. The Sitting Ducks
Los Coños vs. Malice International
JiHaD vs. Moving Targets
Black Rebel Bicycle Polo Club vs. BAD Polo

8
The Sitting Ducks Vs. No Sympathy
Malletov Cocktail Vs. The Sick Buckets
The DeBeauvior Townies Vs. MY Zombie
BAD Polo Vs. Malice Nnternational
Moving Targets Vs. Los Conos
JiHaD Vs. Black Rebel Bicycle Polo Club

These should be arranged and played by the 17th of January

5th fixtures:

2008-11-24T05:41:00.000-08:00

No Sympathy vs. JiHaD
The Sick Buckets vs. Black Rebel Bicycle Polo Club
Zombie RMY vs. Malice Nternational - 1-5, 1-5, 1-5
Malletov Cocktail vs. Moving Targets -5-4 1-5 2-5
The De Beauvior Townies vs. Bad Polo - 0-5, 1-5, 1-5
The Sitting Ducks vs. Los Coños - 5-0, 5-1, 5-2

Updates:

Mitchison ct. 29/11/08
Zombie RMY, using Dale as a substitute for Rob, have yet to recover from last weekends lashings from BAD Polo and Moving Targets and they were trounced by Malice Nternational 1-5, 1-5, 1-5. The games were long and hard with the first and last games seeing hard fights for a goal. The fast and frequent attacks from Zombie were no match for the excellent team-play, defense and communication from Malice. Not too much physical play until the last game when both teams were obviously exhausted.

Mitchinon ct. 28/11/08
Friday night saw a catch-up match between JiHaD and The Sitting Ducks at the popular Mitchinson Road court. Results were 5-3 2-5 3-5 completing the tables up to the 4th fixtures.

A couple of rules to ponder...

2008-11-16T17:32:00.000-08:00

After talking to some folks on saturday, timeouts should be allowed only when a goal is scored. 1 per team per game and keep it quick. Like 5 minutes or so. And judging by some interweb chat, after a goal has been scored, the scored upon team cannot take the ball past half court until 2/3 of the scoring team has returned to their goal. We already generally abide by this rule anyways but it's something worth writing down.

Certain courts, such as Downham Rd, could cause the ball to bounce off the back of the goal and pass half court. It's my opinion that it's then game on, either team can gain control of the ball. BUT it is up to the home team of any game to announce if that is or is not the case.

report

So that second bit wasn't received so well...

This Weekend's Results:

2008-11-16T10:03:00.000-08:00

Black Rebel Bicycle Polo Club vs. No Sympathy
2-5, 4-5, 3-5

Ref'd by Andy (alockett) and was Todd's first league game as a long-term sub for Roxy of the BRBPC. Played at the newly found Mitchison Rd. court which is a fantastic court! Well done Gabes!
The games were long and a bit like tabletennis with all the back and forth, back and forth. I recall one awesome shot from Emilié cross handed and from across the goal.

BAD Polo vs. Malletov Cocktail:
5-0, 5-1, 5-1

Ref'd by Gabes, they were good games on a court no-one had played before (Newington Green - Harper Road SE1) Nice courts, if a little slippy according to horatio! The games were fast, some very astute passing from BAD, and some brilliant blocks by Horatio and Lebowski. But in the end the scores say it all. Enjoyed reffing anyhow.

4th Fixtures:

2008-11-08T03:22:00.001-08:00

Black Rebel Bicycle Polo Club vs. No Sympathy
Malice Nternational vs. The Sick Buckets
Moving Targets vs. Zombie RMY
Bad Polo vs. Malletov Cocktail
Los Coños vs. The De Beauvior Townies
JiHaD vs. The Sitting Ducks

Home vs. away, respectively. And please, be considerate, announce day/court/time at least 48hrs in advance.

What happened?

2008-11-08T03:14:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure, but I don't think any league games have been played in this round. With most of us in Paris last weekend it's no surprise. I'm sure this weekend will be a busy time, sucks about the weather though!

UPDATES!

Mostly from Buffalo Bill:

Great day of league matches!
Favourite match was Moving Targets taking the Sick Buckets to the cleaners, 5-1, 5-3, 5-4. MVP yet again Ryan. Defence, Sick Buckets, defence.

Max: "we played shit"

Also enjoyed Malletovs vs Los Conos, 5-1, 5-1, 5-0. With a bit more belief, and some shooting practice, I reckon that LC could be winning games. Go girls!

Horatio: The two Los Coños goals (especially the second) were quite good. We weren't all that impressive. Except when I smoked Sarah with my wicked slap shot. ;)

The Sitting Ducks vs. Black Rebel Bicycle Polo Club - 11am Saturday Boleyn Road Court.

5-2, 5-1, 5-4

Thanks to Tom (of the DeBeauvior Townies) for subbing in.

BRBPC extremely unlucky to lose the last game - at 4-4 2 shots off the post.

NE Court was flooded - the drain was blocked when we there. So about 12 of us went to Boleyn, played some throw-ins, watched Los Coños vs Malletovs (nice game girls, you almost had them!), Moving Targets vs Sick Buckets (boy, Buckets didn't show up at all - almost as bad Sitting Ducks the other week) and played some more throw ins.

From Iain (otters)

No Sympathy vs Malice International
3-5, 5-4, 4-5

Good, tough, enjoyable games.

JiHaD Vs Debauvoir Townies
5-3, 5-3, 5-4

JiHaD get their first wins!
Good even games throughout. Really good play but I think we were all a little tired at the start. Highlights were hassan hitting the wall in the last! Plenty of falls and wall checks.

3rd Fixtures

2008-10-26T16:36:00.000-07:00

The third fixtures of the league are as follows:

No Sympathy vs. Malice International
The Sick Buckets vs. The Moving Targets
Zombie RMY vs. Bad Polo
Malletov Cocktail vs. Los Coños
The DeBeauvior Townies vs. JiHaD
The Sitting Ducks vs. Black Rebel Bicycle Polo Club

Home vs. away, respectively. And please, be considerate, announce day/court/time at least 48hrs in advance.

2nd Fortnight

2008-10-26T16:06:00.000-07:00

The second fortnight of fixtures has drawn to a close.

The Moving Targets vs. No Sympathy - Moving Target forfeit* - 0-5, 0-5, 0-5

Bad Polo vs. The Sick Buckets - 5-4, 5-0, 5-3

First off there was JiHaD vs. Malletov Cocktail - 1-5, 3-5, 4-5
The dialogue amongst the players and ref (loosely) as follows:

gabes: Bath St was too small and had holes in the wall, so we went to Broadway Mrkt.
Where Malletov Cocktail beat JiHaD
The games were great to watch/ref, esp the last two were very close indeed!

tomasito: it was 5-1, 5-3, 5-4.
great games, and thanks for reffing gabes - but get the score right!

gabes: oops.
it was a game of polo, the ball got hit with sticks and occasionally went into a bit at either end of the court.

hassanr: frustrating as hell, but some good close games. well played malletov.

JOL: Yeah it was a good close game with Malletov. Unfortunately we made a few errors at crucial points in the game. Well played by all.

Or summed up nicely by Hassan:

First match was pretty one sided, malletov took the game easily at 1-5. JiHaD picked up the pace for the second match, came back from 0-3 to draw even, but Tom and Andy's teamwork got them the last two they needed to win, 3-5. the last game was very closely played, JiHaD went up 2-0, Hassan scored almost right out of the charge, then Dave followed with some good back and forth with Joel. Malletov drew even thanks first to Mark, then both teams managed to keep tying up the match, again with Tom and Andy's teamwork being fantastic. however, Malletov proved to be the more consistant team that day, which won the game for them 4-5.

Next up, Los Coños vs. Zombie RMY (Wed 22 Oct, Peckham):
0-5
1-5
0-5

We were winning at one point in the second game :D
Mike did a sterling job in goal though, and we were unable to get any more despite cracking shots on target by Jo and Ali! In fact, Mike spent about 95% of the time in the goal - it was just that momentary lapse in concentration...
;-)
-Sarah (Hops)

Malice International vs Sitting Ducks 5-2 5-3 5-2.

Bill, the Buffalo:
Best/worst moment: Jon and Scott tackling each other, which led directly to MI's last goal.

The shame of it! Well played MI, you gave us a polo lesson. MVP: Nick. Before the match, we thought that you would be spending most of the match on the ground. In fact, you spent most of the match in our goalmouth. And you got a great hit in on Matt's head!

Iain who playswellwithotters said, "Things looked rosy when we arrived; you and Scott had shades on and beers in hand. There's no disguising hair of the dog."

To which Bill Buffalo retorted: "As Scott texted me at 9am: I am still drink..."

Apparently Scott was so upset at losing he dressed as a cow and beat his bike, breaking his mallet in the process! Any truth to this? More importantly, any pics?!

And finally we have Black Rebel Bicycle Polo Club vs. The DeBeauvior Townies
2-1 (5-4, 4-5, 5-3)

As reported by Matt, the bad designer:
Was an awesome set of matches, despite the adverse conditions. The rain, Tom on a new bike and Harry's duff chain probably helped us out a bit.
Dan was on fire with some great chasing and intercepts. Harry was the biggest threat playing the left side fast and with a good strike at the end. The first match saw the BRBPC keep an even field at 3-3, until a few unfortunate near misses from the townies allowed us to seize our first league point. The second game saw the BRBPC down 4-1, with Harry grabbing some excellent goals at all angles. BRBPC clawed 3 goals back in succession, but Harry had us pegged and charged a final goal.
The last game was close, with BRBPC having to pull another come-back. of course, with some style and the usual flair we rubbed our cocks in the townies faces with a 5-4 win.

Good times.

A big thanks to Hassan for helping sub for Roxy, thanks to Bill, Horatio and Gabes for the side-line duty. Get better soon Miss Roxy.

2nd Draw Games

2008-10-14T18:19:00.000-07:00

The Moving Targets vs. No Sympathy
Bad Polo vs. The Sick Buckets
Los Coños vs. Zombie RMY
JiHaD vs. Malletov Cocktail
Black Rebel Bicycle Polo Club vs. The De Beauvior Townies
Malice International vs. The Sitting Ducks

Home vs. away, respectively. And please, be considerate, announce day/court/time at least 48hrs in advance.

Zombie RMY vs. JiHaD

2008-10-14T17:12:00.000-07:00

Tuesday 14 at the Central Street court. Played on a very slippy surface, many standstill and low speed falls kept play on the cautious side. Not even wanting to tap out quickly for fear of a wipeout, everybody apart from Dave of JiHaD crept along with a technical start and then it was soon figured out that nobody would chance blocking long hard shots. Zombie RMY won 3 points in a sweep of 5-3, 5-1 and 5-2. The last game saw more play in RMY's goal area than the other two as JiHaD came to grips with the wet court.
Dave should be noted as the MVP for his fearless speed and relentless assaults. Rob scored the best and final goal of the night with a hard slapshot taking flight to around head high.

More Results

2008-10-13T11:25:00.001-07:00

This weekend was a busy time for the league. Games between Sitting Ducks and Moving Targets, No Sympathy and BAD Polo, Malletov Cocktails and Black Rebel Bicycle Polo Club.
The Sitting Ducks, BAD Polo and Malletov Cocktails came out victorious! Still awaiting full details on the games...

BAD Polo vs. No Sympathy
Played Saturday afternoon at Mint Street Park in Southwark on one of the original Hardcourt Bike Polo courts in London. BAD Polo fairly dominated the games, scoring 3 points 1-5, 2-5, 0-5 (No Sympathy/BAD Polo respectively) in what started as nice, cool and collective (well, as much as they can be!) games until the peanut gallery showed up in all their flamboyantly abusive heckling. To quote Brendan of BAD Polo, "in case you didnt remember it was
my mum taking it in the ass x 48 vs Your dad being ridden bare back x 44
which i think was a little unfair. :)"
Aidan gets the mention of MVP for scoring 11 of 15 goals for BAD.

The Sitting Ducks vs. Moving Targets
A tactical decision by the Sitting Ducks led to this fixture being played at 11am on a Saturday. Not least of the SD skipper's intentions was to catch MT half-asleep, and so it proved in the first game, SD easing to 5-2 win.

Despite Vojtech's lack of experience, and Kwackenbosh's lack of consciousness, MT won the next game 5-3, levelling the tie. A see-saw final match saw SD just about squeak it 5-4. MVP was Moving Target's Ryan by miles, scoring at least 10 of their goals, and a constant threat whether in defence or in attack.

The Boleyn Road court proved to be fast, and high walls all round made for intense game-play. Whilst not as spectator friendly as the De Beauvoir court, all felt that the court was one of the best they had played on, with the only flaw a small patch of degraded surface.

Malletov Cocktail vs. The Black Rebel Bicycle Polo Club
(Sunday at Broadway Market)

5-2 , 5-3, 5-2 - respectively

The Sick Buckets vs Los Coños (played Monday at Boleyn Rd.)
5-1, 5-1, 5-1. Assuming to The Sick Buckets, though not sure. Apparently a goal was handed to Sarah by leaving the ball just in the goal for her. Max seems to have a caning nose?!

I would love to hear more about these games!

First Game of the League -

2008-10-04T17:02:00.000-07:00

The De Beauvior Townies vs Malice International

Saturday, 4 October.
Won 2-1 by The DeBeauvior Townies (0-5, 5-4, 5-3). The games were close, which irritated Ray to no end as they weren't over very quickly (played at the NE court). Harry has been nominated the days MVP, scoring 8 of the Townies 10 goals.

Congratulations!

League Guidlines

2008-10-01T12:14:00.000-07:00

• The league is owned by the players.

• Every team will play every team in the league once, with matches home or away.
• Home team provides the court and the ball of their choice. Any special rules pertaining to the court must be made known before gameday. (travelling through goals if possible, what happens if ball leaves the court, size of goals, etc. etc.)
• Match must be played in a fix date, unless agree by the two teams to be play in another date within the two weeks. These dates are:
Oct. 2 - 4 - 9 - 11
Oct. 16 - 18 - 23 - 25
Oct. 30 - Nov. 1 - 6 - 8
Nov. 13 - 15 - 20 - 22
Nov. 27 - 29 - Dec. 4 - 6
Dec. 11 - 13 - 17 - 20
*Dec. 25 - 27 - Jan. 1 - 3
Jan. 8 - 10 - 15 - 17
Jan. 22 - 24 - 29 - 31
Feb. 5 - 7 - 12 - 14
Feb. 19 - 21 - 26 - 28

*Holidays...

• 1 substitute per team per game, if needed. This player can be any player, league player or not.
• 3 games per match, 1 point per game win.
• In case one team doesn’t show up, the other team get the 3 points, and the absent team gets -1
• Games can be 2 against 3 or 2 against 2. Again, 1 sub per team is allowed.

1st Draw Games

2008-10-01T05:59:00.000-07:00

No Sympathy vs. Bad Polo

The Sick Buckets vs. AJS (name to follow)

Zombie RMY vs. DHJ (name to follow)

Malletov Cocktail vs. The Black Rebel Bicycle Polo Club

The De Beauvior Townies vs. Malice International

The Sitting Ducks vs. The Moving Targets

All Teams Registered

2008-09-29T08:53:00.000-07:00

So the final team has registered.
1st game draw will be decided on the 1st October.
Please have your team name and home court decided by then if you haven't already.

The Moving Targets

2008-09-29T08:11:00.000-07:00

One last team registered. The Moving Targets constist of:

Ryan Canuck
Mikey Qboss
Vojtech

Malice International

2008-09-29T04:52:00.000-07:00

Malice International have registered. They consist of:

Nick (NASA)
Iain (Playswellwithotters)
Matt (Vidal)

The Black Rebel Bicycle Polo Club

2008-09-23T09:50:00.000-07:00

The The Black Rebel Bicycle Polo Club have entered the league

The players are:
Matt (Baddesigner)
Roxy
Dan (J-D-S-H)

JiHaD

2008-09-22T15:10:00.000-07:00

Another team for the league, by popular poll, called JiHaD. They consist of:

Dave (Brain-Flick)
Hassan (Hassanr)
Joel (JOL)

Los Coños

2008-09-22T15:08:00.000-07:00

An all female team from South London have joined the league. Called Los Coños by popular poll.
They consist of:

Ali
Jo
Sarah - Hops

Player in need of a team

2008-09-22T15:02:00.000-07:00

It's great to have lots of interest in the league and people wanting to join.

There is a female player from South London looking for a team.

If you have a team in need of a team mate or are looking to start a team get in contact with the LBPL.

Also don't forget the deadline is in 6 days.

B.A.D. Polo

2008-09-02T17:46:00.000-07:00

B.A.D. Polo have joined the league.

They consist of:
Dave (dt)
Aidan
Brendan

The Sitting Ducks

2008-08-22T11:10:00.000-07:00

The Sitting Ducks have joined the league.

They consist of

Wee Scott
Bingalo Buff
Lil Jon

The De Beauvoir Townies

2008-08-21T20:22:00.000-07:00

The De Beauvoir Townies has

Tom
Rik
Harry

Malletov Cocktail

2008-08-21T20:20:00.000-07:00

Another team have registered for the league. The team consists of

Andy (Lebowski)
Tom (Tomasito)
Mark (Horatio)

still waiting for their team name tho.

Zombie RMY

2008-08-21T07:43:00.000-07:00

Zombie RMY have joined the league, they won last year's BFF Polo Tournament and came 4th in the Shoreditch Polo Invitational.

The team consists of

Mike
Rob
Yorgo Tloupas

They will be a team to look out for!

From left to right: Yorgo, Rob and Mike.

Picture coutesey of Kev Walsh

Players in need of a loving team.

2008-08-19T14:48:00.000-07:00

OK, this is a chance for incomplete teams to search for player, and for players to look for a team.

If you want to be a part of the league, and why wouldn't you, leave a comment saying what you are looking for (eg. 2 girls in hackney to complete an all girls team or player based in south east looking for a team).

We hope that this section will be useful for everyone.

You can email your details to londonbikepololeague@gmail.com as well then we can sort out mailing lists of "Players & Team Classifieds".

thanks

LBPL

The Sick Buckets

2008-08-19T12:01:00.000-07:00

The second team to join the league

Max Knight
Jack
James Brown

Here is a pic of the team in action form the Shoreditch Polo Tournament

Picture courtesy of kev walsh

No Sympathy

2008-08-19T11:59:00.000-07:00

The first team to register

Gabes

Emilié (Object)

Ray (Shinscar)

It has begun

2008-08-19T07:41:00.000-07:00

So this is the first post and I'm sure it will not be the the last.

It's quite simple we are starting the London Bike Polo League. This will be the place to check for team information and bios, the latest results and general news. If you want to join get in contact with us.