Kirkwall Kayak Club's Canoe Polo Team travelled away to Glenrothes last weekend to play their second group of fixtures in Scottish Division 2 . The five a side team consisted of Peter Woodward in goals, Kristian Cooper and Colin Rendall in defence with Torquil Clyde and Graham-the eligible bachelor –Summers playing up front. After playing well in recent training sessions, Adam Strutt also travelled as substitute.
Orkney showed no sign of travel fatigue with a very convincing 6-0 win over Dundee University Canoe Club, who are currently propping up the second division. Next game needed a more methodical approach, play was slower with some nice passing that drew Stirling McLaren’s defence well and opened them out, Orkney winning 4-2. After a 3 game break and some energy replenishments Orkney took to the water once more, again a close game against a fit Strathclyde University team, this time using Colin Rendall attacking from the back and scoring a hat trick to secure a 4-1 victory. Orkney had been swapping players around in the second half and giving Adam a run up in attack with Peter going off and Kristian dropping back into the goals. This worked well and Adam's confidence grew more with each game and he did well under the pressure of some experienced Div 2 players.
The final game of the evening was against our old friends, Napier University. Kirkwall Kayak Club have a close link with Napier as Graham first experienced canoe Polo when he was in the club over 10 years ago. Kristian also played with them for nearly 3 years and we still meet up for regular river trips throughout the year. This was the tightest game of the evening and Graham’s reputation for having an excellent long range shot was hotly contested by some powerful throws by Napier’s ‘Paddy’. Orkney pulled off a tight 3-2 win, with some great defending and good communication from all players. As Orkney play more games together the shape and formation is really starting to come together. A clean sweep of four wins puts Orkney second top of the league and hot on the heels of Fife CAG.
Click HERE to download Tournament results.
Click HERE to download Division 2 results to date.
Orkney Canoe Polo Team next travels away on 17-18 April. The remaining 8 games are to be played over 2 days, this time outdoors at the Falkirk Wheel. We could use some old fashioned Orcadian support for this event and invite you all to join us on the trip to cheer us on. It will be a great weekend!
Follow our chairman Kristian's great kayaking blog! Click on the link below
