The 3’s wise men had all the answers here but that’s no surprise as they are the reigning Spencer Quiz Champions!
The students rarely posed any serious problems in a comfortable win. The free-scoring result suggest a blaze of superior skills and team-work but there were times when the game was anything but beautiful.
The freezing fens offered little in the way of welcome or shelter for the 3s who arrived almost 90 minutes before face-off and tried to keep warm before the changing rooms opened.
The game started scrappily with both teams barely able to catch, throw or pick up the ground ball from a sticky surface and the first meaningful play came with two UEA players pole-axed as they ran into each other.
Goals from Jules Glover and Sam Johnson settled the pattern and Spencer got the better of a 1st quarter despite squandering chances and having the positional radar of a drunk emerging from a tumble-drier.
The 2nd quarter saw the students make a concerted effort but Spencer moved into a commanding 9-0 lead at the half. But the break only brought strong words from Coach Compton who was unhappy that many of the goals lacked passing patterns.
With Colin Byrne becoming a block of ice thanks to superb defending, including a great comeback form Rupert Cheetham, the middies and attack started working together to produce some excellent moves that slashed the home team to shreds.
Salim Al-souss and Dylan Merchant were strong and decisive going forward and Ibs totally cleaned up at the face-off.
Daniel Ball provided some bright passing and movement though his speed was hampered by gangsta shorts that threatened a trip at any moment.
Pete Compton pulled the strings in attack and the all-round play reached new levels of potency with unselfish passing setting up a procession of chances. UEA started to pray for the final whistle and, though they tried valiantly, the absence of two key players and the early injuries limited their potential.
Lonely Colin tried to get into the action a bit more in Q3 by passing the ball to an oppo attacker so he could have a save to make but it wasn’t until the final quarter that they grabbed a consolation strike.
By this time Spencer were passing the ball with deadly efficiency and finished off the game with a sweeping move that completely dislocated the defence and was topped by an easy finish on the crease. It was cold, windy and a long way but the team-work progress will prove a vital point on the learning curve for the young 3s.
Sadly UEA had no maths students in the team so they diddled us out of a few goals with their official result of 1-14.
Special thanks to Steve Johnson who drove there and back and even managed to score the team a set of baseball caps during a pit stop.
Quarter Scores: 0-4 / 0-9 / 0-16 / 1-20
Man-of-the-Match: Steve Johnson
Scorers: Sam Johnson 6, Danny Buckland 4, Salim Al-souss 3, Jules Glover 2, Dylan Merchant 2, Pete Compton 2 & Ibs Al-souss 1