Game 1 vs Clapham (1-13)

I for one was pretty tired and pissed at having to shown up for a 9:00 game against a team that EMO as a club have only beaten in friendlies... there wasn't a huge amount of hope. But we went in with the slim hope of an upset... and were going to focus on our offence. However, having been schooled a little by our pull play over the years, Clapham cleverly pulled between brick and endzone, which meant their D was already set-up - gits. So we tried hard, but struggled under the pressure of their D with execution errors and chasing shadows on D. Bob Dole had a good take from an impressive goal... we probably deserved a couple more.

Actually the benefit of the Clapham game was that we were pretty up for rest of the games and keen to stick it to Mustard... but first Trigger Happy...

Game 2 vs Trigger Happy (13 - 8)

Bottom of the pool and were on the receiving end of a lot of effort and tight D... we took about a 3/4 point lead and never really looked back. Game was a little upwind/downwind, but we looked pretty good and were always challenging upwind cf. to their downwind hucks for goals.

So the game of Saturday... chance for revenge against Mustard (they beat us in sudden death in our semi at tour 0).

Game 3 vs Mustard (13 - 9)

Both teams were really up for this and we exchanged goals till 3-3 (I think), then we took a few on the trot. Generally very high quality from both teams (only a handful of turns). Both teams were putting the disc deep and working the offense well, but we were putting our pull plays in a lot - fantastic. I think we took the half by 2, then came out strong and took the game away from them... top job, balls out effort.

By winning this we guaranteed top of the pool (as Trigger beat Release 2)... into the final game of the day

Game 4 vs Release 2 (9-10)

So we had worked pretty hard to this point and most of us had been up for 12 hours by now... so we were pretty tired and came out slow and went 4-0 down... so frustrating. Quick time-out and re-focus and we we pulled it back to win the half 7-6. But by this time, we were really feeling it and both teams we making a lot of execution (and decision) errors... but despite our best efforts, we came out worse in sudden death... but still won the group.

Day 1 - started 31, finished 24 [15th to 8th in B tour]

... Day 2... chance to finish 5th in B tour..

Game 5 vs Brown 2 (13 - 5)

So I was worried going into this won... We warmed up 20 mins before the game started and the potential for a slow start was high.

So we went out on D, O, turned, got it back and scored... good job. Then went and got a D, and scored... sweet, advantage EMO. Went out again, bit of zone-transition and got them to turnover deep, scored again. Nice. Repeat until we take the half 7-0. WTF. It was all a little surreal...! We came out ok... felt we could have been more up-for-it, but luckily for us, they were slow and we punished them, good and proper. After half, then came out strong and we traded a bit, but then we took it away and cut down the errors and got to 10-2 (I think). Then we decided to act like a bunch of chumps and tried to take a load of shortcuts; throwing deep to people who weren't free, forcing breaks, etc. This let Brown get 3 on the trot... and was annoying to say the least! One timeout and me getting a little frustrated and we sorted it out... got the offense right... they didn't score again. 13-5 fantastic result and good battling.

Game 6 vs BPF (5 - 13)

We were well up for this after thrashing Brown... we came out hard and worked real hard. Traded to 5-5 and it was looking like a nail biting game. But they got a break and took the half 7-5; ok we can come back from that... but then they scored O after half and were 8-5 up, got a D and then went 9-5 up. All credit to them, they dumped and swung magnifisantly - we didn't work hard enough on our forces... We got a little frustrated and started making a few more errors and gave them an un-assailable lead. Some how we didn't score again and got beat good... They said that the score didn't reflect the game and I think their right - a few too many unforced errors cost us this one. Gonna stuff them next tour I predict.

So a little deflated and tired, we went into our final game...

Game 7 vs Brighton 2 (9 - 13)

This was going to be a battle and we wanted to finish on odd. Brighton 2 played just like Brighton1 - lots of long play and break mark, speculative breaks. They got some long goals and so did we. Similar story to BPF, we went in 7-5 down at half due to a couple of extra execution errors. But this time we didn't come out beat. We continued to trade and work really hard... but they did what Brighton do... throw some sh*t and come down with it and we ended up losing, but at least the score line reflected the game...

So lets reflect... started 31st (15th B tour), finished 24th (8th B tour).

Re-reading my report, it probably comes off a little negative in part... but as Brighton pointed out; we have done really well in the last couple of years as a club and the second team is no longer 'people that didn't get into the firsts' but a tough team to play! (with most players biting the heals of those on EMO 1).

Ultimately, while we did well, I think we could have done better and been challenging for A tour. I think everyone was solid but no-one had an outstanding weekend... if they had, I reckon we'd have certainly finished 5th in B tour.

So top job everyone... lets all make an effort to get to practice and stick to the opposition in Birmingham... top weekend boys.

Muppet