vs BAF
We stormed out of the blocks, turned on O but Colonel got a sweet layout D then getting a block and walking in the break with a hammer from me to Toppers for a 2-0 lead. They did their usual up the line then throw a big crossfield shot to get a few goals, but we were scoring every time we touched the disc and inspired by a sick layout block by Thrash on a hammer, we went up 7-3. Then we slipped; still punching in our O points but not converting our blocks on the D line, no matter how many times I skied Merrick :-p. As a result, we let them trade, get their confidence back, and put pressure on our own O line. They clawed their way back into it point by point as we made mistakes against their zone (usually at the endzone) and suddenly we're looking at a 13-13 game to 15. We punch in our O easily, they do the same. Sudden death. We flow downfield to the endzone, get a bit cloggy, Colonel toasts his marker up the line and squeezes the disc to Timmy for the win. Phew - we were all relieved to get the job done against a tricky opponent.vs Leeds
Straight into this, we were feeling a little tired and Leeds had their usual 20+ pairs of legs. Again we did our ruthless job of punching in our O easily, mostly through deep shots to Colonel and Bobby, plus a few handblocks and a nice layout D by Crouchy and one by Toppers in the endzone, and I think we took half 8-4. They brought a different zone in the second half that our D line struggled to work its way through and they got a few breaks back, but we finished them on D 15-12 due to getting each others backs, Pringle with a nice backup layout grab off a floaty swing.vs Devon
We came flat into the warm up and took that into the game, turning over on the first pass of our offence and getting broken upwind, then downwind, turning over several times on floaty hucks. Devon had beaten BAF and Leeds so we knew we had to pull all the stops out if we were going to do this. We were all feeling tired and this game basically came down to sucking it up and working our asses off. We definitely didn't respect them deep as they pulled almost everything down over us, so we started getting more and more shirts under every one of their deep throws and using a hard one way trap to keep them pinned in a corner; they are definitely weak at breaking the mark and swinging the disc, and we just kept them in a corner until they stuck it up; we got enough of them to make it count, and worked our deep game well enough to get open under effectively. Tim got a sweet grab off a huck, fell over and ended up doing a nice bit of breakdancing, flipping himself up onto his head. Unfortunately he dropped the disc, but sweet grab nevertheless! The wind had picked up and this game got a little scrappy, but we powered through to take the game fairly comfortably. My favourite moments have to be Bobby's half pitch length upwind backhand huck to Tim, Steady skying everyone for the backup off a misread huck*, and my no spin 3m backhand that Maxwell caught nice and high for a break. We won 15-10, convincing in the end.Sunday morning is what its all about...
vs Sharks
We annihilated them 13-1 at Tour 1 but the conditions there were wet and windy; this time it was flat. As a result we knew their weak throwers would have some success and those pitch length shots that Lee Noble loves would work out. We came out with some hard hussle defence and took away all their options, resulting in a 4-0 lead from D, starting with a lovely quick break from Colonel to Freddie. Amusing incident: Mum threw a huck way, way out of the back of the endzone - Freddie had no idea so he chased it down and threw an attempted greatest to Bobby. He was so far out of the back of the zone when he threw it that the disc didn't even make it back into the pitch. Quite amusing, the spectators certainly enjoyed it! (as an aside, Maggers caught this on video so it should make it to FB / YouTube soon). Our D's O started sloppy but soon got tighter; second goal on the 3rd attempt was a nice layout grab from Mum, sliding over the wet grass; third was a sick vertical snatch by Maxwell from a floaty scoober by me. Sharks started scoring off deep shots very early in the point (1 or 2 passes) and we had to tighten up our game because of it. As we did yesterday against Leeds and BAF, we got into a trading game that allowed them to get their confidence up - a mistake we didn't make in our first encounter with them. They tried some poachy / zoney defence to try to shut down our speed and by not communicating properly it resulted in us throwing the disc at poaches more than once. As a result they were able to stay with us. Luckily our D line was having a field day and showed the O line how to play offence more than once, taking a timeout near their endzone and working the disc patiently until we scored; we worked the fast break particularly well, they never saw us coming. This was probably the only game all weekend where our O line wasn't flowing well, but our early lead meant the result was never really in doubt; at 14-8 we got a block, worked it through their zone to the endzone, then I threw a crappy blade that fell well short of Freddie who was unable to get it with the layout. Then they went on a bit of a run, scoring 3 on the bounce before we finally put it in, with Colonel throwing a very long, very floaty shot to Bobby; luckily he was (and is always) so open that it didn't matter, and he came down with it two handed over Lee Noble for the win. Back in the top 8 baby!vs Tooting Tigers
A team we hadn't met all Tour, and one that really wanted to prove they could beat us. We came out gunning with an easy goal, working down the line. They responded with a quick deep strike. We also scored a 1 pass goal on O; Colonel caught the pull and Thrash was open deep, the throw goes up and Thrash boxes the guy out so well that he caught the goal pancake. We tried some transition and got a few blocks but just didn't take care of the disc enough; they broke us first but we got the break back, and the half was traded 8-7. We made some adjustments at half, picking the D that had worked for us best and switching up zones, and it worked a treat as we rolled them in the second half, winning convincingly 15-9 on a 30 yard bladey flick that Mum skied his defender for.vs Fire 2
Distracted somewhat by the sound of their coach throwing up, emo warmed up for this game feeling the achey muscles from some tough games. We went down 8-3 at half, and had two choices: either we roll over and die, or we fight back. I'm glad to say we chose to fight back. Steady got the only layout block of the first half on a huck, we played some sweet shutdown defence that left Fire with few options, Mum getting a block on a floaty swing that he immediately punts high & deep to... no-one... but Freddie and Bobby are racing each other for a tally on the stats sheet. Freddie gets up and skies Bobby. Not sure if he showed or spiked it, but he should have done. Mum also pulled the disc into a tree. Nice work. They came down on D, the pull that Steady chose not to catch rolled between his legs for the "SCORE"... two breaks later Colonel jacks the disc deep into the corner, right at the Fire player. Shame for him that he was marking Bobby, who managed to change direction and beat him to the cone for a goal. Crouch gets a nice no-look layout block on the next point but it goes back for a foul and they score; next point we we work the disc against the poaches with brutal efficiency; Steady breaks to Freddie, down the line to Mum, fast swing to Colonel who floats it up for Thrash to make a nice grab. next pt we get a block with shutdown D but throw it at a lateral cut and turn over. Bobby gets a piece on the huck but his man catches it anyway. From 8-3 down we claw it back to 10-8, but then our O falters and they pull away again, finally taking the game on D after a shot of ours went outside the pitch and Pringle couldn't toe it in. We lost 15-10, but I reckon in the second half of that game we played the most intense D we had all weekend despite the tiredness, and traded the second half 7-7.Finishing position: 6th. I guess this is a fair result, we wanted 5th (undefeated at Nationals!) but couldn't quite hold it together for the final game. Our O line played pretty well most of the weekend under a lot of pressure when our D line didn't convert, and given that they were also playing a lot of D and were more tired than usual. Our D line showed its athleticism but maybe not enough brainpower to make use of the disc when we got it. At the end of the day, we won games when we didn't play well, which is the sign of a truly good team and at times we played amazingly. If you missed this weekend, you missed an epic one. Well done everyone. :-)
Brummie
