FRIDAY NIGHT
the journey up to york was rather unfortunate. wed managed to lose
kaleigh and yoz managed to lose his sleeping bag… a couple of card
games later and we had arrived in york. the uni campus looked quite
nice and before we went to sleep we decided on some rather insightful
‘i have never’ and then some late night mack line. it was quite late
before we got to sleep: all the teams were crammed into one hall,
meaning it was very hot, very smelly and more than one person snored…
SATURDAY (group games)
vs portsmouth ’sublime’ - 4 - 10
shame to go all the way to york and have to play another south east
team but actually we hadnt played portsmouth this year. still, who
wants to play sublime?
to be honest, sublime started much more confidently than we did,
maybe we were a little intimidated for being at nationals, so we let
sublime take the lead and build momentum. we really underperformed
and didnt do anything special so went to the half deservedly behind
7-2. (louis scoring thrown’s first ever point at nationals.) as is
typical for thrown though, we pulled ourselves together and put in a
massive performance in the second half. trading a couple of really
hard fought points, we made it very difficult for them and ended the
second half 3-2 down as the buzzer called for a cap. if the game went
on for a little longer we definitely could have pulled this game
back. in reality, we just needed to start better.
sublime were as much a mixed ability team as us but i think they had
a few more experienced players and the aggression of those players
served them well. it wasnt an unspirited match by any means, and
though it wasnt an ideal start it was definitely a promising one.
vs leicester ‘jesters’ - 2 - 11
our first new team was a very very good one. this team had good discs
skills and was very athletic. their handlers were very aggressive and
looked for the huck constantly.
we put on our brownie zone and made it difficult for them but they
worked it up very patiently. when they did break through the cup they
always had a second cut and that is what punished us.
when we were on o, their zone was very tight. it was a line trap zone
which made it difficult for our relatively inexperienced handlers.
upwind was a nightmare, and we even struggled downwind as well.
nevertheless we kept on trying, coming close so often. we should have
converted our chances a little more clinically but we were defeated
by a very good side in a well spirited match.
vs york - 11 - 1
this looked like a very poor york team and we couldnt decide whether
it was because they were fielding a second team or because their team
got in for hosting nationals… whatever the reason we took the lead
and kept it. york didnt have the handlers to beat a zone and we
forced a lot of turnovers. i still think we made it very difficult
for ourselves, and should really have scored the points with a lot
more ease… nick made a lot of unforced drops, which we might have
been punished for against a better team, but then picked himself up
to get some awesome grabs. some great forward dump cuts made him a
massive threat.
dan got some great break force scores as well, giving us quite a few
moments of glory.
the one point we conceded was from a huck. we had an awful habit over
the weekend of letting our marks run deep and not chasing them. its
something we really shouldnt let happen, its lazy and annoying…
in any case i got my push pass score in so im quite happy.
vs strathclyde ‘dark horses’ - 10 - 6
we were somewhat terrified to play a scottish team, but actually wed
been watching them all day and seen that they were a little impatient
with the disc. i reckon we were evenly matched with this team, but
just got our heads in earlier. nick had to leave after just a few
points but helped us make a great start. with quite a lot of wind
picking up this was a massive upwind downwind contest. we traded
points quite a while but got quite worried when they worked it upwind
against our zone. they dropped and we got a turnover to score and
really made sure to tighten our zone d up. inevitably we faced a zone
d going upwind but we worked it up really nicely. the handlers dumped
and swung to spread the cup, with jesse awesome as the middle
handler. the poppers kept popping and creating the holes and the
wings helped spread the play even further. it took us a couple of
efforts but we finally got the upwind point we so deserved.
dark horses dropped their heads whilst we were playing with our tails
up. our upfield scored loads of points downwind, this time with some
hucks. kaleigh managed to get a d, run pitch length to recieve a huck
and assist in a score! weve never really had a great long game,
despite our plethora of recievers so this was really exciting. we got
our second upwind point and destroyed any hope for dark horses. great
game, ensuring that we finished in the top 8.
SATURDAY NIGHT
after a tiring day we were all absolutely knackered. after a quick
shower we got some taxis into york and got some really good fish and
chips and then some ice cream. wed decided to watch iron man at the
cinema, so despite the outrageous £7.20 ticket price we did just
that. it turned out to be just the sort of film we needed, and the
seats in that cinema were amazingly comfortable. we came back to
campus and joined the end of the party. a lot of the teams had
already retired to the communal hall, but i guess this is
nationals… after losing money to the pub quiz machine and laughing
at the few people on the dance floor we went back to try and get some
sleep…
SUNDAY
vs warwick ‘bears’ - 7 - 12
last time we played bears, at the skunks xmas tournament, we were
well and truly schooled. (you can read it in the match report on the
site) bears were number 1 seed, and hadnt conceded more than 3 or 4
points in the group games. so perhaps we gave them too much respect
to start with. again we never really got going and bears took a
comfortable lead. with some great end zone cuts yoz scored a couple
of points for us to take us into the half with a disappointing
scoreline.
second half we pulled ourselves together again. alex, had been superb
throughout the tournament being the only real contender for the bag.
great layout ds and awesome bids. we forced more and more turnovers
and switched to a lanes offence. suddenly our o was transformed and
we scored point after point. lanes never worked too well in practice
but for some reason wed put it all together and started our comeback.
unfortunately wed left it a little too late… but took great pride
in our sweet offence.
vs surrey ’scorpions’ - 8 - 10
another southeast team wed avoided at regionals… this was always
going to be a tough match. for the first time in the tournament we
got off to a flying start. lanes offence was seemingly unstoppable. i
managed to a get a scoober score to jon da beast for our first score.
our confidence in lanes was well placed and we traded a couple of
points very comfortably before they switched to a zone…
like jesters the day before they had an aggresive line trap force. we
really struggled with this again, getting caught on the side line
with nowhere to go. scorpions forced a lot of turnovers…
we put our zone on them and for a while they resorted to hammers over
the top. this wasnt a great idea with the wind like it was, and
before long they started working it patiently. breaking through our
cup. the difference between the clubs ended up being the quality and
confidence of the handlers…
second half and we needed our comeback. we sorted out our zone and
made it really difficult for them, with jon getting some great ds in
the wall and tim running the back of the field. their main deep
threat (special) was non existent. and when they put their zone on
us we started to rip through it. handling, popping, wing work, it was
all so slick. louis was a menace in the middle and received almost
every other upfield disc. we must have score 3 or 4 points without
reply. unfortunately the buzzer went, and perhaps we got a little too
desperate and started to force it up the line. with a bit more
composure we might have bought it back level. as pugh said in his
speech at the end it was looking like it could have gone to sudden
death. possibly our best performance of the tournament, we showed
amazing character to keep fighting like we did.
vs leicester ‘jesters’ (again) - 5 - 9
shame to have to rematch, especially with such a good team. our last
match with scorpions went well over time thanks to our comeback. we
already lost nick, and now louis as well, and everyone was picking up
knocks so we were devastated. credit to us to take the game to
jesters then. we took the lead and kept it. jesters didnt know what
had hit them. again we were punished for losing our men deep and
jesters were back in control.
against their zone, this time we were magnificent. alex, eric and
kaleigh were brought back to help out with the handling. despite only
playing for less than a year dan was awesome. really tough position
for a fresher, he should be proud of his performance. again, jesse
was in control in the middle of the handlers. just as with scorpions
we were making and capitilising on the holes in the cup. jesters were
really struggling to contain our players. jon, and yoz were working
the upfield, but it was erics relentless cutting which was so deadly.
helping with handling, popping like a madman: eric was everywhere. to
top off his performance he even managed to get a hammer score to tim.
jesters consistency gave them the win, but i think we can be proud of
our performance. we could easily have given in before that match
started. instead we played some of the best zone offence ive ever
seen, let alone been part of.
SUNDAY EVENING
much earned rest…
final position 8th in div 2 nationals
like i said before, im really really proud to have been able to
captain this thrown side at nationals. we played with real spirit, we
would have deserved it if we got it. our lack of experience cost us i
think. it led to some inconsistency and a little lack of composure.
but what we lacked in experience we more than made up for in effort.
we never gave up and fought hard in every point. something we should
all be proud of.
and were all still on a massive learning curve. the improvement in
our game over the weekend was phenomenal. the difference in play
between those two jesters games is testament to that.
awesome guys
next year well qualify again
well play even harder
and well finish even higher.
thrown is on the map…