KCL Thrown Ultimate

I never know how to start these reports off – so we’ll start with the team. For women we had:
Me
Jess
Jackie
Milly

And our men consisted of:
Nick
Dan
Tim
Alex
Ben
Ian

Game 1 v Skunks
Our first game of the day with a slightly different team than usual, and, unfortunately as so often happens with the first game of the tournament, it didn’t go nearly as well as it could have done. The skunks were a well drilled, well practiced team, and we had trouble competing with their quick style of play first thing on a Saturday afternoon. Although they took an early lead, Dan and Ben picked our team up about halfway through the game with some great throws and amazing cuts up the line. We were getting the d’s,but having trouble converting. Highlights of the game – Dan skied their big guy and Tim had all our points. We upped our offense, but 18 minutes wasn’t long enough for us to bring it back.
Final Score: 3-8 to Skunks

Game 2 v Liverpool Boogie Nights
After watching Boogie Nights warm up we knew we could beat this team. With that in mind, we started the game with full confidence, immediately taking it to them. Our handlers worked the disc with pinpoint precision, and our cutters were getting free every time. Our d was excellent, with Nick getting the first point block of the tournament.
Final Score: 11-1 to Thrown

Game 3 v Brunel
The game started well, with Thrown going 2-0 up. Unfortunately, Brunel scored the next two points quickly, making the score 2-all. What this game taught us was that we tended to panic when we were losing, even by only a point or two, something which plagued us for the rest of the weekend. Dan, Jackie and Tim were trying to keep us together, playing out of their skins, but we couldn’t keep up with Brunel in the end.
Final Score: 8-5 to Brunel

Game 4 v Aye Aye
Coming out of the defeat to Brunel, everyone wanted the win against Aye Aye. With a couple of scores early in the game, including a push-pass assist by Dan (much to my initial horror), and an amazing point-block/score bookend by Milly, our confidence was up and we were playing well together. Overall an amazing performance.
Final Score: 5-3 to Thrown

Game 5 v Dundee Shooting Stars
Although the game ended in a loss for us, everyone on the team played hard. We initially had a tough time coping with their quick handler cuts up the line, although by the end of the game they were having trouble getting free. After they went 3 points up, they played zone against us, which we began to break through well, although, again, the 18 minute games really worked against us. Tim had an amazing run through d late in the game, which really spurred us on, and Nick, Jess, and Ben really worked their zone by the end of the game. Unfortunately, time went before we had a chance to come back, but we showed some real promise and confidence by the end.
Final Score: 4-8 to Dundee

Saturday Night-
We went back for a curry at the same place we went to at Open Indoor Nationals, hung out for a bit, and then headed up to the army barracks for the party. It started out quite quietly, with us and dD hanging out and enjoying the cheap drinks, and ended with a roaring chorus of ‘American Pie,’ not something I’ve ever encountered at a frisbee tournament. The DJ had rather eclectic taste (as Jess accurately predicted, Beach Boys and Kenny Loggins), with some S club 7 and B*witched thrown in for good measure. Highlights included Finnish’s dancing and the pictures which will be posted on facebook.

Sunday Afternoon
We had our last pool game as the first game of the day, which would be the deciding factor of whether we ended up 4th or 5th in our pool.

Game 6 v Warwick Bears 2
Warwick managed to get 2 teams into nationals, something we were very aware of, and I was slightly nervous about. Our goal for the weekend was to make the top half, and we would only be able to do that if we came 4th in our pool. The first point of this game was possibly the best point we played all weekend. We were getting the turnovers, but couldn’t manage to catch the disc in the endzone. After 2 or 3 attempts, we finally managed it, making the first score ours and pumping us up for the rest of the game. Bears ran a tight mirror straight off the pull, which dampened our confidence a bit, but with Tim on their big man, forcing him under all the time, we again managed to take the point, making it 1-all. Their three scores were all long discs, which we managed to curb by the end of the game. Tim had his first ever successful foot block, and Ben his first score in a tournament. Ian was making really great endzone cuts and Jackie was poaching
perfectly in the lane, stopping any long discs. Definately the best game of the tournament.
Final Score: 5-3 to Thrown

Beating Bears put us in a good position, but we came bottom of a 3-way tie anyway, making us 5th in our pool and putting us in the 17-23 bracket.

Game 7 v Mythago
After our incredible win over bears, this game was quite a let down. Our team had previously shown a lot more potential than we showed in this one, and although Jackie and Alex played as well as I’ve seen them, and did their best to hold everything together (making Mythago players the only people playing well on the pitch), the game ended in a crushing defeat, putting us at 23rd seed.
Final Score: 2-8? to Mythago

Game 8 v Aye Aye
Now that we were in the lower half of the bracket, we had to play Aye Aye again. I personally was slightly nervous about this game, as Thrown has a habit of crushing teams we previously lost badly to, and I didn’t want it to happen to us. Thankfully, the team pulled itself out of the slump after the Mythago game, with amazing efforts from everyone. Ian’s cuts really stood out in this game, as did Jess’ and Ben’s handling. Although Aye Aye took the first two points, we rallied together and took it back.

Game 9 v Chichester
No one really knew what to expect from Chichester, as their style of play can be pretty erratic. We took the first couple of points, with Dan and Ben’s defense on their main handler really standing out, but we eventually started letting out the breaks which allowed Chichester to bring the score to 6-all. The buzzer went with Chichester gaining posession, and ending in sudden death.
Final Score: 6-7 to Chichester

And a final surprise of the weekend – we won spirit! Hopefully I wasn’t the only one slightly dissappointed with an absence of vodka as a prize, it would have come in handy on the way home.

Although we didn’t do very well according to the seeding (starting at 3rd and ending up 22nd – ouch), I am very proud of the way the team played when we played well, as well as our ability to pick ourselves up from tough losses. Everyone had moments of brilliance, and being able to watch everyone’s progression over the weekend was good to see. Well done everyone.

And just because that was the last tournament of the year for some of us, I expect to see everyone at practice on Wednesday. And I have sweatbands for Milly and Jess.