Uni Indoor Open Nationals Div 2

So off we went on the Friday, a 4 and a half our minibus journey ahead of us full of banter about melons among other things before a weekend of brilliant indoor ultimate. Skunks were hitting Manchester!
Skunks v Mythago (8-4 to Skunks)
Our first game of the tournament was against the team we had lost to in our last game at regionals (good scheduling there or what). We came out looking dazed and confused (perhaps disoriented by the cyclists whirring round the track in the velodrome which surrounded the pitches) and went two points down. This shocked us and we immediately came back to make it 2-2. After that our intense D shut them down and they couldn’t contain our offense. We really took it to them and shut them out for a solid win. Objective 1 complete: Mythago were beaten.

Skunks v DUF (9-4 to Skunks)
We knew DUF were going to be tough. We had played them at last years indoors Div 2 and lost in our 3v4 final. This year was a different story. We shut them down on D and took a 4-0 lead. We then took our foot off the pedal slightly and started trading points. We then took it away, turning them almost at will and scoring with amazing patience to close the game out, a good win.

Skunks v Thrown (5-5 Draw)
Going into this game Thrown had lost one and won one. We felt comfortable we could beat them, perhaps too comfortable as our offense was plagued with the same errors that had been present at regionals (especially from a certain captain who decided to throw away on almost every pass), we managed to deny them the win in the final minutes and keep it at a draw which meant we won our group, but we need to learn to take each game with the same intensity regardless of previous results.

Skunks v Jesters (10-6 Skunks)
We had been watching Jesters since we found out who our crossover was against and knew to fear the deep threat. They had a guy in red shorts who reminded me of Sicko with his incredible high grabs. We played Zone defence, however and they fell apart. Unable to use their long game due to some great endzone marking from Maisey and Smatt, and being forced to use their weaker under game and riskier knives and hammers meant we turned them quite easily. We took an early lead and unfortunately, once again took our foot off the gas. They brought it back by pulling off some ridiculous grabs, but we started taking it away again and closed the game out. Skunks were ahead the entire game and never really looked like losing this one.

So with no losses from the first day we were seeded fourth and didn’t start on the Sunday until 12.20. We headed out for Nando’s and hit the party lightly afterwards.

Sunday
Skunks v DUF again (5-4 Skunks)
A replay of Saturday’s game this was not. Again Skunks went up with an early 4-1 lead, but then DUF tightened up their defense and used some great break throws that we just couldn’t stop. Skunks tightened their D and managed to get the D and score to make it 5-3. The next point started and DUF took it a short while later to make it 5-4 but fortunately it was too late for them to mount a real comeback, mostly because Fry and Maisey decided to point block them on every pass they tried to make. Time ran out and Skunks had made the final.

Skunks v Dark Horses (9-5 to Dark Horses)
Dark horses from Strathclyde had remained relatively unchallenged for the entire weekend. Their flowing offense, tight defence and competent throws meant their style of play matched ours. Unfortunately they were just a better team than us on the day. We had a few breaks but they never looked like they would loosen their grip on the game. And with their ability to mark out even our best deeps it was just too much for skunks. We put up a great fight and were turning them but a few errors on our part allowed them to close the game out. A great final though.

MVP was a close call. 4 votes went to Maisey, and 4 went to Fry with one the remaining vote from cryer going to Smatt. Cryer therefore had the casting vote and gave it to Fry though both players definitely deserved it. So second place at Div 2 means skunks most successful finish in 5 years (according to Fry), and here’s hoping that record will be beaten again at outdoors. Bring it on!!!