Match Reports 22nd November

Bugs - Mat

What a kooky crazy season this has been.  And tonight was no different.

Going into the game we knew that there was a mathematical possibility, however unlikely, that we could miss the semis, based on the Dojo-Heroes result.

But our final finishing position was far more relevant, with a definite advantage in finishing 3^rd rather than 4^th.

So while we were aware of all that stuff, it didn’t really distract us from the primary job of beating UQ with as big a margin as we could.

The pre-game instructions were simple: play good and win big.

UQ played pretty well to be fair.  But they had a poor start and never really recovered. 

That said, their D was disruptive and their O was quite inventive, and they made us work for the points.

I’m not sure that the 7 pt margin really reflects the game, and if they were able to stick together as a group I’ve no doubt they’d continue to improve.  I really hope they find some continuity for next season….

The real interest was in the Heroes v Dojo game which we sprinted over to catch the end of.  If Dojo won by more than 2 pts they would claim 3^rd place.  Anything less than this they’d take 4^th.  But if they lost they were out and Heroes would play SFC in the semi.

The game was a cracker, going right down to the final point which Dojo claimed to finish in a draw, thereby claiming 4^th place on points F/A.

All that said, Dojo still seemed to be coasting at about 75% for the points we watched, with Heroes playing their hearts out.  So it’s up to Dojo to see if they can lift a gear for the SFC semi.

And obviously it’s up to Bugs to see if they can lift a gear for the Cobras semi.  Last time we met, we played savage and they took the last 3 pts to win by 1 … looking at the numbers I reckon we’re in pretty good shape.

What a cool finish to the season……

Slamtown - Stef

On the last night of the season, Slamtown would face Blitz in a match that was assumed to be won.  We came out with a bit of fire and took a 2 point lead at 5-3 when it seemed as though we were going to put it into gear and roll away with the game.  Blitz on the other hand, had different plans for the match.  Sporting their new kit's, Blitz were playing with a renewed sense of pride, as far as I understood it, they would have to walk back to the line shirtless, if they were immediately responsible for something that made the jerseys look bad on the last point.... confusing at first, but a good team mantra.  As it would happen, they did a very good job in limiting their shirtlessness.  They clawed back to level the score, and even dictated pace whilst holding a one point lead on two separate occaisions.  Timocles and Spesh led the way with a peppering of aggressive cuts coming under, while Cunliffe, Goose and Geoff acted as very efficient distributors.  A new face on Blitz (Ash?) made some noise too, with some hard cutting and 2 huge grabs above the clouds in the endzone.... Blitz meant business.

 Slamtown were able to weather the storm, and took half 8-7.... Blitz answered back right after half to level things once more at 8's.... but then SFC found some stride.  This coupled with the fading savage legs on Blitz made for a one sided finish to the game where a 7-2 Slamtown run got us over the line with a bit more comfort than we had anticipated.  SFC remain as the only team never to lose to Blitz, and extend their streak to 10 games.
 We have now locked up the Minor Premiership  the scoring race, the defensive race, and just about every key stat in the comp..... all forgotten, as our sights are now soundly set on getting one win next week and moving forward from there.  We face off with the Dojo in an elimination semi final, which assures (for the first time in the last four seasons) that we will not have a repeat finals match up.  The Dojo squeaked into the finals after coming from behind to draw the heroes and to acquire just enough points to get the number 4 spot.  We look forward to next weeks semi final, and wish all competitors the best of luck.

Blitz - Cunliffe

So prior to the game the mathematicians told me Blitz still had a "smaller than a bee's dick" chance of making the finals, all we needed to happen was UQ beat Buggers by 14 and we had to take down Slamtown by 15.

My first thoughts were, I think we handle the Slamtown part of the equation but I don't trust UQ.

: P

Of course Slamtown score the first point of our game so we resigned ourselves early to the reality that 2012 wasn't going to be the first season that Blitz made the finals, and we will now have to wait until season 1 of 2013 before we win BPL...

: ))

The bright spot of the night was that we rolled out on the field in style, sporting our boss new jerseys!

Some said "it was about time", but I say good things come to those who wait.

Now I don't know if Blitz was feeling inspired wearing sweet new jerseys or if Slamtown was captivated by the best new jerseys in BPL, but the first half of the game was a close tussle, with Slamtown taking first blood, but Blitz rallying and having the disc on the Slamtown endzone line with a chance to take half...

Unfortunately we turned it and Slamtown ultimately took half... but Blitz came out focused at the start of the second half and quickly leveled it at 8 all.

However Slamtown, in their top of the league fashion, put the foot down from there and went on to take it out 15 to 10 keepingtheir unbeaten run against Blitz. Something the Blitz boys will be keen to rectify in 2013.

Heroes - Seb

This week just gone saw Heroes up against Dojo in a quarter final of sorts. The winner was guaranteed a place in the semi-finals. As it eventuated the final result was a 13 all draw, which meant that Dojo go through to the finals with a superior points differential. In the huddle at the end of the game Sensei noted that Dojo felt like they lost that draw and were relieved that they were able to tie it up at the death. Heroes probably had our best game of the season, our offense clicked and was able to convert without turning the disc very often at all. Our man defense also put pressure on most Dojo passes and we were able to create a number of break chances, however, we were only able to convert 2 or 3. This game was great fun and although it was drawn, we took a lot of pride and satisfaction in how we ended our season.

Their usual standouts played well with Fatty and Pete probably the pick of the team. On our side a number of players contributed with Myall, Chris, Matt B, and Brad having standout performances.

Dojo - ads

Well, Dojo have managed to set themselves up for shock win against Slamtown! 10 minutes from full time against heroes, I was musing on the sideline about the beer I was going to drink next week while sitting out from the semi's. 

Heroes brought a lot of enthusiasm for the disc into the game, both on O and D. 

Both teams traded points for almost the whole game, with Heroes getting out a bit towards the end, and then Dojo bringing it back. . After Watto scored a great point with a big vertical jump over Seb, the horn blew while players walked back, and so we played the last point. Heroes up by 1, with the disc in hand. After a solid 5 minutes of hard man D, Dojo forced a dump turnover. Three passes later, Sean scores on the break side. Awesome. 

Notable mentions were Myall taking down everything, and Seb was 110% all game, dictating the pace. 

This season Dojo have not been the normal dominant force, but if there is one game that will bring out the warrior spirit, its the bi-annual stoush with Slamtown. Man, I can't wait.

On a sadder note, this game was the last time Daz would play with Dojo - he's heading back home soon, where he's not a foot under the average height of his team ;). Have fun Daz, you were a big part of Dojo mate, keep those layouts coming.