UKUTour 2 Wrapup

Saturday:

Game 1: Loss vs Clapham (10-15)

Our best performance of the weekend came against eventual winners (and in doing so the clinched Tour Champions) Clapham. We managed to double the score of eventual runners up Chevron Action Flash against Clapham and we played with confidence.

Game 2: Loss vs Ranelagh (8-9)

We went up early and then the heavens opened. Jonny Clark left the game early on with a blow to the face which caused his nose to swell, and then a couple of points later in the match it happened to me as well. I've never see two nose bleeds in the same game before. Jonny and I were both unable to return in this game and we let Ranelagh back in with mistakes and heads dropping. A real shame because this is a game we definitely should have won.

Game 3: Loss vs GB Under 23 Open (??)

This game is a blur to me. I don't really remember anything about it except that my first 8 touches looked something like this:
Throw away, throw away, throw away, almost throw away, Assist, completed pass, throw away, score
Sufficed to say I was pretty out of it and probably should have sat out this game as well. After this game I went to see the First Aider who confirmed that I had a slight concussion and I shouldn't drive for the rest of the weekend (he didn't mention playing).
So a day where we lost every game meant that we couldn't come higher than 5th and would have a crossover against Fire 2 the next morning.

Sunday:

Game 4: Loss vs Fire 2 (13-10 I think)

Unfortunately, to start this game we gave up a break and heads dropped. We managed to break them back later in the game and at points were leading, but we were never able to pull away by more than one and eventually Fire 2 added more breaks to increase their lead. I felt I played pretty well in this game and wasn't affected at all by the concussion from the day before, getting a few assists, scores and a lot of deep Ds, which I was pretty happy with. This is the second time this season when Fire 2 has taken a win against us that was within our ability to take and this time it meant we dropped out of the top 8.

Game 5: Win vs DED (??)

This game reminded me of the game against DED at UKUNationals 2012 in that we had dropped out of the top 8 and were only playing for position. Our lines were relaxed and we went up early. Unfortunately, we lulled after taking the half 8-4 and allowed them to get back into the game. We were never behind in this game and closed it out eventually, but again it's a bit disappointing to have not been able to control this game from start to finish.

Game 6: Loss vs Fire 1 (??)

In a strange turnaround, Fire 1 were dumped out of the top 8 but with Fire 2's victory against Ka-Pow they found themselves promoted to the top 8. This meant that our final game was the 9 v 10 against Fire 1. They were obviously as disappointed as us not to be playing in the top 8 and like us will be looking to rise up the rankings at Tour 3. They played very well against our zone defences and were able to make some big plays in the wind. We put in a good game against a tough team but were unable to take through the confidence from our win in Game 5.


So Tour 2 was pretty frustrating with our results from our successful Tour 1 being reversed (5 Ws - 1 L at UKUT1 to 1 W - 5 Ls at UKUT2). However, we should take heart with our performances, especially in the game against Clapham. It's been tough this year as we've been struggling to maintain a positive atmosphere, which is even more difficult in tough conditions, but at times our offense looked effortless and our defense was stifling. If it's a consistency issue then I can only hope that despite the results, the outcomes of the weekend will be positive in terms of more players getting more game time and practice and that we can learn from this weekend. I am still very optimistic about this season and I'm looking forward to Tour 3!