Strange Blue Tournament Report

UWIN 2012

This weekend the ladies traveled down to Cardiff for indoor nationals. We can report that much fun was had and we placed 17th (out of 20 :P) in the nation!

On the Saturday morning we assembled at the pitches, having left ample time for a 20min detour on the M50, a restful night in a church hall (or Travelodge for the other car), and many wrong turnings on the way to the venue.

SB 1 - 5 Dundee We came out looking sharp against the first seeds Dundee, managing to slow down their offense. However, our own offense suffered from several drops in the end zone.

SB 1 - 7 UCL
We almost got bagelled. A great connection between Eleanor and Aimee broke through UCL's zone in the final point. We felt the loss our our ex-SB player Lauren Bowman as she faced us from across the pith.

SB 3-9 Exeter
With the hard pool games out of the way, this was our chance to switch our focus back on....it didn't quite go to plan. Couldn't have lost to a more lovely team though,

SB 3-9 Sheffield
Still fighting but never managing to get ahead. We finished last in the pool.

SB 5-6 Kent
This was our crossover to get a place in the 9-16 pool. Kent were an iron-woman team who wanted it just as much as we did. At 4-all, Kent pulled away with two breaks. We got one point back, but it wasn't enough. Kudos to Susanna for stepping it up on D and stopping the hammer throws to their iso.

That was the end to our hopes of clawing back to win the plate. The team finished the day with some much needed down time at the nearby pub. We then rose early the next day to visit the magnificent Cardiff castle and stuff our faces with chocolate, cakes and warm beverages.

SB 6-3 Exeter
A rematch against Exeter saw SB playing noticeably better than the day before. Well done to Fran who stepped up to being iso player and really made the most of that position.

SB 6-4 Cardiff
We were playing for the glory of the spoon, This game saw some quick shots into the endzone come off spectacularly to our heads-up receivers. Cardiff were always threateningly close behind but we stayed in the lead until the end.

So we ended the tournament in good spirits. I'm really proud of the team for sticking together and supporting each other. It was noticeable on Sunday that our positive attitude pulled us through. Hannah, Susanna and Fran shared the prize for D-bag (best defense) . MVP went to Hannah for her huge presence on the pitch and helpful game analysis.

Cheers,
Jess