SB2 at Men's Indoor Regionals 2016
Michael (c), Tim, Yibs, Amos, Ravi, Theo, Henry, Cope (Sat), Fisher (sun), Christian (sun)
Saturday:
SB2, under new captaincy, were seeded 9th coming into the weekend tournament. For most of the team, this was their first tournament with SB and so the main aim of the two days was to gain some vital experience. Day 1 was overall a very successful one, playing 4 matches and winning 3. Up first was Brunel 3. This being the first match meant things got off to a bit of a slow start while we adjusted to each others’ strengths and weaknesses. After a slow first half we turned up the intensity, and the style, managing to play some fantastic flowing ultimate in places, banking a comfortable 7-2 win.
Next up was LSE 2. After another slow start we again found a couple of extra gears and recorded a solid 8-3 win. So good so far!
Third match was the toughest of the day - UEA 1, mixed regionals champions. This was a match we really wanted to win as it would have been a big upset to the seedings. However the UEA handler movement was just too much for our inexperienced team to handle and we lost our first game of the day. That said, there were some glimpses of free flowing ultimate being played by us so overall we gave a good account of ourselves despite what the 9-1 scoreline suggests.
Finally we came up against an ARU side who zoned us. This provided a big test to a handler deficient team, but we were able to come through and play some composed ultimate when we got up to the end zone line, eventually winning the highly contested match 5-4 with some fine performances all round. So far we had held our seed in the group which set up the biggest game of the tournament the following morning - Imperial 1...
Sunday:
Coming into the second day with a couple of fresh faces was a welcome sign as the early matches were the two most challenging we would play all tournament. Holding seed on Saturday meant we had set up a crossover to the top bracket regardless of the outcome of the Imperial match. Enthusiasm was high but the sharpness we had shown at the end of Saturday was lacking and Imperial punished our slack defence with big handler strikes and even a completed hammer from Rolo(!) The game also included DotD moment from Yibs who tried to brick an Imperial turnover in the end zone. We grew into the game in the last few minutes but it was too little too late and we lost the match 8-2 setting up a 8-9 crossover against UCL 1. This was another huge match which would be a potential upset to the seedings; a second team in the top 8 bracket?? Was it possible?? Short answer - no. Long answer - UCL’s iso play was impossible to defend against, and even after some motivational and encouraging words from SB1, we had left ourselves too much to do and the game was lost in the first 5-10 minutes, with the final score 8-4.
These two defeats in quick succession were a blow and had confined us to the middle bracket. The rest of the day was, all in all, disappointing. It was clear that mental fatigue was kicking in and our lack of weekend tournament experience taking its toll, and this was shown in the next two games against Essex and Imperial 2. Essex came out and zoned us - our third tactical adjustment in three matches. In a game filled with personal errors and miscommunications on our part, they capitalised on our slow reaction time on turns and won the game 8-2. There were some positives to take from this game, however. Some SB1 worthy handler movement was seen and a stand out performance from Theo, who ran the show when he was on the pitch, which ultimately won him MVP for the weekend.
We do not talk about the atrocity that was the Imperial 2 match. I don’t really know how we lost this, a combination of more individual and communication errors most likely, but we really did chump it...
Final match of the day - and of the tournament - was against Brunel 2. This was a close fought game with both teams suffering from two days of hard graft. Happily it was SB2 who came out that bit fitter (turns out Tuesday and Thursday mornings are worth it!!) and more clinical to take the game 4-3 in a well contested match.
Although SB2 finished finished 15th overall and not as the best 2nd team, it was valuable game time for the new boys and a chance for us to play together in a competitive situation (a luxury taken cruelly away from us by BUCS). There is a lot of promise from SB2 and hopefully some future key players for the first team.
MVP - Theo
MSP - Ravi and MC
Shout out to Henry who sacked off his work to play both days
