SB1 at ELUXIR
SB1 at East and London Mixed Indoor Regionals
Pool Game 1: SB vs KCL 2 (11-2)
As the second team had an earlier start, we arrived at the venue two and a half hours before our match. We had a long time to warm-up and prepare for our match and we started the match with good intensity and focus. While we were not perfect and had more turnovers than we would have liked, we were always threatening our opponent’s end zone. Our quality and quickness on offense and a determination to start strong gave us an early lead and we never looked back.
Pool Game 2: SB vs Roehampton (3-2)
This match was all about Roehampton’s wall zone. We were probably on offense for about 18 of the 20 minutes in the match, holding onto the disc, but not able to find the gaps. Roehampton had an early lead as they quickly exploited our turnovers. This was rather concerning as the low scoring nature of the game was already apparent but we fought back to take the lead. Bizarrely, Roehampton continued to play their wall and we just held onto the disc for the final few minutes to claim the victory.
Pool Game 3: SB vs Aye-Aye (8-4)
Our game plan for this match was to play safe offense so that Aye-Aye could not afford to play their high risk indoor throw offense. They played much stronger man defense than we saw in our first game and made all of our resets more difficult, especially for our team which had multiple cutters trying to play as handlers. Aye-Aye started better but we raised our intensity and fought back with multiple breaks to bring the game to bring the game within one. With time running out, we rushed our final points and our momentum disappeared as Aye-Aye punished us by converting the final three points.
Two wins and a loss left us in second place in the pool and a crossover to stay in the top eight against SB2.
6vs11: SB1 vs SB2 (13-2)
An enjoyable game. Both teams tried to play a similar possession game and so the result was never really in doubt as we had fewer turnovers and more chances to attack the end zone. This game probably had some of our better defense in the weekend as no one wanted to be embarrassed by the second team.
3vs6: Hertfordshire vs SB (9-4)
They were a strong team who went onto the final and finished in third. They had both men and women that we were unable to defend and they were clinical with their chances. On offense, we had a similar problem as in the Aye-Aye game and their defense pressured us into more turnovers than we would have liked. A frustrating result, but they were a strong mixed team and we didn’t have the quality to match them.
6vs7: SB vs Brunel (5-6)
The most frustrating result of the weekend. This team played zone defense which we were better at scoring against than Roehampton, but took more risks and had more turnovers in the process. On offense, they had one play which was stall 6 or stall 7 hammers to a receiver we could not defend. We should have been safer on offense at the beginning of the game to avoid the disappointment that resulted from a controversial call near the end. This result ended the chance to fight up to the game to go to division 2.
7vs8: SB vs UCL2 (7-4)
They were an encouragingly strong second team (UCL1 won the tournament) and matched us in intensity and kept the game level up until 4-4. We then closed out the game as we continued to run hard on offense and the spaces opened up more for us toward the end. This was probably the most enjoyable game of the weekend as it meant we didn’t lose 3 in a row, but also was a good demonstration of the offense we wanted to play.
So, SB1 finished in 7th place which probably is a fair result given the strength of the teams. Our tournament MVP was Elsa who was playing her first tournament with SB since arriving from Germany and impressed with her strong defense and reliable handling.
Next up for mixed is outdoor nationals at the end of next term where we have the chance to play some real ultimate.
JR and Charlie
