Open Tour 2
Tour 2 was held in Nottingham, and was the scene of a disastrous campaign the previous year in howling wind and rain. This year saw the clouds part and the sun shine on the fields for a beautiful weekend of Ultimate. CUlt 1, unbeaten champions of B Tour at Tour 1, were seeded 14th of 16 in A Tour, and third seed in their group, along with 9th seeds Glasgow, 11th seeds Devon 1, and 16th seeds Birmingham. We took a similar squad, with a few new additions, to make up 18 players; it would have been 19, but as Matt Shannon announced on Camdisc, he was celebrating his birthday that weekend.
CUlt 15-7 Glasgow
Tour 1 saw us come out with intensity throughout, and we knew that it was going to be important to do so this weekend too. New players in the squad would need time to settle, and this showed as a multitude of turns were happening. However, we soon got on a run, and ran out comfortable winners against a weakened Glasgow team from the previous Tour.
CUlt 15- 9 Devon
Devon had had some very close matches against top level opposition at Tour 1, so we knew this was a huge game and could prove to be a great challenge, We once again came out hard, and took an early lead. Devon soon rallied, and began fighting back. Fortunately we soon found another gear, and pushed on in the second half. The D line was forcing the turns and punishing them, whilst the O line had clicked and were punching the disc in at will.
CUlt 15-8 Birmingham
We were straight on against fellow B Tour promoted team Birmingham. We carried on where we had left off, and at 6-1, Birmingham had every right to crumble. But to their credit they did not, and started generating turns as the match ran on. We were in control, but wearied legs showed that they could take their toll, and this would prove to be a problem the following day.
Still undefeated as a team in the Open season, we topped the pool, finishing 9th and earning the right to cross over into the top 8 against Zimmer, a masters team full of ex GB players. They had lost all of their group matches, however that wasn't the whole story; they had taken teams such as EMO, eventual 3rd place finishers, to sudden death. It looked like we had a challenge on our hands.
CUlt 15-12 Zimmer
This was the most important match of the season so far, for to win this meant we were guaranteed top 8 and get to play with the big boys at Tour 3. We were now down to 16, but that wouldn't impact us in this first match. The O line got us off to a great start with a clinical point. The D line then came out and did their job, generating a turn and scoring. Soon we were 3-0 up, and had began with our trademark intensity. However, Zimmer, were beginning to shake off the Sunday morning cobwebs, and started generating turns themselves. Whenever we managed to get a little run, they soon hit straight back at us. However, we closed out the game calmly, and were now into the 5 v 8 game against Fire 1!
CUlt 8- 15 Fire
CUlt open were undefeated in 10 games... only Clapham D could boast such a record. Unfortunately, Fire weren't aware of this. We were down to an active squad of about 13 or 14, and combined with tired legs, we were always going to struggle. At 3-3, with neither team having turned over, the clinical nature of the O lines was excellent to see....and then the D line went and generated the first turn over of the match! Unfortunately, this was the only turn we were to generate the whole game, and the O line weren't able to keep up that 100% record. The D line especially struggled, and with most of the players barely getting a touch of the disc all game, it was a harsh smack in the face of what we would be up against in the future.
CUlt 9-15 Brighton
This was a bit of an odd game, because despite the result, I never felt like we were being beaten easily. Tired legs were evident early on, with lots of turns on either side, however Brighton were able to find their extra gear and the middle passage of the game saw them hit their stride and put a string of points on the board. I definitely hope we get to play them when both squads are at full strength, because I think it will be a great game.
With that defeat, we finished the weekend 8th in A Tour. It was a fantastic weekend, and in the first 4 games, for large periods, we showed the sort of team that we can be. Dom Dathan won MVP for his fantastic handling all weekend, I have no idea how that guy keeps going. Shame he doesn't lay out when cutting deep though.
We go to Tour 3 in Cardiff with the belief and excitement that we can cause an upset, and who knows, there might be some breaking news coming your way in a few weekends time.
Can people please update the spreadsheet, there are still 9 0.1s! You have until Sunday, because then I want to start working out possible teams.
Tull
