Disc Doctors Match Report: Student Outdoor Regionals 2005

SATURDAY

dD1 vs (Portsmouth) Sublime2

13 - 0

Our first game is never our best, so we were relieved to find we didn't have a crunch game to start the day. We soon gained a comfortable lead after forcing Sublime's handlers to make some tricky throws under the pressure of our Junk zone. Sublime's handlers were learning, towards the end, how to get around our junk, and able to use hammers to get over our wall. Nathan has asked me to say that he played superbly in this game (He always says that! - Ed).

dD1 vs (London) UCLSE

8 - 5

UCL and LSE didn't have enough players to form two separate teams, so they were allowed to combine to form the considerably stronger UCLSE. We managed gain a bit of a lead at the start, thanks to some good play from, amongst others, our new rising star Sui.

Things started looking very unsettling when UCLSE managed to take advantage of dD's unusually weak deep marking; they took advantage of several turnovers by using quick hucks and some zippy receivers. UCLSE came level at 5-5, but dD managed to cut down on the throwaways and eventually win.

dD1 vs (UEA, Norwich) Aye Aye2

13 - 0

Aye Aye 2, from the University of East Anglia, were short on numbers, and the toll of the earlier games in the gorgeous weather showed from the beginning. Towards the end Aye Aye2, realising all was lost, pulled-out a play called the "Braveheart". This play involved Aye Aye waiting in their zone which they were defending, and then charging down dD with cries of "freedom!" when dD approached, to scare us, or simply surprise us and make us laugh uncontrollably. The tactic worked, Aye Aye got the disc and almost scored. We struck back with the "cup-o-saurus" play, and once the game was over, we played "Bum Electricity" for our call, on MadK's suggestion, the dirty git.

dD1 vs (London) Brunel

10 - 5

This game was the first of what was to be a series of stunning dD1 performances over the weekend. dD1 rose to the challenge of playing, arguably, the best team in the South East this year. I cannot begin to tell you all the notable performances that were part of the best team play I've seen from dD1 this academic year.

Brunel were without their main-man Malcolm, on Saturday, so dD took advantage of Brunel's lack of handling depth by switching between slapping-on a solid Junk zone, and Jay's "brownie" zone on Brunel. Brunel's Dan tried his hardest but their deep-threat was neutralised by a combination of K-man, Stylish, and the good luck invoked by Jay deciding to ditch his tracksuit bottoms and wear shorts (Ultimate dedication -Ed), thereby allowing our handlers to work their way up the pitch.

There were tense moments towards the end when Brunel managed to claw back several points, but our early lead, and resurgence in the last ten minutes, sealed the very satisfying victory.

SUNDAY

dD1 vs (Cambridge) Strange Blue 1

10 - 12

This game was, in some senses, the most exciting, and most disappointing of the weekend. Lewis had joined us for the day, we were on a high from the day before, and thanks to 3-pint-challenge-free party the night before, none of us were feeling rough. This game showed that dD had great potential, but far too many drops and throwaways were made. Our junk zone wasn't working very well, but a transition to the "brownie zone" caused an impressive dD fight-back which was, unfortunately, too late.

Highlights included a huck from Lewis, which a Cambridge player blocked, but didn't catch. K-man neatly caught the still-flying disc, and then threw to Steve-O for a stunning point. K-man also scored the first ever Callahan Point of the tournament, a first for dD and even Magic managed to score a point during the match.

dD1 vs (Portsmouth) Sublime1

10 - 5

Last year we got utterly spanked by Sublime. We honestly didn't know what to expect this time round, especially with ex-Sublime player Lewis playing for us. This was a pretty charged, physical game. Sublime were laying-out everywhere like deranged ultimate-frisbee-playing penguins: Neville did well to hold onto the disc for a score when two Sublime players laid-out on him, in a hopefully non-malicious attempt to block the successful pass.

K-man managed yet another Callahan point, and Jay's Zone was hot hot hot. Sublime's handlers tried to beat our zone by taking advantage of the still day and throwing long cross-pitch hammers, but Cripple managed to block most of them. The result was a game which dD had under control for the majority of the time.

dD1 vs (Cambridge) Strange Blue1

15 - 4

The crazy Triple Elimination tournament format used over the weekend meant that, with Cambridge losing to Brunel on Sunday morning, and with us beating Sublime1, a rematch was inevitable. We were buoyed by our previous success, and the knowledge that winning this game guaranteed us second place, and a place at the Student Outdoor National Championships. Cambridge were slightly short on numbers, and after being worn-down by some long early points, resorted to playing a zone against us when we were 6 -2 up. Faultless handling by Boon, solid popping by Yoong, a few committed layout O's from Steve-O, and some top sideline support from our friends on the KCL Ultimate team, allowed us to deal with their zone easily. Lewis walked into the zone for a score from a short pass by Magic towards the end of the game, and we managed to reach the 15-point cap/limit before the time deadline.

Written by Manny "Cripple" Bennett