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The pools were always going to throw up some
surprises - and they did not disappoint. Clapham had split it's new squad into 2 even teams, Chevvy
were very shorthanded (playing ironman half the
day), LLL were short several key people playing schmindoors,
Whey! had a strong Chevvy
South-esque team - everyone else was much as
expected.
In pool A LLL started off with a great 12-9 victory
over Clapham 1, playing steady error-free (indoor style) offence in the
windless conditions and forcing Clapham both to make an
uncharacteristic number of mistakes and run more than they wanted to that
early in the day. Clapham had all but resigned themselves
to going out at this stage, but LLL then had to play a team of Whey! legends well up for a battle against the LLL team which
included a few of their ex-teammates from Catch 22 days. Whey! ran out 12-9 winners after a hard game, setting up a Whey!
vs Clapham game which
Clapham needed to win by 4 to qualify as pool winners. Against everyone's
expectations Clapham 1 managed to raise their game significantly and win by 5
or 6, thus qualifying for the final on points
difference. Purple Haze by no means just made up the numbers - all the teams
in Pool A were very impressed that Haze looked as comfortable at
this level as they did and managed to score so many points (I think they
got 9 or maybe more off Clapham 1 and they were leading LLL until the
later stages of that game).
In Pool B Clapham 2 got ahead of the Druids in the first
game and never looked back, while Chevvy beat Bristol
Plastic Factory. In the Chevvy/Clapham 2 game Chevvy went 8 - 4 ahead with some great play, but
couldn't hold on due to the lack of subs, apparently losing the game 13 - 8.
Their ironman 7 couldn't hold out against the
Druids either, so with those top 3 all taking advantage of Bristol the final positions in Pool B ended up being
much clearer than in Pool A. As with Haze in Pool A though, Bristol did not look out of their depth and according to Dougie
gave Clapham 2 their closest battle (13-10).
The all-Clapham final went off with a bang but ended
with a wimper. The first few points were traded
with spectacular diving grabs from new boys Ollie Benjamin and Owen Rogers -
the game looked set to be a cracker. Instead
cracks soon appeared in Clapham 1 whilst Clapham 2 had all the running left
and were making very few mistakes (6 turnovers all game). Clapham 1 plugged
away, but to no avail - Dougie and Si Hill's team winning yet again 15-10. I didn't see any
of the other games so can't comment I'm afraid, but the final placings were:
1 (7) Clapham Ultimate 2
2 (1) Clapham Ultimate 1
3 (3) Fluid Druids
4 (5) LeedsLeedsLeeds
5 (4) Whey!
6 (2) Chevron Action Flash
7 (6) Bristol Plastic Factory
8 (8) Purple Haze
Thanks for coming down all the teams that played, and
thanks for leaving the common so tidy. I think everyone that played really
enjoyed the day and hopes that we can make Tour 0/The Charity Shield a
regular feature in the Ultimate calendar. It really sets up Tour 1 in 2 weeks
time, leaving some big questions unanswered - Will LeedsLeedsLeeds
be a real contender for the Tour title, or even a hard-to-come-by Tour
victory (Clapham have won 7 of 8 in the last 2 seasons) when
they add the key players they were missing? Very possibly. Will
either or both of the Chevron divorcees challenge for the top places despite
the fact they've had to split the team china? Very possibly. Are the
Druids going to take that next step up and be the number 2 team? There is
always that possibility. Where do TeamIndoorShark
fit in? Are they going to be this season's Leeds United? Does
this year's top 8 look significantly more competitive than previous
years? Definitely - it's gonna be
a lot of fun. Most importantly - will anyone manage to stop Clapham winning
the Tour or Nationals, thus completing a record hatrick
of doubles (2001, 2002, 2003)? It certainly looks a
more level playing field than in previous years, but I'll leave it
to Wayne Retter, the Nostradamus
of UK Ultimate, to make his traditional pre-season predictions - I know what I
think!
All �240 entry fees will be sent to the charity of
Clapham 2's choice, probably some split between The Red Cross and the Paganello Fund (which helps players from disadvantaged
countries play Paga).
Cheers all,
Roger Thomson
The Silver Bear
cu #1
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