Apologies for the lateness of this, has been nearly finished for ages, but only got my backside in gear to finish it now.

 

Jestival report

 

Saturday

Game 1 vs. Mwnci See

As is rare for the Pies we really hit the ground running in our first game some great use of the bucket O and some hard man D which is something the Pies haven’t forgotten how to do saw us run out very comfortable winners against a very spirited side.

Final score approx. 13-3

 

Game 2 vs.Demons

These guys were a bit bigger and a bit faster and when they ripped us to shreds in the first point we were a little apprehensive. But then we got the disc and proceeded to win the next 13 points unanswered. We had identified their captain as the man to stop and once we got him marked tightly we showed it takes more than one player to beat the Pies. At the very end both teams scored simultaneously when the double disc rule came into effect (if there are 2 discs on the pitch use them both, a fun rule for the fun tourney) rounding another well spirited game with another nice team, final score 14-2

 

Game 3 vs.Fish

Fish as always are a great bunch to play against but were noticeably weakened by the absence of one of their main handlers and Luke, Wonkie’s brother. Again good bucket O and man D allowed us to run out reasonably comfortable winners but was definitely our toughest game so far. And certainly contained the worst bit of spirit all weekend with those on the sidelines endorsing a multi-disc point Taz threw a disc on accidentally finding Sam (to be fair, if something gets thrown it usually finds Sam) who sent it straight to Dan who executed a fine reverse grab.

Final score err… something like 11-5

 

Game 4 vs. Thundercats

On the Friday night in the pub we had been spotting quite a few of the student ultimate all-stars and were wondering who they were picking up for, there was the Captains of Leeds and Durham there was the MVP of the UNO final and the only girl in the UNO final, I assume by now you can guess who they were all playing for. Apparently they all have local links and knew each other through their time in junior ultimate. Cheers Stig! We started a little nervously and when things weren’t quite clicking there was too much insistence on switching tactics so after a couple of reasonably disastrous ho-stack points, we went back to the pies way, switched back to the bucket, pulled the iso higher up the pitch to combat the poaches and won 3 points on the bounce. After that there was a fairly balanced passage of play and as the time ticked down Thundercats took their foot off the gas a little with a 6 handler and 1 iso player who they would never pass to formation. And although we never threatened a win we showed that when we switch it on we can live with some of the best. It also demonstrated that changing tactics is something that must be done with good reason not just blindly out of frustration. Later that weekend they were apparently quoted as saying we were their toughest game, well done pies

Final score err.. about 5- 11

 

Game 5 vs. Trinity

There is a bit of a history between these guys and the pies, every time we play them we seem to get close but not quite close enough so we were really up for this game not to mention the fact that they had been seducing our women with their slick French accents and flowers. Unfortunately once again it was the same player as always who caused us problems (I really should learn his name for future reports). If you gave him short, he would deliver the killer pass, if you gave him long he’d burn you off and receive anything. He was the difference in a game I think otherwise we would have edged Really hard committed play from the pies again especially on the D but again just a little short and once again I was left scratching my head knowing that we have it in us to beat these guys but fair play, they never let us.

 

 Sunday

Game 1 vs. Bears

Our crossover was always going to be tough against bears and went right down to the wire a few little bits of luck just went the other way. The multidisc point for example as our disc was caught out the back whilst theirs scored. And a really unfortunate moment which I only mention as it needs a drinking penalty at the next AGM, Olly made a spectacular layout grab for the Callahan but as it wasn’t uni ultimate the Callahan wasn’t a point so instead of walking it back to the endzone line popping a nice dump off for Ant to deliver the score he went and put the disc on the floor for the turnover. But to be fair it was the one blot on an otherwise fantastic weekend for Olly so we’ll forgive him. The main threat from bears was on the break and although I must hold my hand up for the final break in sudden death it was our weakness throughout the game. That and some panicky clogging near the endzone on O. we also missed Wonkie and Phil who had been connecting well all Saturday.

Final score 10-9

 

Game 2 vs. Reservoir Discs

Another team we had never played before, we recognised one of their players, not sure where from, but that was enough for us to earmark him as a danger. Was a tougher game than our first 3 on Sat but we were always quite comfortable in it. They played a zone we hadn’t seen before but our handlers ripped through it quite easily and some more solid man D gave us a place in the Plate Final.

 

Game 3 vs. Ovathrow – Plate Final

Our plate final against another new team to us, these guys are a corporate team so to actually play against people who have a day-job that actively encouraged Frisbee was promising for those of us who do have plans to stop being a student at some point. These guys had beaten Jesters in their last match so we knew it would be a tough game, and so it proved to be. Early on it was tight with the teams trading points. Their main threat was a long game that kept inexplicably beating us. Whilst we forced our bucket play a little leading to a dangerous play call against Sam, when to be fair we have all seen him take down Discs like the one he bid on, but the other guy wasn’t to know that. In order to shut down their long game we brought the arrowhead out with Dan covering the deep and Wonkie doing a great job on point. This and some nice iso play from Alice let us run out a 3 point lead and we thought we had them on the back foot. Sadly they found their way round our zone with some clever one-twos between the handlers and we had to switch back to man. As the clock was running down they pegged us back and took the lead. And after the pile-up which cost me my scaphoid bone with Sam somehow coming out with the disc. Ovathrow took the winning point with a 33 cut that could have come straight out of the stig handbook.

 

So all in all a good weekend with some real positives to take and a few lessons to learn.  And a big thankyou and best wishes to Dan and Terri for a years fantastic service.

 

Well done to –

Sam (MVP)

2 Times

Phil

Louis

Wonkie

Killa

Alice

Dan

Terri

Olly

Taz

Mike