REPORTS

By Murray Alexander

Last weekend a team of battle-hardened veterans and fresh-faced rising stars descended upon Aberdeen Sports Village, assuming the role of plucky underdogs with the sole intention of ruffling a few feathers and stealing a little attention now and then from their more celebrated associates. Disclaimer: Match scores may not be correct (or even specifically mentioned) but everything here happened exactly as this account says.

The fight began with a bleary-eyed match against Blaze in which I remember very little of what happened. I'm not sure it even did. It's possible that we were brainwashed and just told that we were beaten, no witnesses exist of this match. Either way, the weekend began with a "loss".

Next to be put to the sword were the old enemy Ro Sham Bo. Despite a valiant effort, Ro Sham broke our sword. However, a moral (much preferable to an actual) victory was claimed as FF2 fought hard and disrupted the play of RSB, forcing several turnovers and managing to get the disc moving better than in the "match" against Blaze and were unlucky not to register some points in an admirable performance against the eventual champions.

The following match contained the first points of the weekend for FF2 in a very tight match with Mojo 2. FF2 took a lead of a couple of points as we began to get into gear and get things moving in a strong start. Mojo 2 fought back to tie the score and in the end the game was won 5-4 after Martha cut expertly in the endzone into an incoming blade and caught the disc, with her tiptoes just inside the endzone. First win of the weekend ground out.

Sadly it was to prove to be the only victory of the day as losses to Flatball, Shooting Stars 2 and another tight game, this time against Mojo 3, followed as superior ability at being tall was exploited by the opposition and try as we might we just couldn't grow a couple inches in between games.

Sunday started early for some with a tough match against Shooting Stars. In Farflung tradition we started slowly against a motivated Stars team and were beaten by a few but there was a clear indication of a better day ahead as the disc zipped from flunger to flinger despite by this point many members being held together only by sticky tape and bits of string.

The upwards curve began against RSB3 when the offence really clicked for the first time as the handlers effortlessly moved the disc around the pitch and everyone stretched their legs to use the entire length of the pitch in a comfortable win that set up FF2 for a good run of wins.

FF2 were pitted against Blaze in a grudge match akin to Frazier v Ali post-racial antagonism. Two teams well-fired up took to the pitch and a very hard game was fought where FF2 produced their most perfect performance of the weekend. Incredibly patient offence combined with a hard-working defence created the basis for a brilliant win. This match also witnessed an incredible ubergrab by Marou as she soared through the air stretching her arm out like Michael Jordan in Space Jam to prevent a turnover. Trading points throughout the match as the team ran and ran and ran until the whistle with the score tied at 6-6. With FF2 starting on O, Blaze managed to get the turnover but the team never stopped working and a pile of players forced a turnover on the edge of FF2's enzone and then quickly moved the disc up the pitch to get the winning score with Martin working himself some space and calmly waiting the half hour the disc was in the air and catching to win the game (giving further credence to the idea that the Blaze "loss" never happened...).

A dominant performance in the Plate semi against Flatball 2 led to a convincing win as FF2 kept up the level of the previous performance, giving FB2 nothing to work with and clinically putting away opportunities off the back of repeated turnovers. Patient offence was once again the weapon and FF2 proceeded to the Plate Final and playoff for the last spot at Division 2 Nationals against local rivals Dark Horses.

Sadly, it proved to be a match too far at the end of what was a very long weekend as FF2 fell prey to a well-worked long game by Horses though they never stopped working throughout the match. A bum note to end on but it failed to take the shine off an amazing second day in which everybody gave everything they had to contribute to one of my favourite days of Ultimate that I've been involved in.

Webb-style 2nd Team highlights:

Anja - Calmness personified. Never rushed and used her impressive throwing ability to get things going on O and her experience proved invaluable throughout the weekend
Greg - Showed a lot of versatility in his game, playing as a handler and a cutter. Threw some perfectly weighted backhands into space to create scoring opportunities
Hadassah - Despite an ankle injury, ran all weekend and constantly got free. Showed intelligent cutting to help the offence get into gear and get the points on the board.
Nigel - Like Anja, was ice-cold on offence. Also put in an impressive performance on D despite only having the use of one arm for the majority of Sunday.
Martha - Contributed incredibly important endzone play and showed trademark tenacity on defence, battering the disc to the ground when it came near. Made the funniest "double-team" call of all-time.
Martin - A black and yellow blur. Stretched the pitch with his pace, dragging his marker around and creating space for others. Was dominant on D on Sunday.
Marou - Always seemed to find the final pass around the endzone and always was in space when needed, helping the team work the disc up the pitch with lots of 1-2s. Showed important confidence around the endzone.

By Shaun Webb (coach)

Great weekend everyone, well played. I was asked to write a report so here goes:

Last weekend Far Flung traveled to Aberdeen to take on the best Scottish teams with the aim of qualifying for the UK university indoor mixed national championships. Saturday started well for the first team, bageling St Andrews second team 10-0. After a few turnovers in the first point the team soon settled in to the smooth offensive style we see every Wednesday night and individually we were too good to let Flatball 2 put in a point. The second game against Dark Horses had been earmarked as a potential slip up and the first real test of the day. However, the game was eventually abandoned after an endzone collision resulted in a broken neck with Far Flung 1-0 up. After the ambulance had given the all clear it was agreed to replay the game at the end of the day. Next up were Dundee, one of the pre-tournament favourites to qualify. Once again we produced clinical offense with very few turnovers against man and zone offense. It was our own defense that got us the early breaks and we constantly forced Shooting Stars to throw away by putting on good forces and staying close to our marks. We went 3 up early in the game then traded points to win 7-4. This was the first big victory of the day and we followed it up by routinely dispatching Ro Sham Bo 2 (9-4) and Ro Sham Bo 3 (7-1) and the news started to spread that Far Flung were serious contenders, some people were actually scared. We had used the Ro Sham Bo games to sharpen our offense and use the large pitch more efficiently. Mojo 1 posed a different challenge, playing a well drilled zone that had worked against every other team in the group. A win here would launch Far Flung from 5th seeds at the start of the day up to the top spot. We spent a little time talking about how to adapt our offense and the results were evident from the start. Through a combination of short sharp passes through the zone, well timed discs over the top, cutters occupying free space and some very patient endzone play, we were able to score every time we took possession. Girls put on a lot of pressure on the force and boys took everything down in the air, limiting Aberdeen to only 2 points. The game finished 7-2. The final game was the replay of the Strathclyde game, with the team full of confidence we came out strong from the start and scored a lot of points in only a 15 minute game, 9-2 Far Flung and top seeds at the end of day 1!

Far Flung 2 suffered converse fortunes opening up with 2 heavy defeats to Stirling and Edinburghs first teams. Despite the score lines FF put in a brave performance against Ro Sham Bo, the reigning champs. They managed to force turnovers on just about every point, Murry in particular made sure he bled with some good poach D on the Iso. However, they found it hard to get to grips with the large pitch and struggled to get the disc moving. In the next match they concentrated on giving themselves more room to cut in to and get the first pass away. They managed to put the points away and edged out a crucial win against Mojo 2 (5-4). Other tough games followed Flatball (9-1), Shooting Stars (8-3) and FF2 were unlucky not to claim another win against Mojo 3, losing out by 1 in the end.

Saturday nights entertainment included laughing at fat people on Total Wipeout, 15-inch pizzas, wearing trainers and showing up at the party to let everyone else know who the number 1 team were.

Saturdays heroics earned the first team a long lie in. Meanwhile the second team were up early to battle it out in the crossovers. After a good nights rest the team looked transformed and put in a big performance against Dundee 1. Anja and Nigel kept the disc moving at the back and Greg and Martha were constantly available for first cuts. We stopped throwing the disc through the middle of the pitch and used the long option to good effect. Dundee defended well in the endzone and constantly thwarted Far Flungs final attack, Dundee win 10-2. The second game of the day pitted FF2 up against RSB3 in the knockout stages. Far Flung had now found a style of play that worked for them with Martin showing his athletic prowess cutting the length of the pitch to intercept stray passes and Hadassah racking up points in the endzone (10 -2 win!).  The first team showed up some time in the afternoon for another showdown with Dark Horses in the quarter finals. It was a typical scrappy game to begin Sundays play, Strathclyde showed a lot more fight after winning their early crossover and always looked likely of pulling off a shock win. In the end we were able to shut down the Horses long game by leaving a man deep to eat up any high discs. Far Flung pulled away towards the end and took the game 6-3 to make the semi finals. This match was immediately followed by FF2s semi final against the Stirling 1st team and the team kept on getting better. This was one of the most exciting games all weekend. Far Flung took an early two point lead and no matter how hard Stirling fought back team fling always found the pass to stay 1 point up. Marou kept the team in it with a huge layout and a great scoring pass to Martin as he left his marker behind. Far Flung took the lead with 30 seconds to go and held out for the win. We carried momentum in to the next game and looked unstoppable aginst the Flatball second team, destroying them 7-2 to earn a final game against Dark Horses with the plate and a place at Division 2 Nationals the stake.

Far Flung 1 went in to the semi final one win away from Division 1 qualification. So far they had been convincing victors but St Andrews had already proved they were a step above after narrowly losing to RSB1 in an epic game the previous day. It was time to bring out the big plays and the team looked fired up from the start. We took an early lead and never looked back, offensive was smooth and controlled, defense was thriving on adrenalin and the crowd were constantly entertained by some epic 1 on 1 battles going on all over the pitch. We took the game convincingly (9-6), qualified for Nationals and showed the crowd why we were still the team to beat.

Far Fung 2 had a final game against Strathclyde who had battled hard all weekend with an injury hit small squad. Horses were one battle too far and got their game together to win 7-2. Nevertheless, Far Flung showed they could compete against first teams and wound up the weekend in 9th place. An incredible performance and result and the team showed a lot of spirit to improve all weekend. They may still have a chance to compete at National level after finishing in one of the reserve places.

After a hot chocolate and a dancing warmup in the Sky Studio Far Flung were keen to take home some silverware. However, we started the game looking sluggish  and the old nemesis, Ro Sham Bo, were able to capitalise on our slow start, racking up a 4-1 lead.  They played a more intense, closed defense, that we were yet to come across. We managed to get it together, got a few turnovers and put in some points. Just when it looked as if we could claw our way back, Ro Sham grabbed a calahan score and stole the momentum. Ro Sham Bo went on to take the title 8-4. For Far Flung the tournament was a massive success, qualifying for Nationals and many players competing in their first final. The final match has shown us exactly what we need to do to step up and win Nationals in one month time!

1st team highlights:

Joe - Joe led the team from the front line, managed to shutdown both of Flatball and Ro Shams main endzone players with some huge grabs and layout Ds and apparently threw one amazing disc.
Niamh - MVP of the final as she constantly got free and made passes to keep us in the game. I heard several people comment "Niamh is ridiculous" over the weekend
Ben - Shone in the Sunday games with tremendous energy, great feet and a sweet winning pass to Aoife in the semi final
Amata - Did such a good job as a deep player that she complained about being bored. Caught everything, shut down opposition cuts and filled in with some patient handling when required.
Shona - Smartest player on the pitch for much of the weekend. Constantly in the right areas and found space to score crucial points.
Doug - Very few turnovers all weekend (2?) , got a superb poach layout D vs flatball, killed a man.
Aoife - Made crucial cuts, catches and throws playing hugely reliable offense. Added a handful of blocks by working hard and getting in the right positions.
Chris - played a lot of D points shutting his man down on in cuts. Made throws look easy and picked up assists from all over the pitch. His inspired chat kept morale high. Probably the  fastest player on the team...

Great Weekend!
Keep it up.

By Niamh Delaney (captain)

Hi Far Flung.

As many of you will have heard, the Far Flung ladies had a bit of an exciting weekend competing at women's nationals in Loughborough. I don't normally do write-ups, but I thought this tournament merited one...

Saturday's play was in peer-pools but still we had one ridiculous walkover - beating Sublisco something like 14-1. Against Pies, Bears and Ro Sham Bo we came out a little tentative, generally trading to about three and then pulling away to win by 4 or 5 once we'd figured them out. At the end of the day we threw a game to Chichester; tiredness getting the better of us. We let them get a few points up on us and weren't really able to find the fight to pull it back. A disappointing way to end the day but valuable lessons were learnt. Luckily they had lost two of their earlier games (to Ro Sham and Bears) so we still topped the group to take first seed at the end of play on Saturday.

First game on Sunday was against Strange Blue and basically followed the same pattern as the bulk of our Saturday games. We came out a little shaky and took a few points to work them out, but won by about 5 in the end I think. On the pitch next to us Flatball, who had started the day as second seeds, lost in a sudden death battle with Chichester. They went on to win an easy second crossover meaning that we had a two hour wait before taking on our old rivals in a 1vs8 quarter final match.

Flatball have a habit of beating us in the games that matter and, with this looming large in my mind, I don't think I've ever been so nervous for a game in my life. A standard mosh warm-up combined with our by now customary obnoxious cheer ensured that such adrenaline was chanelled in exactly the right direction. We came out as hard as we knew we had to, going up by three early on. They pulled it back a little before we pulled away again with another three point run. After that, I think it was beyond doubt. We won 8-4, beating them through hard and smart D. We retained first seed, knocking FB out of the top four.

In the next game the only other Scottish team left in the top four, RSB, chumped it to Bears (a team they had beaten decisively the day before). And so we were left to carry the flag, but we were also now champions of Scotland (in my mind anyway).

Our semi-final was against Urielle. Reminiscent of the Chichester game, we found it hard to get into our groove and went down by two despite starting on O. To our credit, we fought back. On the buzzer we were tied at fives - sudden death time. On a stall of seven their main handler put up a speculative, loopy disc. It got caught. In the endzone. No final for Far Flung. Heart-break.

But we rallied. Our 3-4 final was against Bears again. We never let them have a look-in, taking out all of the resentment of the previous defeat. Much like the Mojo game at regionals, we relaxed and had fun and the result was some spectacularly good ultimate. I believe we went 8 points up before they even scored one. Final score 10-3. A nice way to finish the tournament and, according to Aoife, to end an era.

And so Far Flung finished 3rd, which is the highest we've ever come at women's nationals. Leaving Glasgow on Friday night, I would never have anticipated us finishing so highly. Leaving Loughborough on Sunday, I couldn't help but feel a bit gutted we never got to play that final.

But lets not let that take away from what was an outstanding display by the Far Flung ladies. Probably unsurprisingly two of the highlights of the weekend were beating Ro Sham and beating Flatball, not only because of the Scottish connection but also because they are brilliant competitors. They pushed us to play our best and we rose to the challenge like never before. In both games we used what we had learnt from playing them at regionals to demolish their flow on O - getting turnovers time and time again, capitalising on the more speculative aspects of their play. On O we played the calmest I've ever seen us play (especially against Ro Sham, working it around with incredible composure, waiting for 100% passes). We trusted one another and in these games we fulfilled the potential this team has had in us for years now. We finally showed that we are the best team in Scotland and that felt very, very good.

My sincerest thanks to all of the girls who came along this weekend. Special mention to Sally for driving and to Shona for organising the minibus. Huge thanks also to Tex, who's motivational expertise helped us overcome many of the crises of confidence that have so often hindered us in the past. Final mention goes to Karolina, who had a tough task joining the team at such a late date yet played as if she had been a member of the team all along. She never made a mistake on D and got us out of more than one tricky situation on O through well-timed cuts. She showed that it may be the end of one era, but a new one has just begun. Who wants in?

Finally, I have to mention Phil. I don't think people realise how important Phil is to the success of the women's team - we definitely could not have done it without him.

Now to the mixed season...

Niamh

By Joe Norat

This weekend at Div2 saw Joe Crisp, Niamh, Ben, Gaurav, Will, Peter, Colin, Niall, Cameron, and myself down in Manchester.

Started out seeded 16th hoping to break it.

First game against Fat Heads. We went up a few points if I remember correctly but we let them back in it and ended in a draw, with the drawing disc thrown by them at the buzzer. Disappointing to say the least.

Second game was against horses, who went on to win the tournament. Let's congratulate them all next time we see them. We didn't play our best, but it was the game that forced us to rethink our game plan, and the team for the rest of the weekend.

Our third game of the day was against the Jesters. FarFlung playing incredibly well together in that match. We lost the game by quite a bit, bit it was a great game to play, we played well and felt confident about our game. This game saw a great deal of our younger players feeling more confident and making some decisive cuts and plays.

We came bottom of the group as Fat Heads won on points difference. Our final game of Saturday was against Fish. They came out of a very disappointing lose right before our game, so it put their heads down, but it still proved a tough match. We saw our long game really succeeding in that game. It reaffirmed our strategical changes. Colin especially did a great job getting his cuts in and going for some easy dumps gaining us a lot of yards throughout the game.

Today opened with our game defending for the plate. We lost sudden death to Thrown. The younger players of the team really came out in this one, with a great take from Cameron, and some great end zone play by Gaurav and Niall.

Finished off playing a game against Random Fling. Winning it by just 1 or two in the end, they battled us the whole time, but we kept our lead throughout.

This past weekend was a great weekend for me and I hope for everyone that went. We came together as a team very well, and I was proud of us. The greatest thing isn't always having a great team to start with, but to see the seeds of one sprouting. Every player improved tremendously over the weekend.

Ben was always there when we needed his agility on the cuts. It was great to count on that cut always being there. He always beat his man to the disc.

Niamh is an incredible handler though she doesn't realize it or want to admit it. For the most reliable passes we counted on her. Always calmed us down when we needed it most.

Colin came in and got the disc off the line if he ever got caught there. He followed basic tactics and he proved very effective for it.

Joe Crisp caught high discs. A LOT.

Fuzz always looked for that continuation pass, and ran them himself as well. He beat his man up the line all the time.

Peter, well he's American so of course, he kind of sucks. Realistically he was a great shout in many positions as he could be counted on as a handler, on defense, and taking discs in the end zone. He always beat off his man ;-) Very solid player, and a pleasure to play with for this oh so short semester.

Gaurav improved staggeringly fast. His new name is Guru now. As I'm sure you've all noticed he's gone from being a total beginner to being a very solid first team member in no time at all. I think we can all learn something from the fact that he listens very carefully to every bit of input given to him, and immediately acts upon it. A great quality in a player.

Niall got me out of quite a few pickles. I got stuck a few times during the weekend in a bad position and his cuts got me out of it.

Cameron saved my ass quite a few times himself with some decisive and much needed cuts. I threw a couple of bad passes, but he had my back every time.

Last year, Glasgow One Day was my first tournament and for a new set of beginners this year it would be their first tournament as well. Seeing them genuinely enjoying themselves really brought a smile to my face.

The highlights for me with FarFlung 2 were:

1. Shaney's lay out. Best of the season so far without a doubt.
2. Scoring the first point against FF1 and really scaring the crap out of them if even for one amazing minute.
3. How well everyone was playing. Expecially the girls. Especially the girls.

Thanks to everyone for a great day. Here are a couple of videos, and photos can be found here.

One Day 2008 - FF1 vs Stars from Philip Chan on Vimeo.

One Day 2008 - Evolution from Philip Chan on Vimeo.

By Andrew Davidson

These are the days beginners become slightly better beginners, and
these are the matches you play for.

The day didn't exactly start off well, waking up late and having to
rush down to the Arc to play our 1st game at 9.20am against Blaze.
Luckily, arriving just in time we were able to warm-up with a few
minutes to spare.
Blaze were an impressive team, their tall experienced player holding
the fort well, whilst crazy #57 ran circles around the floor. It was
an ideal warm-up match, closely fought, maybe even a tad too much…
cough #57. Alas, early mistakes let us down, we lost by only 1 point
after a terrific final surge.
Final score: Farflung1 4 – Blaze 5

Bodies warmed up and our throwing arms in, we proceeded to the next
match, defiant not to lose once again. Our opponents, Flatball, were
on a level par with us all the way through the match, playing a
similar short game style. Both teams' believed they had the
opportunity to snatch a win, and a draw would have probably been a
fair result if Gaurav in the final minute hadn't unwittingly thrown
the winning hammer to seal victory.
Final score: Farflung1 6 - Flatball 5

We all knew that it had been our best performance of the day, which
Cameron summarised to, "those are the games you play for!"
I couldn't agree more; those sorts of games really do give you the
desire to carry on playing in search of that next big triumph.

Morale was high going into our 3rd match against Ro Sham Bo, but it
would be no easy feat, from playing against them last week at Tune Up
I knew they could be deadly destructive, which is what happened early
on in the match, going down 7-1. RSB's long game scored them point
after point, but somehow, whether it was through sheer determination,
brilliant D, great short game or some awesome catches/collisions, we
clawed our way back into the game. This last ditch attempt proved we
could take on the big boys, and if the match had been slightly longer
we could have even sneaked it, instead of losing by a mere 3 points.
Final score: Farflung1 5 – Ro Sham Bo 8

Dark Horses were our next opponents, but after playing such a hugely
exhausting match vs. RSB we were all out of adrenaline, so again we
went down quite early on. One of the things we learnt from the match
however was to take our time and not rush. 8 seconds is a long time
to find someone to pass to, so I and the rest of the team learnt a
valuable lesson. Another factor contributing to the loss was that the
Dark Horses consisted of all males, which meant it was quite a
physical and energy zapping match. Once again though, we came back
strong towards the end, but it was too much too late.
Final score: Farflung1 4 – Dark Horses 7

Revenge is a dish best served cold, and we were definitely cold. We
were up against Blaze again to see who would receive the wooden
spoon. After losing by 1 point in the first match, we were eager to
see that justice was served. There were several picks, fouls etc.
which resulted in an, at times controversial, but mostly enjoyable
match. Plus, we came out on top in a reversal of fates.
Final score: Farflung1 7 – Blaze 6

After playing for only 1 month I've definitely seen an improvement in
myself and the people around me, so if any Freshers are out there
reading this and would like to try something "out there" and a bit
different, come down to the training sessions.
I'm staying at Murano Street and am thinking about having a wee
session for anyone interested in learning, so sign up to the mailing
group to hear up-to-date news.
Everyone's a good laugh and we all started off from the same point,
complete beginner, but within a few weeks you can honestly see the
improvement, without doubt.

Thanks must go to Cameron and Marou (our teams' Capitanos), as your
two heads proved to be a fountain of knowledge and enthusiasm, so
cheers for putting up with us.

Finally, a Big Thank You to Martha for organising the whole event.
Those sorts of tournaments are so beneficial to us beginners, and
we'll definitely feel the benefits of it in the near future.

Here's to Edinburgh Beginners' and Next Year!

By Will Rennie

Drizzle and total cloud cover ... team pulls together over the weekend
... morale high after mad night dressed as Egyptians ... great team
performance bags first silverwear of the season.

I woke up on Saturday determined to make it to Kelvinbridge by 7.15 -
the time I'd arranged to meet Lesley and Laura so we could get the
train to Stirling - but as I ran up Great Western Road at 7.25,
repeatedly dropping my sleeping bag and the head-dress for my costume
all over the pavement, the thought struck me: 'we're not going to make
the train' ...

A mad taxi rush later and we got on with a minute to spare. The
weather in Glasgow was was wet and miserable and Stirling was no
better. However, we got to the pitches and swiftly met up with the
rest of the team, ready to face our first opponents of the day at 9am
- Shooting Stars 2.

We conceded an early few points as we took time to get our heads into
the game, but we began to pull it back in the second half when Conor
arrived to inject some venom into our O. Stars played a zone D for
the whole game, which we managed to overcome as the game progressed
but unfortunately their early advantage carried them through and we
ended up losing 8-4.

Blaze 1 followed, and we came at them with a much stronger
performance. On O, we flowed and linked up well, making it as hard as
possible for their D to keep up. Our own D was initially vulnerable
to their long game, and we were punished on a couple of points, but we
managed to shut them down and ended up taking the game 9-7.

The group was looking quite even at this point, Ro Sham 2 ahead just
slightly after Blaze drew with Stars 2. We faced up to Ro Sham for
our final game of the day, but unfortunately got turned-over on one of
our O points, giving Ro Sham a two point cushion that we weren't able
to come back from, despite going point-for-point for the rest of the game.

So ended the first day. We left the field knowing that we'd come
bottom of the group (because Stars, who were equal with us on points,
had won when we played them), and therefore that we could come no
higher than 9th in the final table. Our aim for Sunday, then, was the
plate.

But before any more ultimate could be played was the party.
Tutankhamun made an appearance, along with Cleopatra, a few mummies,
some tea-towelled gentlemen and the Egyptian flag. Lots of Red Bull
and beer later saw a large number of Scottish ultimate players on a
bus from the uni back to Stirling. Much singing.

Sunday dawned bright and clear and we took to the pitches for another
9am start, a cross-over which saw us once again facing Blaze 1. Our
team was depleted since Laura and Marou had been injured after
Saturday's play, but we got straight into the game with a quick few
points early on. Learning from the previous day, we got straight onto
closing down their long game and as a result were able to walk away
convincing 11-5 winners, moving from 14th in the table to 11th.

Mojo 2 followed, who had also been plagued by injury. As a result,
they had to pick up a few guys from other teams, and they got off to a
good start against us in one of the toughest games of the weekend
physically. They ran us hard, and for the first half of the game we
weren't able to match their rate of scoring. We managed to pull it
back a bit, and for the remainder of the game traded points with them,
but eventually Ro-Stars-Mojo won by a couple of points. However,
because they'd played with pick-ups they had to forfeit the result and
Farflung A were in the plate final.

Flatball 2 had played against Farflung 1 at the end of the day of
Saturday, and looked like a strong team. They had an effective long
game, and some nippy cuts who could potentially do some damage. We
came out at full tilt, though, and scored three or four points early
on. Flatball were making a few mistakes on O, and we capitalised.
After twenty minutes, we were definitely in the driving seat.
However, despite some calls going against them, Flatball started to
pull it back with some hucking. They scored three unanswered points
going into the final quarter of the game to bring the score to 10-9,
and then followed one very long point, seeing both teams turn over a
number of times, which eventually finished after the buzzer had
sounded with a point to Flatball. 10-10 was the score, and we moved
into sudden death, Farflung on O. Less than two minutes after the
point started, the match was over. A decisive attack from the pull
took us straight into the Flatball end-zone and the plate was ours!

I had a great weekend, both for the quality of the games and the good
craic to be had chatting to everyone on the touchline and at the
party. Everyone on Farflung A played well, and it was very enjoyable
to be a part of the team. A few personal highlights:

Sally's ever-dependable handling.

Lesley single-handedly shutting down Blaze 1's long game on the Sunday
by marking Callum so well that he could barely get the disc away.

Gaurav homing in on the end-zone time and again to keep Mojo and
Flatball on their toes, and adding a few points to the scoreboard as well.

Laura's cool head on O during Saturday's games that particularly
helped to get the Blaze game in the bag for us.

Shaun's absurdly accurate hammer that flew half the length of the
pitch into the end-zone for a score in the final.

Simon's safe hands, producing some quality grabs to bail me out on a
number of occasions after I threw him some criminally bad discs.

Marou's infamous layouts, saving more than a couple of throws that
would otherwise have gone straight into the mud.

Jessie's cheeky cuts to the line allowing us to keep up a flowing attack.

JJSJ's match-saving end-zone D against Flatball.

Conor's rampaging cuts through the defence of any team we played
against all weekend.

And I guess I'll have to add the grab that won the final for us.
Can't remember who caught that one.

Farflung on a plate!

Fuzz