Team:
Adam Levi
Andy Glover
Mike Elliott
Alex Finch
George Imbert
Rob Mann
Gopithan Ganath…. Ginethi….Ganesathas?
Luke Farmery
Taran Wanderer
Graham Flower
Ethan Fitzpatrick

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Starting Seed - 57th
Final Seed - 51st

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Plymouth Ultimate’s first Tour and first tournament has come to an end. From it we have a lot of positives to take away, a lot of lessons learnt and a lot of conversations that probably shouldn’t be repeated in public.

Our squad of 11 started the weekend poorly with some hotel issues which briefly left us with nowhere to stay for both nights. Gopi saved the day by finding a last minute Premier Inn. By the time we all got there, and with an early start there was no time for shenanigans and the squad hit the hay. Our first games as Plymouth Ultimate loomed.

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Game 1 - Fluid 4 - 12 (L)

Fluid as a team were a complete mystery to us. We hadn’t come across them before so had no idea what to expect. We came out of the blocks a bit slow and Fluid took an early lead. We found it hard to click as a team and made it too easy for Fluid to have a go at offense. They were clearly a well drilled team who capitalised on these opportunities and put most of them away. We started to connect more in the second half and took some more risks. Some of these came off and certainly got any ladies nearby going. Not a game to be recounted in years to come.

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Game 2 - Horsham Hippos 12 - 6 (W)

Going into the game there was no doubt that we underestimated the capabilities of Horsham Hippos and ⅔ of the Wilson clan. We managed to get a few points in and gain a comfortable lead. We used this as a good chance to practice our zone and get some structure in. They managed to run us hard and tested our defence with some quick play and long looks both down and up wind. Our zone managed to slow down their pace and create turnovers. A few long points drew the game out but we kept our lead and managed to get Plymouth Ultimate’s first win. #Browntown.

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Game 3 - The Brown 3 - 15 (L)
This was always going to be a tough game. We had played The Brown in previous years and it had always been tough. We were unfortunate that this game didn’t come along later in the weekend. We struggled against their zone which managed to shut down a lot of our options. We worked hard and showed some real grit against their defence to work the disc against the wind through some delightful handler movement. We just needed that last 10% which comes through chemistry. In the end that 10% made a big difference. The Brown did the basics and they did them well. Credit where credit is due. #Hilton

Last game of the day and we held our seed. Time to head back to Derby and get our grub on before heading to a bar to watch the football with beer and try to understand why there was so much rolling around. Lads lads lads.

We worked out who we were playing first thing Sunday when we got back to the hotel and realised that there was no way we could chump this one. Roll on Sunday!

Game 4 - Devon 3 15 - 4 (W)

This was a big one. We knew what we had to do and we knew what we had to build on from Saturday. We came out strong and proved our point from the start. A reliable offence and a smart defence cut out a large majority of their downwind options. That’s not too say they made it easy for us. They may be a third team, but they had a lot of reliable handlers and some up and coming Air Badgers who got some strings of good passes and some fast cuts in to show what they can do. In the end our pace and passing game were too much for them and we managed to get a comfortable win. #DevonDurby

Game 5 - Kent 7 - 10 (L)

We were on an ultimate high (sorry not sorry) after smashing D3 and were looking forward to carrying that on to this game. We had switched from a definite upwind downwind to a sorta kinda crosswindy thing. Kent came out with a zone which suited this crosswind and made us work for everything. They got the turn and the upwind point, followed by the downwind point. Then they did it again. Boom. 4-0 down. Time-out called. We needed to switch something up and change the momentum of this game. We dug deep and clawed ourselves back in to the game bringing it to 6-7 with 20 minutes to go. Calls started flying out fairly regularly, some deservedly, some possibly not so much. Tempers started fraying and this would either pump us up or wind us up. In the end this was a frustrating game for us, with a spectacular offensive game to get the upwind points and a strong defensive effort, we couldn’t catch up and take the lead. Kent held their lead they established earlier in the game and took the win. No break before the next game.

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Game 6 - Manchester 2 14 - 9 (W)

This was the last game of the weekend and we wanted to make amends for our last game. We had heard that Manchester had been bageled in our last game but didn’t want to let this get to us. Part of me thinks we did. We were tired from our last game and came out sloppy. The benefit of being bageled is that you finish early and have time to rest if you’re on next game.We started out strong to take a commanding lead. Then we mentally went home. We dropped off on defence and let them get some points on us in both directions. This is where their legs and their rest really benefited them. Luckily we were far enough ahead to secure a win with a push-pass from Levi.

It was a successful weekend overall. We hadn’t played together as a team before and we gelled massively. We had a strong set of handlers who could force their way through any zone by the end of the weekend. We had deep threats who could stretch the defence, create chaos and bring down anything. Unless it was Levi’s throws. We had committed defenders who were willing to get stuck in and give everything to get anything on the disc. And we had Ethan, who wore that coat really well.

I think we can all take some important lessons from this weekend:
1. Dont let Gopi book hotels
2. If you’re called Finchy, put some sun tan lotion on
3. Stall count is 10 outdoors

Can’t wait for Tour 2. See you lads in Cardiff.