15th-16th July 2017
UKU TOUR 3 2017 - EDENBRIDGE
Team:
Adam Levi
Mike Elliott
Alex Finch
Sustainably sourced Ben
Gopi Ganesathas
Luke Farmery
Graham Flower
George Imbert
Tom Blake
Jim Norman
Jamie Rabbetts (Sunday Only)
Starting Seed - 11th
Final Seed - 9th
Although C Tour had been abandoned across the country for Tour 3, we were starting seeded 11th, within the top half of B Tour South, which means that IF there were a B Tour AND a C Tour, then we would totes be in B Tour. So we were starting B Tour, lets see if we were actually able to show that we deserve to be in the “B Tour” of B Tour.
On Friday we barrelled across the M4 to Casa Del Norman. After being suspected by Security Guards of trying to turn Chessington World of Adventures overflow car park in to a dogging hot spot, we headed for a pint, a catch up and an early night. We woke up nice and early and made our way to Edenbridge for game 1.
Game 1 – Cloud City 15 – 5 (L)
Cloud City was a perfect example of the impact that regular training could have on a team of players who individually were nothing special. We got a quick turn and got a point in. Boom. 1-0. Let’s see what else we can do. Cloud City started busting out their Jabbas, Palpatines and Wookies. These started to work for them and Cloud City took a bit of a lead. On our offense we struggled to complete and get points in. We started to pick up on what their plays were and shut a lot of them down.Despite this, because we couldnt score when we had possession, they managed to improvise and get their points in eventually. They kept going and got the win. We were straight on after for our next game. No break for us.
Game 2 – Helix 15-6 (L)
We had a chat to discuss where we could improve and hoped after this we would click enough to get the big W. Helix was a combination of the two B Tour / C Tour flip floppers ‘ABH’ & ‘Curve’. They had a big squad and fresh legs. This was going to be tough.
We briefly traded, and then they started to pull away. Again, similar to Cloud City, individually we definitely were probably maybe better than them. But they had chemistry. And hadnt played a game already. As a result, they stormed ahead and took the game comfortably. Not a lot else to say about this game. No one likes losing to McLovin.
We came bottom in our pool, but held seed, so it made sense.
Game 3 – Brighton Legends 15-7 (L)
Next we had our cross over, the 11 v 6.
After a 3.5 hour gap and 3.5 hours of warming down in front of a TV in the Clubhouse, we made our way to the pitch, and on arrival felt fairly confident.They had 1 sub. How could we lose to a team with 1 sub? Like this….
As you will have read about in my previous installment from Tour 2, Brighton teams do things incredibly efficiently. With minimum effort required on defence, and quick offense to get the points in before they can even think about getting tired. They used a zone against our O and cut out handler movements and long options, leaving only 50/50 over-heads and passes through gaps in their wall which were tighter than a Nun’s vagina. Credit to our handlers, they did a great job of breaking their defence and making ground. We just couldnt convert these chances in to points. Brighton managed to Brighton these moments, and convert them in to points. They racked up the points and took the win. Well deserved. And then they pumped up one of my tyres, which I hope was reflected in their Spirit score.
End of Day One. Could have gone better. But we held seed. We were still in the “B Tour” of B Tour. Just.
Myself, Levi, Ben, Gopi, Finchy and Jim headed back to Casa Del Norman to relax, get showered and changed, and try and get Levi to hurry up and stop fannying about with his hair. We took Sustainable Ben to a sustainable and responsibly sourced Vegan restaurant, a Beefeater.
Game 4 – Kent Ultimate 15-5 (W)
After a disappointing day on Saturday we were in to the important games, to really prove where we should be. We had a tough game against Kent at Tour 1, where they really made the most of a swirling cross wind. This time there was no chance we were giving them the same satisfaction. We had lost GB Coach Matt after Luke scared him off, but we picked up Jamie. But it’s not like Jamie could make that much difference, right? Wrong!
We came out hard and stormed up to a 5-2 lead. Kent had nothing in their arsenal, except the odd deep shot which came off 50% of the time. Our offence in comparison was magical. A mixture of short handler movements, long shots, medium stuff.
Kent struggled to shut us down, and our defence pressurised every movement to cause them to make mistake after mistake. After the game they commented on how their heads weren’t in it for that game. Whilst they tried to pin their loss on their psychological mistakes they made from the start, I’d like to think we caused their mental breakdown from not giving them any options and forcing the mistakes.
We really clicked in this game and showed what Plymouth can do.
Short break before our next game.
Game 5 – Cambridge 13-11 (W)
This was an important one for us. We won in Universe Point last time round at Tour 2, after being 9-2 up, winning 11-10. This was our chance to make amends and show we deserved to win that last game.
We came out hard and got a couple of points on the board. They had a couple of strong handlers and some nippy cutters who knew their plays well. We had a lead of a few points and traded throughout the match. We were fairly even most of the way through, but started to show the odd hot and cold patch, going up by a few, then conceding a couple in a row. We held out our lead and kept calm on the disc. At 9-8 to us, Ben puts it deep and I take it down in front of the left side of the end zone and call a time out on stall count three. But I do it properly, unlikely Finchy. We set up an iso on Luke. He does something different, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand scoober to the back corner of the end zone. By this point we were pumped, and there was no way we were losing this game.
The hooter went and we were up 11-10. If we just continued to trade, the game was ours. That wasn’t good enough for us though, and we got two points in a row to take us to 13-11 and get us the win. #GopiVSexyGopi
Game 6 – Helix 15-5 (W)
What. A. Game.
After losing to Helix fairly convincingly on Saturday, we were certainly expecting a similar result. They were down a couple of players, but we still had similarly sized teams. It started out the same as the last game, with Helix taking a 4-2 lead. Then Sustainably Sourced Ben must have run out of people to tell he was Vegan, because he lost his shit. And it worked. We started putting in point after point after point. We took half 8-4. 6 on the trot. We didn’t give them anything. We went back in after the half with our heads up, looking to keep our roll going. We took them to 10-5. This was the Plymouth style of play we had been looking for, and it was glorious.
Unfortunately it was too late for the guys in Birmingham to make their way to Edenbridge to stream the game, because this was more exciting to watch than any Clapham game. We kept up our intensity and shut Helix down. We took the game 15-5 and finished our game, our day, our Tour and our season on a high.
Our last game over, time to head off, have your tyre explode on the M25, wait around for the Road Adults to shut down the left lane of the motorway, change to a space-saver tyre, drive all the way from Reading to Plymouth at 50mph and arrive home 8 hours after setting off. The things we do for frisbee….
This was a mixed weekend for us, with a day of losses and a day of wins. It showed that we have the ability to perform at a high level, and compete with the best in B Tour. We just need to build on our team chemistry and get on the same wavelength.
A brief review of the season - We started out seeded near the bottom of C Tour, at 58th. In 3 tours, over 2 months, with no more than 12 players for any tour, we managed to work our way up to around 35th in the country! We also finished Tour 3 above Camden 1, and as a result, above Morey - The most important result.
After this successful year, there will be serious progression within the next few months to ensure that we come out next season more cohesive, smarter, harder, better, faster, stronger and with Finchy knowing how to call a time-out.
I have massively enjoyed playing these 3 Tours with you guys, and can’t wait for next year. Watch this space lads!