The tournament was a wonderful experience, both on and off the pitch. In just a week so many things happened that none of us will ever forget. We gelled as a team and as close friends - probably helped a lot by the messy love circle at the end of the week!
To finish off our reports, here are a few memories we thought should be mentioned:
Mingle mingle in the pool and out of it was loads of fun. We did a different version against the Canadians and Megan was in the final against a Canadian player. They had to do a slack jaw dance-off and em... for the sake of everyone not there, that's enough said.
Alan's idea to make Deirdre eat a whole gooey glob of congealed jellies: the 'can you fit it all in your mouth' challenge. Olly was a great ally, pushing Deirdre on. She turned purple in the end but she managed to get them all in! Alan got his comeuppance when the same thing happened to a bag of Haribo later in the week. He had to spit it out too but he got all of it in with slightly less bulging eyes than Deirdre!
Darragh ate a live cicada in exchange for 8 beers. Which he never got.
Courtney's crazy faces and crazy grabs.
Moffat's (or 'Muffet's') perfect floaty reset throws every time. She was a bit of an unsung hero this week. Her throws got things moving on O and she was always there as dump when there was no option up the field. Her pitch sense is amazing. She was always baiting the other team to throw a pass to a player which she then stole right out from in front of them.
Amy C taking on role of shortfill with gusto. A position she had never played and she managed to get free every time the disc got stuck on the sideline. She did not panic on the disc but waited for the 100% option to happen and took it. She also managed to take down so many discs way above her head and by playing smart outran many girls who were much quicker than she was.
All of our outside-in hucks and hammers, the practice paid off.
Saturday night in the hostel (before the police came due to noise and caused us a lot of trouble. Wreck the buzzes).
Claire's excellent D against Finland where she not only steamed ahead of her player to get there first but she also caught it cleanly. She then threw it to the ground. (She thought she had landed out but had in fact been in). Turn over!
Helen had this to say:
I really enjoyed and gained so much inspiration from the fact that I never, nor I doubt anyone else left the pitch after a point without an encouraging comment from what was the most encouraging and well-spirited team I have ever played on.
Speaking of Helen, I mentioned she was fierce in the cup (someone mentioned a Hobson-cup being the most terrifying form of defence a team could have) but in the Japan game she not only got a D, she also scored that point. Who has the legs to do that! The next day she went and got a handblock on a Canadian handler. Too easy.
Fiona played a hand in 11 out of 15 of the points in the second Finland game. Deirdre was a massive force in the game too and was always able to get free at will.
Louise's super post-sunstroke comeback. It made such a difference to have her back. A favourite moment of her was in the game against Canada where she sent a beautiful outside in flick across the pitch, past her dump, past the stack and into Claire's awaiting arms. I'm not sure what inspired it but a score came off easily because of it and it was sexy.
Talking about the handlers, Sinead was so impressive this week. She might well have been the most improved player on the team. Her dump cutting was proper, quick and had lost all thoughts of indecision. She was a lot more confident on the disc and rarely made a bad choice. She also got really intense on D and stuck tight to her player in every game. Her breaks were always perfectly on and she did it was though no one was forcing her at all.
Aine was the same; she was very safe on the disc. She worked hard on every defence point. Whether she was short-fill or dump, she managed to get free and take the disc down.
Claire absolutely never stopped running for any disc or on defense. She was the perfect teammate. She was always upbeat, always pumped up, and always wanted the disc. An absolute inspiration for everyone.
Jennifer’s zone defense was incredible. Having just started this year, she wouldn’t have trained that much on zone, and certainly never with our team! She managed to shut down so much movement as the wing. She didn’t let the disc get past her on the sideline and trusted her teammates speaking to her on the sideline to tell her where her biggest threat was!
Megan was another massive threat on defense. She got several massive d’s, where she smashed the disc to the ground and then calmly ran and made perfect cuts. She also managed to take herself out when she caught a terrible disc not even intended for her, helping us score an early point in our comeback against Finland (the first time).
Fiona was a shark as the deep. Everyone standing on the sideline kept hoping to see the offense put the disc long because everyone was confident that Fiona would be the one to take it down.
Courtney was an all rounder as a captain. She was an efficient organiser, a tear-jerking speech maker and a powerful handler. She kept everyone going and took care of anyone who needed it, making two separate trips to the hospital with some of our players. I heard her right gun increased to twice its size with all the hucking and pulling she did.
Alan was so helpful on the sideline. He was innovative when things weren’t working. In the Columbia game, we were being annihilated and he pulled Courtney aside and said, from now on, your line is the D line. Your job is to tell those girls to run as hard as they can toward the endzone and either your or Louise is just to put it to them. If they take it down, grand, we’ll play from there. If not, we’ll zone the shit out of them. And we did. And the score the second half of that game was Ireland 7-Columbia 8.
Emma was the most dependable receiver on the team. Handlers had no qualms about putting a disc long to her because she took everything down. She was a huge asset on d because she always came down with shitty discs put up by the other team. She never stopped cutting, never stopped running her ass off on d, and never stopped shutting down the deep game of the other team.
Deirdre was another huge asset to the team. She brought an attitude of let’s go out there and get this and have fun doing it. She had so many d’s and her connection with Fiona was unstoppable. In the first game, Deirdre threw a few flick hucks that didn’t come off. She said to a few of us on the sideline, I really should stop doing that. And she did. She threw one hundred percent throws for the rest of the week, and as it turned out, some were beautiful flick hucks with patient accuracy.
Helen was an ideal receiver. All you had to do was make eye contact with this girl and she would run anywhere to take down the disc for you.
Caoimhe was a massive d player this week. She took so many discs out of the air that she had no right catching. She ran her ass off in the cup on many occasions. She said to Courtney on the sideline once after being congratulated on taking down a disc way over her head, “What do you mean? I was always going to catch that disc.” Her swagger proved how far she’s come as a player in the last six months.
Celine, having never really played much in the women’s scene before, was an absolute beast on the pitch. No one will soon forget the point in the last game where she got a massive d right outside their endzone after having run around in the cup for five minutes. She calmly received a pass from one of the other girls long before any of the handlers had a chance to get within 30 metres of the disc.
Olly was a great role model on the pitch. She played calm offense, only throwing good passes and catching everything sent her way, meant for her or not. She took the disc back so many times, making her by far our most effective d player. She struggle with niggles all week but played on, never complaining. When she was no longer able to play, she was still such an asset. She screamed from the sideline and was so helpful to her teammates on the pitch. This is the definition of a true team player.
Lastly, a special mention has to be made of the mixed team. When we all saw them playing in their final game against Finland, we all wished we could have seen the start of their week because nothing could have inspired us more to play our hearts out. They were relentless fighters and it was not evident that any of them had been playing for 5 days in the blazing sunshine. The girls were phenomenal- how they kept sprinting and wiping the floor with their markers with so few of them was unbelievable. The boys were the perfect set of guys you want on a mixed team. There was no GB style about them! Their intense zone was unbeatable, especially with an aggressive mark like Fintan's. They were raring for it the whole way through and they should know that they did Ireland the proud. There was never defeat on their faces and Italy was definitely aware that they only won by pure luck because the Irish were out for their scalp.
Courtney and Fiona
Friday, August 6, 2010
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Women - Day 5
The final day of games for us! We drew Finland for our bottom half semi-final and we knew both teams would be raring for it. We expected them to come out stronger than the first day but we had confidence in ourselves too. The first half was once again taken by them by a one point lead. We were trailing with them for the rest of the game right up until sudden death when we played probably our most intense point of the tournament. Neither team was going down without a fight; the D play was sensational. We thought we scored with a hammer from Pugh to Tracey who prematurely spiked it thinking the game was won but no - a pick was called! It looked like we were going to take the game twice more but nerves made for slippery hands and it wasn't until I zinged a flick down the line that Claire snatched from under the Finns' noses that we were able to finally accept the victory as ours. What a fantastic match. Everyone was completely up for it and stepped up their games, despite tiredness. Unfortunately we lost Olly early in the game to a hamstring injury and I think losing our MVP of the first game was a big reason behind the tighter scoreline. However, that is not to take anything away from Finland who were a much better team the second time around and a lot harder to turn. Their disc skills were much more impressive and therefore we really had to put it all in on defence.
MVP: Fiona Mernagh
Score: 15-14
So for the 5th/6th playoff we were drawn up against Colombia. We heard from the Germans that they were tired but so were we, especially having had a much closer first game that day than them. Both teams wanted to change the game to a later time in the evening but were told this wasn't possible so it was a 3 o'clock game again for us.
We came out against the Colombians but unfortunately weren't beating them for pace or skill. We punched in a few scores. I think the first one was my huck and D that, since Alan had asked us to do it, Emma and Megan were both expecting and legged it to the endzone for, Megan actually managing to catch it (helped by Emma's pushing).
At half time we were down 9-3 so we weren't feeling overly enthused or energetic about the game. Thank God for music! With Louise's i-pod speakers we let our hair down and rocked the marquee, dancing to such notorious classics as 'No Limits' and other pump up tunes like the Pretenders. We also had our own rendition of Living on a Prayer, led beautifully by our conductor Mr Doyle. With this kind of blood pumping action it was time to attack with a zone! Celine, Helen, Megan, Caoimhe - absolute heroes in the cup! They terrified the Colombians with their aggressive counting and energiser bunny movements. They really put the fire into this game and allowed us to have a much more impressive scoreline of 5 - 8 in the second half. One of those scores was a beautiful one-two between Emma and Celine outside the endzone. We were able to finish feeling very proud of ourselves and I know I was smiling at the end of it.
MVP: Celine Campbell (thanks in part to Courtney's 'constructive criticism')
Score: 8 - 17
MVP: Fiona Mernagh
Score: 15-14
So for the 5th/6th playoff we were drawn up against Colombia. We heard from the Germans that they were tired but so were we, especially having had a much closer first game that day than them. Both teams wanted to change the game to a later time in the evening but were told this wasn't possible so it was a 3 o'clock game again for us.
We came out against the Colombians but unfortunately weren't beating them for pace or skill. We punched in a few scores. I think the first one was my huck and D that, since Alan had asked us to do it, Emma and Megan were both expecting and legged it to the endzone for, Megan actually managing to catch it (helped by Emma's pushing).
At half time we were down 9-3 so we weren't feeling overly enthused or energetic about the game. Thank God for music! With Louise's i-pod speakers we let our hair down and rocked the marquee, dancing to such notorious classics as 'No Limits' and other pump up tunes like the Pretenders. We also had our own rendition of Living on a Prayer, led beautifully by our conductor Mr Doyle. With this kind of blood pumping action it was time to attack with a zone! Celine, Helen, Megan, Caoimhe - absolute heroes in the cup! They terrified the Colombians with their aggressive counting and energiser bunny movements. They really put the fire into this game and allowed us to have a much more impressive scoreline of 5 - 8 in the second half. One of those scores was a beautiful one-two between Emma and Celine outside the endzone. We were able to finish feeling very proud of ourselves and I know I was smiling at the end of it.
MVP: Celine Campbell (thanks in part to Courtney's 'constructive criticism')
Score: 8 - 17
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Mixed Team - Day 2
As it turned out I didn't get to write much while actually at Florence. Limited time, internet availability and energy generally made it pretty difficult. I'll post up recaps of the rest of our games this week for anyone interested.
First things first, our joint MVPs for day 1 were Ross and Mairead. Ross put in a huge effort against Poland and GB with smooth break throws, excellent cutting and huge hucks; meanwhile, Mairead pretty much held the team together by managing to play longer than anyone else on the team when she was needed most, while still getting free at will and driving our offence forward.
Ireland v Italy
Wednesday was slightly odd in that we had only one late game, at 5 pm on a satellite pitch. We were up against Italy and we were determined to make amends for the disappointing result in the GB game. And that's exactly what we did. We went out full force from the beginning, stepping up our defence in a massive way from the previous day to capitalise on a slightly sluggish Italian offence and consistently win turnovers. At the same time our offence was starting to flow nicely. Handler resets were smoother, we began to use our deep game a lot more efficiently and endzone clogging was drastically reduced.
We traded to 3-3, and then got down to the real fight of the game. The next point lasted for about 15 minutes, with neither side able to convert their chances. A timeout was called after Ireland turned the Italians yet again; afterwards, Italy came back out with a zone which the Irish waltzed through with ease. We hammered the point in and I think it was at that moment we knew that we had faced the best the Italians had to offer and that, if we just pushed hard, we could win our first match.
The dogfight continued on with both sides extremely close. Italy had a very strong female contingent and, noticing our low number of women, decided to play 4 women on the line whenever they could. Our ladies rose to challenge, however, putting in exceptional performances against very talented players. Emma made her return from the previous day and played a huge game. Tempers on-pitch became a bit frayed between the sides, unfortunately. There were a large number of calls in the latter half of the game, with contested rule interpretations, a lack of clear communication between the teams and lots of involvement by the very vocal Italian sideline.
Neither side was able to establish a clear lead and time was called, leaving a game to 11. After more trading and very hard fought points, we found ourselves in sudden death with hearts firmly in mouths. Errors saw both teams turnover several times but in the end it was the Italians who managed to put away the score leaving the game standing at Italy 11, Ireland 10. After fighting so hard for so long, we were absoluely gutted by the loss.
Optimism soon replaced disappointment, however. The performance on day 2 was miles above the previous day. We knew if we carried that forward, we could do great things. And maybe, just maybe, we might have a chance to get revenge on the Italians later in the tournament.
MVP for the Day: Mairead. Undertook a huge job in matching up against Italy's most experienced female player, a Yakka handler who we knew simply as "Dreadlocks". Mairead shut her down, got a bunch of Ds on her and in turn ran rings around her on offence.
First things first, our joint MVPs for day 1 were Ross and Mairead. Ross put in a huge effort against Poland and GB with smooth break throws, excellent cutting and huge hucks; meanwhile, Mairead pretty much held the team together by managing to play longer than anyone else on the team when she was needed most, while still getting free at will and driving our offence forward.
Ireland v Italy
Wednesday was slightly odd in that we had only one late game, at 5 pm on a satellite pitch. We were up against Italy and we were determined to make amends for the disappointing result in the GB game. And that's exactly what we did. We went out full force from the beginning, stepping up our defence in a massive way from the previous day to capitalise on a slightly sluggish Italian offence and consistently win turnovers. At the same time our offence was starting to flow nicely. Handler resets were smoother, we began to use our deep game a lot more efficiently and endzone clogging was drastically reduced.
We traded to 3-3, and then got down to the real fight of the game. The next point lasted for about 15 minutes, with neither side able to convert their chances. A timeout was called after Ireland turned the Italians yet again; afterwards, Italy came back out with a zone which the Irish waltzed through with ease. We hammered the point in and I think it was at that moment we knew that we had faced the best the Italians had to offer and that, if we just pushed hard, we could win our first match.
The dogfight continued on with both sides extremely close. Italy had a very strong female contingent and, noticing our low number of women, decided to play 4 women on the line whenever they could. Our ladies rose to challenge, however, putting in exceptional performances against very talented players. Emma made her return from the previous day and played a huge game. Tempers on-pitch became a bit frayed between the sides, unfortunately. There were a large number of calls in the latter half of the game, with contested rule interpretations, a lack of clear communication between the teams and lots of involvement by the very vocal Italian sideline.
Neither side was able to establish a clear lead and time was called, leaving a game to 11. After more trading and very hard fought points, we found ourselves in sudden death with hearts firmly in mouths. Errors saw both teams turnover several times but in the end it was the Italians who managed to put away the score leaving the game standing at Italy 11, Ireland 10. After fighting so hard for so long, we were absoluely gutted by the loss.
Optimism soon replaced disappointment, however. The performance on day 2 was miles above the previous day. We knew if we carried that forward, we could do great things. And maybe, just maybe, we might have a chance to get revenge on the Italians later in the tournament.
MVP for the Day: Mairead. Undertook a huge job in matching up against Italy's most experienced female player, a Yakka handler who we knew simply as "Dreadlocks". Mairead shut her down, got a bunch of Ds on her and in turn ran rings around her on offence.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Women - Day 4
Up next was Great Britain. We really wanted to bring our performance from the evening before to this game but unfortunately this didn't happen until the second half. We were trailing 9-1 by half time (though our first score was pretty epic and involved another amazing hammer moment) and everyone needed to take a breather and refocus, not least of all myself. Half time ended and we showed the British what we were really made of. We played zone again and forced them to turnover, though we couldn't always convert the turns to scores. We proved once again that we could rally ourselves and come out stronger as a team, never letting up for a second and we clocked in some more scores. Favourite moment of the game for me was seeing Emma's hand reach over about 4 peoples' heads in the endzone to sweep up a floaty disc, ever the graceful and calm receiver. It was also fun to know that one of the GB players was shrieking at them to 'get a fucking D' because they couldn't turn us over. :)
MVP: Claire Pugh
Score: 5- 17
Second game of the day was against Canada, another team we knew to expect to be very strong. They threw a zone on us but we were very calm and controlled with the disc and our hammers were proving very useful in this tournament! They even got a mention in the call afterwards, saying they were very impressed with our abililty to throw them even into a strong wind. (Deirdre knows all about that!) More impressive throwing was exhibited by Louise as she threw a high release outisde in flick huck, making it too easy for me to catch in the endzone. Courtney afterwards gave a speech- the best they said they'd heard all tournament, made all the better by her Irish accent...
Not the most spirited team we played unfortunately (just ask Amy who got a disc to the face) but their skill and technique outclassed us in the end.
MVP: Deirdre Corbett
Score: 6 - 17
MVP: Claire Pugh
Score: 5- 17
Second game of the day was against Canada, another team we knew to expect to be very strong. They threw a zone on us but we were very calm and controlled with the disc and our hammers were proving very useful in this tournament! They even got a mention in the call afterwards, saying they were very impressed with our abililty to throw them even into a strong wind. (Deirdre knows all about that!) More impressive throwing was exhibited by Louise as she threw a high release outisde in flick huck, making it too easy for me to catch in the endzone. Courtney afterwards gave a speech- the best they said they'd heard all tournament, made all the better by her Irish accent...
Not the most spirited team we played unfortunately (just ask Amy who got a disc to the face) but their skill and technique outclassed us in the end.
MVP: Deirdre Corbett
Score: 6 - 17
Women - Day 3
Our third day saw a triumphant return of Louise and our SECOND win of the tournament! We played the Germans in the morning and with Emma's magnetic arm for anything Courtney sent soaring, they didn't stand a chance. We played the game on a lovely, properly green field and I think it gave our legs the extra boost we needed to outrun the Germans, even though they were very tall and athletic. This is particularly true of Olly who got so many run through Ds. Amy Moffat smashed through any force on her with casual breaks, Celine Campbell was pumped and savage on defence and took down a huge stall 9 huck under pressure at one point, Caoimhe and Jennifer were perfect long receivers against a zone, never panicking when they caught the disc outside the endzone and Sinead even hucked it at one point! Deirdre had a sensational crosswind hammer and Claire skilfully won us the game catching a lovely long throw from Amy, which she read perfectly (unlike me).
Germany was a lovely team to play against, despite their mad coach with a wooden spoon prowling the sidelines, and deserved our highest awarded spirit score.
MVP: Emma Tracey
Score: 17 - 12
Next up was the Japanese and what a game! We really put it to them and shocked even ourselves with the outcome. We decided to try some brand new things, not even practiced at home in Ireland, such as a zone and ISO. Our zone put loads of pressure on the throws and caused the Japanese to turn over several times, giving us the opportunity to respond with quick offence. Our ISO had them at a loss for what to do, with Courtney's excellently weighted throws making it easy for the ISO to run on to. At first we couldn't get the disc from the ISO to the endzone but with a quick adjustment by our clever coach Alan, we were able to offload easily to the likes of Claire and Helen, who timed their cuts perfectly and outpaced their markers easily. Always a fun team to watch, the Japanese were very intense and brought out the best in us.
MVP: Courtney Hosp and Claire Pugh
Score: 7 - 17 (woo!)
Germany was a lovely team to play against, despite their mad coach with a wooden spoon prowling the sidelines, and deserved our highest awarded spirit score.
MVP: Emma Tracey
Score: 17 - 12
Next up was the Japanese and what a game! We really put it to them and shocked even ourselves with the outcome. We decided to try some brand new things, not even practiced at home in Ireland, such as a zone and ISO. Our zone put loads of pressure on the throws and caused the Japanese to turn over several times, giving us the opportunity to respond with quick offence. Our ISO had them at a loss for what to do, with Courtney's excellently weighted throws making it easy for the ISO to run on to. At first we couldn't get the disc from the ISO to the endzone but with a quick adjustment by our clever coach Alan, we were able to offload easily to the likes of Claire and Helen, who timed their cuts perfectly and outpaced their markers easily. Always a fun team to watch, the Japanese were very intense and brought out the best in us.
MVP: Courtney Hosp and Claire Pugh
Score: 7 - 17 (woo!)
Women - Day 2
Our second day saw us come up against the Colombians in fiercely hot weather. We were playing in the middle of the day but had lost Louise to sunstroke (from the first day). This was a massive blow to the handler line. I was feeling the heat myself for the first time and struggled to maintain concentration. We were battling hard but it was clear a lot of the team was not coping well with the heat. Emma and Amy are amongst those few who were carrying us through each point and clocking scores in our favour, though the tricoloured morphs can also take some credit for one of the goals! At half time Alan proposed we forfeit the game as were dropping like flies and it wasn't a game we needed to win. The Irish blood in us fired up at this notion and a majority vote said nay! We went out in the second half, screwed the noodles on and battled out the rest of the game. Seeing how we started off the next day, I think it was the best thing we could have done for our spirits and morale.
MVP of the game: Amy Moffat
Score: 3-17
MVP of the game: Amy Moffat
Score: 3-17
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Day 1- Women's Team
Finland vs Ireland
With a squad of 16 girls, we set out to play an athletic and experienced looking squad of 16 Finnish girls. We started off slowly, failing to shut down their open side passes and deep puts. We woke up when the score was 6-2, with Finland ahead. They put a zone on, which we managed to rip through (probably thanks to all our practice against the LMS girls' zone!)We brought it level to 8 all, with everyone getting huge d's and playing calm offense. (Notable things here: A huge D from Caoimhe, where the disc was miles above her head and she took it down right in front of her man in front of the endzone. Olly Murphy and Deirdre Corbett running through everything and taking the disc back loads of time. Helen Hobson using all the space in the endzone and scoring loads of times! Fiona Mernagh taking everything out of the air. Megan Reilly catching an amazingly difficult disc, not meant for her, by attempting a layout on the rock hard ground.) We were playing like a team and Finland were scared. They managed to bash in the last point and took the half.
After hiding in a small patch of shade for 10 minutes, we headed back out on the pitch, hoping to pull up level with them. We started on D but managed to turn them and bashed in a score. We took the next point as well, putting us in the lead for the first time in the game. We traded until 11 when we scored three in a row. Time was called and it was a game to 16. We all knew it was so important to get the next point to ensure we'd take the game. It was probably the longest point we played because both teams really wanted it. But Ireland proved the stronger and scored. We got on the line pumped up to play defense and get the disc back. This game was ours for the taking and we wanted it. After a few turns from both teams on silly mistakes (everyone was very hot and very tired), we managed to get a big huck off to Emma Tracey. She was incredibly calm and dumped the disc and ran in to catch the score, though a travel was called on her throw. She again managed to get the disc off and we turned over again. We didn't want to have to play up the length of the field so we played really intense d and turned them on the first pass. We had a lovely cut from Helen Hobson to the break side for the score.
Everyone really played like a team. Everyone managed to get involved in both defense and offense and I'm pretty sure everyone either scored or assisted at one point in the game. I know Fiona, Alan, and I were so proud of everyone on the team for their performance.
MVP of the game: Olly Murphy
Score: 16-11
Australia vs Ireland
We knew this would be a difficult game as they had bageled Germany in the first game. They proved too strong for us and took the game. We were short a few people to heat stroke and injuries, and were really destroyed from playing in the 40 degree heat. We took our chances but nothing worked. We couldn't overcome their experience, their numbers, their agressive defense and amazing throws, or their ability to play in the extreme heat.
MVP of the game: Fiona Mernagh
Score: 0-17
Today we have one game against Columbia at 3pm.
With a squad of 16 girls, we set out to play an athletic and experienced looking squad of 16 Finnish girls. We started off slowly, failing to shut down their open side passes and deep puts. We woke up when the score was 6-2, with Finland ahead. They put a zone on, which we managed to rip through (probably thanks to all our practice against the LMS girls' zone!)We brought it level to 8 all, with everyone getting huge d's and playing calm offense. (Notable things here: A huge D from Caoimhe, where the disc was miles above her head and she took it down right in front of her man in front of the endzone. Olly Murphy and Deirdre Corbett running through everything and taking the disc back loads of time. Helen Hobson using all the space in the endzone and scoring loads of times! Fiona Mernagh taking everything out of the air. Megan Reilly catching an amazingly difficult disc, not meant for her, by attempting a layout on the rock hard ground.) We were playing like a team and Finland were scared. They managed to bash in the last point and took the half.
After hiding in a small patch of shade for 10 minutes, we headed back out on the pitch, hoping to pull up level with them. We started on D but managed to turn them and bashed in a score. We took the next point as well, putting us in the lead for the first time in the game. We traded until 11 when we scored three in a row. Time was called and it was a game to 16. We all knew it was so important to get the next point to ensure we'd take the game. It was probably the longest point we played because both teams really wanted it. But Ireland proved the stronger and scored. We got on the line pumped up to play defense and get the disc back. This game was ours for the taking and we wanted it. After a few turns from both teams on silly mistakes (everyone was very hot and very tired), we managed to get a big huck off to Emma Tracey. She was incredibly calm and dumped the disc and ran in to catch the score, though a travel was called on her throw. She again managed to get the disc off and we turned over again. We didn't want to have to play up the length of the field so we played really intense d and turned them on the first pass. We had a lovely cut from Helen Hobson to the break side for the score.
Everyone really played like a team. Everyone managed to get involved in both defense and offense and I'm pretty sure everyone either scored or assisted at one point in the game. I know Fiona, Alan, and I were so proud of everyone on the team for their performance.
MVP of the game: Olly Murphy
Score: 16-11
Australia vs Ireland
We knew this would be a difficult game as they had bageled Germany in the first game. They proved too strong for us and took the game. We were short a few people to heat stroke and injuries, and were really destroyed from playing in the 40 degree heat. We took our chances but nothing worked. We couldn't overcome their experience, their numbers, their agressive defense and amazing throws, or their ability to play in the extreme heat.
MVP of the game: Fiona Mernagh
Score: 0-17
Today we have one game against Columbia at 3pm.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)