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.