Strange Blue 2 Tournament Report

Open Outdoor Regionals

After the debacle that was trying to get a team out for OT3, it was brilliant to see such an immense squad turn up for Regionals. The team:

Tejas Guruswamy, Nick Owen, Chris Barnes, Nick SD, James 'Coburn' Coburn, Poul Alexander, Ken Koyanagi, Simon 'Burgers' Vernon, Kaustuv Joshi, Andrew 'Draves' Avery, Fraser Elliot, Andrew 'Tebs' Tebboth, Tom Cozens, Andrew 'Daisy' Curtis, Ryan 'Token' Moore, Kati Nesper and Lily Huang.

(If I've forgotten anyone, sorry, it was a big squad).

Strange Blue 2 (9) v Flyght Club (8)

A close opening game to kick off SB2's regionals against a strong Flyght Club side. Flyght Club took an early lead, getting two quick points from good hucks from their handlers (one of whom is apparently in charge of Lookfly or something), with SB2 struggling to cover them deep. At which point, SB2 started playing some solid ultimate, using a mixture of excellent short passing and handler movement and a few decisive hucks to put pressure on Flyght Club, scoring 3 consecutive points. Following this, Flyght Club then decided to call a time out, which favoured them greatly, bringing out their wedge zone, which few in the team had experience playing against. Some impatience from the handlers coupled with a lack of zone offence experience meant that SB2 saw a lot of turns, which were quickly converted by large Flyght Club hucks. SB2 scored a few more points, mostly through good handler movement.

Final Score:

SB2 6 - 13 Flyght Club

Strange Blue 2 (9) v Jest Redisculous (6)

The next game was against Jest Redisculous, a team who had, for OT2 at least, made it into A-Tour. This was a tough game, although once more SB2 showed some great prowess when it came to working the disc up the pitch. The scoreline could have looked much better had we been chillier closer to the endzone. A large number of silly drops didn't help either and when mistakes are made against a team of that quality, you get punished as was demonstrated. But not before Tebs scored an epic layout Callahan that will apparently be up in the tournament photos - seriously it was awesome.

Final Score:

SB2 4 - 12 JR

Strange Blue 2 (9) v St Albans 2/Midland All-Stars (10)

A team made mostly of St Albans players with a few pickups proved solid opposition for SB2, with the scores swaying to and fro. SB2 started the stronger, claiming the first break, although St Albans came back to level the score at 5-5. A timeout was called, after which SB2 proceeded to take the half 7-5. The All-Stars didn't give up though, and soon the score was back at 8-8. SB2 then pulled it out of the bag, again, excellent work from the handlers to score the final 2 points. During this game 3 of the St Albans players ended up injured, including one when Lily absolutely schooled him and he just fell over.

Final Score:

SB2 10 - 8 St Albans/All-Stars

Strange Blue 2 (9) v Flyght Club (8)

Despite the sense of deja-vu, this was probably the most enjoyable game of the weekend and a much closer affair than the first game (despite having an identical scoreline). Again, SB2 were done by some epic hucks and sweet takedowns that were difficult to play against as well as the wedge zone. However SB2 did play a few sweet points, especially the penultimate one where the Flyght Club zone was effectively rendered redundant by some of the best short passing SB2 produced all day.

Final Score:

SB2 6 - 14 Flyght Club

So, we held seed (albeit 2nd bottom), but this really should not be seen as a bad performance. Of the 17 man squad, 6 had never played for SB before, a further 2 having never played at Club level before and 8 having only 1 year's experience of ultimate or less. This bodes well for the future of SB Open and was an awesome day all around.

Thanks for allowing me to waste your time with my ramblings. Nick SD