Wednesday 27 June 2007
Last weekend saw the new revamped Chevron Action Flash descend on the UKU Open Tour with high hopes. Held in London, the team were hoping to wipe away the memories from 2006 and start afresh with a new younger, keener, fitter squad. Helped with the new sponsorship from ING Real Estate we also unveiled our new kit on the unsuspecting public.
In the squad there were a number of debuts on Tour for Frank, Matt D, Dav, and Jacko. We also saw the return of Dave G, Clo, Jesper, and SiD to the fold.
Pool Game1: Mild Mannered Janitors (MMJ)
Going into this game we were apprehensive, MMJ had been known to cause many
an upset and despite lacking the fitness the had more experience than most
in their squad. As it were this game was a blessing in disguise, a small
MMJ squad turned up and we were allowed to settle in to playing together -
some of us for the very first time. A lazy game saw us win comfortably 15-8
I think?! One thing we noted that intensity on D would need to be improved
on.
Dave Grayson gets the disc moving.
Picture courtesy of ultimatephotos.org
Pool Game2: Fire of London
So on to the top seeding of our group. 2005 Tour winners and 2006 runners
up we knew this wasn't going to be easy. A lot of personal errors cost us
in this game and meant we went down 15-11 (I think), a positive was the
performance of the D. We managed to get numerous turns out of Fire but
sometimes couldn't convert, if we were to challenge at the top then this
needed to be sorted for future games.
Pool Game3: Clapham2
Final game of Saturday and it was the show game between 4th and 5th seeds.
This was out quarter final. If we win we go to semis, if we lose we enter
the dogfight for 5th! The whole weekend rested on this game and we came out
all guns blazing. The O line steadily scored and the D team did enough to
get us to half 8-4 up. In the second half Clapham had a mini resurgence until we managed to work out their long game. A game with unmatched spirit at times, we ran out winners 15-11 and
into the semi for the first time on Tour since 2005!!!
Semi Final: Clapham 1
For some of our squad their first time in a semi, for others it felt like
being back where we should be. Clapham1 looked strong with their band of international pick ups. We knew it was going to be tough and we started to trade the start of the game, both teams able to get turns on the others offence. The difference was that Clapham1 could convert their D's whilst we didn't always. We lost half 8-5
I think? The second half was much the same, despite getting turnovers on
them personal errors cost us dearly with far to many throw aways and even
drops... The highlight is that what cost us wasn't being beaten by a
superior team but was because of ourselves. Something to work on...
3v4: Fire of London
This game although seen as the losers final could prove pivotal in the final
Tour rankings. Chevy went into it slightly lethargic and we went 4-2 down.
Then the fight back started and a genius call by the captains of breaking
from tradition and celebrating our scores seemed to lift the squad. Getting
turnovers on Fire hadn't been the problem but the D line then started to
convert and we took half 8-7. We then went out after half and got another score to give us a small cushion. At 11-9 we knew we would need to scrap for the win but after a couple of traded points we converted another D to finish the game 15-12.
So after the first tour we stand 3rd in the ranking with the belief that we still have more gears to use. At times we played exactly how we wanted to and at other times we resorted to how we played last season but this is definitely a step in the right direction!! Roll on Tour 2 where we hope to finally get the win we so desperately want
Matt Mcloughlin