Monday 15 October 2007
The first weekend in October saw a youthful Chevron squad attend the EUCF (European Ultimate Championship Finals) for the first time since it's conception a year ago. The squad was full of the new Chevron talent to such an extent that Dave Barnard was the oldest player there and the average age of the squad was somewhere between 21 and 23 years old.
Having finished 3rd at UKU Nationals we were placed in the third pot to be drawn which left us with a group of death: Zamperl (GER), Flying Angels (SUI), Karhukopla (FIN). Due to the nature of the weekend individual moments of greatness won't be mentioned as too many to remember. For those who weren't their speak to the players they all had their favourite moments
Game 1: Zamperl
We came out of the blocks slowly not helped by a VERY early start!! We struggled to get intensity on D but did manage to keep ourselves within touching distance. A strong second half performance saw us claw back the lead Zamperl had managed to achieve and we won 15-14 in sudden death. Not bad against the top seeds of the pool.
Game 2: Flying Angels
Again we struggled at the start but managed to keep in touching distance. Sometimes out O line didn't score but the D line managed to keep the impact minimal by converting. We ended up 14-14 game to 15. FAB got the score and won. However we were then informed we were playing to 17.. we lost 17-15. Losing once sucked - losing twice is just mean.
Game 3: Karhukopla
The Finns were topping our group despite being the bottom seeded team in it. Two comfortable wins against the other teams meant we needed to win to top the group - a loss would give us a cross over( if Zamperl lost to FAB). We fought extremely hard. It was an intense fast game at times and we were in touching distance the whole way through. Both teams had leads gained and lost eventually the Finns took the game 15-13. Although we were disappointed we new not all was lost.
Cross-over: Helsinki Ultimate (FIN)
Chevron seem to play HUT at every European tournament. In 2005 we beat them twice in two epic games at EUCC. We went into this confident and wanting the win. Not all was to be, we lost half and HUT took a slight lead I think being 12-9 at one stage. Drawing a big crowd the D line started to step up (helped by Barnard having a strop). Turnovers were forced with a hard man D and conversions started to come. At 14-13 game to 15 we stacked the D line, turnovers were forced by both teams but eventually a Beavan to Clo huck was sent and Clo caught it to take us into the top 8. An epic game were all 16 players really showed true grit to grind out the win.
Quarter: Clapgun (UK)
We now faced our old rival Clapham. They were favourites to win and had a strong team. We went into this buoyant but the effects of 4 long intense games had started to show. Our offence stopped converting meaning they spent long stretches on the field. At the end of the game the D line stole a couple of points back but it was too little too late. Disappointingly we didn't give them the game we knew we could and they ran out comfortable winners 15-7. Our biggest defeat of the weekend so far.
Semi: Ragnarok (DEN)
Having played these in Copenhagen we knew what to expect. They love to huck. Having the triple towers in the team (Dyno, Clo, Pichler) and the rest of the squad ably supporting we should have dealt with their offence a lot better. As a team the effects of the previous two days were plain for all to see. We were drained physically and mentally having had the tightest set of games out of all the teams. We didn't turn up and no one present really remembers anything positive from this. Score ended up 15-5. Lesson to learn - fitness is key!
Final: Feldrenner (GER)
We beat this team twice in EUCC and knew what to expect. This would be another tough game which would be settled by who wanted it more. The loss of Dav to injury and Owain to being a pillock meant we were down to 14 "fit" players. We were slow out of the traps on D and didn't seem to put much pressure on their offence. Slowly that changed and we started to trap them into the end zone looking for our third Callaghan of the weekend. Sadly they seemed to break out each time. Our offence was sure and looking good. We even took half for the first time in the tournament. Both teams had runs of good and bad. Our bad seemed to come at the wrong time. A disappointing loss (16-14) as we felt we should have won the game, we had the skills and desire. I personally feel that we weren't helped by the Germans attitude to the game where a number of calls were made purely to break the flow or even stop us from getting the turn.
In the end the squad of 16 managed to get us an 8th place and second highest placed UK team in the tournament. We are extremely proud of the squad and what we achieved. Given the full squad I think semis would of been a certainty but 8th is still an extremely good result. Especially when you consider the experience of the players. Congratulations to Si "SiD" Dathan on MVP and special mention to Matt "Evil" Dathan who came a close second with an impressive display as O line handler.
Time to put the feet up
Matt Mcglooglon