Editor: Hazard (he/him)
The Open League/Cup is now finally coming to an end. A total of 32 teams (26 cup + 6 league) entered, and Clapham, Chevron, Alba, Smash'D, and Bristol have guaranteed their place at Nationals. Clapham have also claimed victory in the league, and Smash'D vs Bristol will be the cup final.
The remaining spots are assigned in the playoffs. Unlike in the Women's/Mixed divisions, only 3 spots are available. Devon are guaranteed 4th in the league, whereas Ka-pow! and EMO have one final game to determine 5th/6th.
CU Legends vs Lemmings is a seeding game between the two losing cup semi-finalists.
The winner of that game plays the 6th-placed League team (Ka-pow/EMO) in a gtg*.
The loser of that game plays the 5th-placed League team (Ka-pow/EMO) in a gtg.
EDI vs Devon 2 occurs for seeding between the remaining Cup teams, with the winner facing the 4th place League team (Devon 1) in a final gtg.
The loser of EDI vs Devon 2 is knocked out.
*gtg = game-to-go, a qualifying game for Nationals
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Other Coverage
The ShowGame are doing weekly podcasts every Friday/Saturday covering all the action
Hogi has been filming lots of games. You can see his watchalongs on Monday on Twitch, or watch the game footage on YouTube
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Structure
The overall championship is the UK National Series. Within it, teams compete for 8 spots at the National Championships. An easy to read graphic is included below.
We have 6 National League teams. They play in a mini-league. Clapham, Chevron and Alba gained Nationals spots through this route.
We also have the National Cup, with Bristol and Smash'D reaching the final to take two more spots to Nationals.
The remaining 3 National League teams (Devon 1, Ka-Pow!, and EMO), the two Cup semi-finalists (Lemmings, CU Legends), and two recovery-winner Cup quarter finalists (EDI and Devon 2) enter the National Playoffs. These seven teams are fighting for 3 spots at the National Championships.
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| Taken from UKU's guide to 2020/21 Ultimate |
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National League
Clapham 15 - 10 Alba
Location: Sheffield
Andy Lewis (Clapham): This was the kind of intense game that both teams had been waiting for since the return to play. Alba created excellent space for their star players to use aggressively and effectively. Combined with a roster that was athletic top to bottom they more then took the fight to Clapham finishing the half with a break a piece. The game was decided early in the second half where CU’s D line went on a 4 point roll against Alba’s O line. Possibly caused by Cameron Agnew apparently asking his team “not to chump it against Clapham in the second half”. Jinxes aside potential rematches at Nationals could come down to the wire with Alba certainly competing as an elite UK team!
Andrew Warnock (Alba, he/him): We were pumped up to play Clapham and immediately showed in the first half we were capable of winning, not just competing. Our O-line looked clean as anything after having a few games to gel.
Being only 1 break down at half, we talked about not being one of those teams that chumps it to Clapham in the 2nd half, but then decided that's exactly what we should do (helped by some stupidly good grabs from Conrad Wilson and Andrew Hillman).
All in all we were more disappointed with the game than happy cause it felt like a missed opportunity, but more than a few positives to take away and work on before Nats. Also shout out to Ross Nugent for his 5 minute you guys were all sh*te and should be ashamed of yourselves speech.
Alba 15 - 5 Ka-Pow!
Location: Sheffield
Andrew Warnock (Alba, he/him): We played Kapow and they had sh*t chants that were semi good patter
Chevron 15 - 5 EMO
Location:
We don't currently have a report for this game
**RED have forfeited two games, Devon have forfeited one
National Cup
Lemmings 15 - 10 EDI
Location: Leeds
Cameron Dick (EDI, he/him): Roasting day in Leeds with Lemmings having the "home advantage" (130 miles vs 215 miles). Two equally matched teams trading at the start of the game. EDI took a couple of points to create a small 2 point lead before Lemmings switched their defensive looks. Their zone was effective in shutting down what we wanted to do and led to our offence having some unusual blunders. Lemmings took half and were steadfast in their zone during our low spell. We started to piece things together in the final 10 minutes of the game, but it was far too late.
Shout out to Adam Sweeney for his defensive plays and Adam "Spaggers" McKenzie for his fortitude over his cooking ability.
James Selley (Lemmings): Lemmings rocked up to Leeds for the second Saturday on the bounce, this time the Open squad looking to emulate the success of their Mixed counterparts and qualify for Nationals. EDI had brought a sizable contingent south of the border for this game and forced a break in the very first point. Lemmings knew this game would be a step up from our previous cup games and a combination of EDI’s ability to throw the inside break and execute well worked deep shots exemplified this.
With a squad that was ‘freshened up’ with a few new faces and given no guests from the mixed squad it took the Lemmings O some time to gel especially in the face of some tight match D and well worked Zone to match transitions. Eventually Lemmings did manage to start grinding out some scrappy points breaking through the zone and stealing back a break of our own to take half 8-7
Lemmings came out in the 2nd half with a renewed focus, having learnt our lessons we switched to a zone defence, taking away some of the danger options for EDI and forcing them to work in the heat for every single metre made. This tactic paid increasing dividends, pushing the handlers deeper and limiting their deep options. With the heat beginning to take its toll on both squads Lemmings showed increasing composure on O to convert our turns and, despite a late rally from EDI, take the game 15-10.
Bristol 14 - 12 Lemmings
Location: Leeds
Jake Waller (Bristol, he/him): After having a scrappy R0 game to ‘focus up’ was cited as a factor in our dismantling of Reading in R1, Oxford’s late withdrawal from their QF match* with us meant the tables had turned for our semi-final against Lemmings. And with co-captains, R1 stars and young guns all missing through isolation, unavailability, and injury, how would we possibly cope?
After all, the Midlands men had seen off EDI in impressive fashion, finishing very strongly under our unfocused gaze. Our recently-crocked sideline champion and waterboy supreme Owen Lane suggested we needed to come out firing and since he’s a smart guy with lots of degrees, we took his advice.
A quick, clean hold first point was a good start, and we broke to make it 4-2 early on before Lemmings fought back. The heat meant both teams were taking a few shortcuts, and despite our D line generating not just turns but blocks almost every point, Lemmings put together their own great D run to take a 7-6 lead.
Cleaner O and superb defence brought us level and then took half, as well as the first point after it. From there, the game more or less traded out, as athletic plays bailed out questionable decisions from both teams. Despite throwing one such jump ball, Chris Diles was a machine, running his defenders ragged as we ground out the second half.
Holding a 13-12 lead in the cap, we looked to have given the disc up with a tight endzone shot that zipped by its intended receivers, but James “what shoulder injury?” Taylor made a gravity-defying layout grab to end an enjoyable match and send us into the Cup final.
*ed's note: our bad
James Selley (Lemmings): With the temperature touching 30 degrees Lemmings were straight into the Semi-final against a Bristol team who had received a bye for their QF owing to Oxford pulling out to focus on their mixed commitments. Lemmings knew this was going to be a battle both physically and mentally after the exertions in our previous game and with a ticket to nationals on the line.
Unsurprisingly Bristol came out firing on the first few points, looking to capitalise on their fresh legs forcing a break on Lemming’s first O points. Bristol had obviously done their scouting of our game against EDI and the Lemmings zone had mixed success against stronger handler movement forcing us to expend more energy on match D. Throughout the game it felt like Bristol were threatening on O, looking to attack the break side and generate space for deep shots which more often than not they managed to bring down even with what might be considered ‘speculative’ cross field shots to the endzone more frequently seen indoors. Lemmings did manage to force their way back into contention in the first half, even starting ‘galaxy’ (eugh) point on O but another Bristol break saw them take half 8-7.
Bristol broke again at the start of the second half and despite a valiant fightback from Lemmings, saw out the game 14-12. Huge credit to the Lemmings squad. Fatigue, injuries and cramp leading to several of the squad playing through the wall. Notable shout outs to Stevie Loat (currently training for a marathon to raise money for a great cause https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/stephen-loat) who must have iron manned the entire second half and was everywhere on defence and George Pickens who at times was un-guardable.
As a personal comment, I want to take nothing away from Bristol, they played some lovely Ultimate, were well spirited and did exactly what they needed to do to take their spot at Nationals, as the old adage goes ‘you can only beat what’s put in front of you’ so well done to them. However: I’d like to think anyone who played a league, cup or challenge match on Saturday would acknowledge how tough the conditions were. After a battle in our QF, playing a Cup semi-final against a team that was fresh from a bye doesn’t seem balanced and personally leaves a bitter taste in the mouth. I can understand Oxford’s motives for pulling out, after all Lemmings are competing on two fronts as well, however I would be interested to know how teams like Flump or Manchester (who I assume would have relished a spot in the quarter finals) feel about how this situation has played out*. Congrats to Bristol, I hope we get a rematch at Nationals and thanks to EDI, both games were intense but well spirited, a highlight of the season so far.
*ed's note: Fully agree, we knew a couple of days in advance we couldn't go so I was hoping someone else would be able to come in and take our place when it turned out we were unable to.
Smash'D 15 - 8 BLU
Location: Reading
Willem Garnier (Smash'D): BLU came out with a zone right from the start, perhaps smartly looking to save some energy in the sweltering heat (or potentially out of fear after spotting Akito Oyama's tree-trunk calves?). Our offence looked confident throughout, methodically working the disc up the pitch while the boys in BLU did their best to keep chasing the disc despite the heat.
First half was pretty tight as our defence probably took a while to figure out BLU's offence, but we eventually managed to pull away in the second half with some unfortunate mistakes by BLU on their break chances (again, the heat likely didn't help). While I heard this was a grudge match for some of the Brighton boys, it felt very cleanly played and well spirited on both sides (hopefully BLU agrees) throughout. I had a great time.
Shout-out to Dom "the best player Felix has ever coached" Burnham for a massive zone-shattering hammer, Will "Will Seth" Seth for an incredible layout D just before half, and of course BLU's Cam "scored against Revolver at worlds" Samuels for scoring against Revolver at worlds.
Clapham Ultimate Legends 15 - 7 Devon 2
Location: Reading
Ben Bruin (Devon 1): Clapham started strong with very few errors and and a solid zone. Dev 2 strangled to get any flow to begin with and made a lot of errors as they were forced into some less than ideal options. Clapham went 5-1 up before Dev 2 switched on, but soon brought it back with Clapham taking half 8-6.
Dev 2 caused more turns in the second half but couldn't convert and Clapham's zone continued to cause issues as Dev 2 tried to swing it around the back without gaining many yards. Clapham closed out the game 15-7.
Magnus Wilson (CU Legends): The game ebbed and flowed against a young but skilled Devon team. We started surprisingly well and Devon took a bit of time to hit their stride. 4-0. Devon then got going and went on a good run. 5-4.
In the end there was just enough wind for our zone to frustrate Devon, but they made us work hard until the end.
Smash'D 15 - 7 Clapham Ultimate Legends
Location: Reading
Willem Garnier (Smash'D): Our second time playing a team of legends in a day, weirdly enough they too came out with a zone right off the bat. Again, it never troubled our offence too much. Shout-out to Clapham reject Jake Betson with a filthy (potentially even disrespectful) stall one breakside huck from the brick mark to the back of the endzone to take half.
The story of the game was probably our D line going on a massive roll to put us up 7-1 in the first half before the stubborn old men of Clapham finally gave up and changed their offence.
The game was a lot tighter after that, but with an O-line as clinical as ours was we never felt too much pressure once we'd earned that early lead. They (obviously) had some great players which were really fun to mark and be marked by, I think everyone really enjoyed the game (except possibly some of the younger Clapham retirees which perhaps weren't used to losing by that margin outside of the US). I hear that we "restored Brummie's faith in UK ultimate", too. Final shout-out goes out to Fire for scoring more points against us than either of these teams did.
Magnus Wilson (CU Legends): Smash'D are a quality team. They brought the energy and athleticism you'd expect from a U24-ish team and had a lot more organisation and composure than I expected. We were sloppy with the disc in the first half and couldn't get close to them on D. I hope they can cause some upsets in the top 4 at Nationals, but it remains to be seen how they will cope with the significant step up in quality that they'll face.
Another enjoyable weekend for the Legends with more people coming out of the woodwork (Si Weeks, Kai, Brummie & Parslow) plus Sam Hill adding some much needed youth (wearing his father's shirts that are older than him). If any CU alumni are reading this and are interested in the next round, please get in touch.
Devon 2 15 - 12 BLU
Location: Reading
Ben Bruin (Devon 1): Much better start from Dev 2 as they managed to get into their rhythm early and break first point. Both teams then traded for several points and neither team could capitalise on the errors made as the heat took its toll. Dev managed another break or two before half as they became more patient on the disc and tidied things up, along with a couple of saving grabs from Ali Todd. Second half started well for Dev 2 with more breaks coming from their tight man defence and a couple of layout D's from Rhodri Williams taking the score to 11-7. BLU then began to force a few errors out of Dev 2 and connect on their long game as a late comeback began. BLU brought it back to 14-12, but it was just too big of an ask in the heat and Dev 2 closed out the game on O to make it 15-12.
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