The Recap: Open Playoffs

Editor: Hazard (he/him)

The spots at Open Nationals are now finalised! Well, nearly. Naturally, in this year of all years, there has to be a hiccup. As such, Clapham Legends vs Ka-Pow! has been postponed and will hopefully serve as the hypest qualification match of the year.

That game aside though, we now know that Devon 1 and Lemmings join Clapham, Chevron, Alba, Smash'D, and Bristol at Nationals. An additional well done to Smash'D for winning a nail-biter against Bristol in the final of the cup! To find out what went down, read on for the fantastic words from our contributors.

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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

Ulti.tv are trying to gather support to produce high quality footage at Nationals and other UK tournaments (released for free to the public). You can support them and find out more on Patreon

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Structure

The overall championship is the UK National Series. Within it, teams compete for 8 spots at the National Championships. 

We have 6 National League teams. They play in a mini-league. Clapham (1st place), Chevron (2nd place), and Alba (3rd place) gained Nationals spots through this route.

From 26 teams in the National Cup, with Bristol (Cup finalist) and Smash'D (Cup winner) took the two automatic spots at Nationals.

The remaining spots were claimed by Devon 1 (League 4th place), Lemmings (Cup 3rd place) and one of Ka-Pow! (League 5th place) and CU Legends (Cup 4th place).

The Open Playoff bracket. A "W-L" result indicates a team forfeited.

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National Cup Final

Smash'D  15 - 14  Bristol

Location: Reading

Willem Garnier (Smash'D): To be honest, I didn't really know anything about Bristol going into the season other than hearing that they weren't too happy about Devon (the team, not the county) relocating to Bristol. We knew to expect a tough match-up given the teams they had to beat to get here, but had little-to-no information about who their players to watch out for would be.

As it turns out, I personally didn't think any one player on their team stood out as running the show for them, they were just a really well-practiced, solid unit that all seemed very prepared and on the same page throughout the game. Those teams are always a pleasure to play against - and a pain to defend. 

We traded for the first few points, our O-line scored confidently while our D-line repeatedly would manage to force a turn but would fail to convert every time... until Bristol finally managed to get a turn on our offence, and quickly scored the first break of the game. The pressure was instantly on our back, Christian Turvill was frothing at the mouth, and we responded with a run of several breaks in a row to take half 8-5. 

At halftime we set ourselves the goal of never taking our foot off the gas, and aim to finish the game 15-5... Bristol had none of that. They switched up their defensive looks, and continued to give our defence trouble throughout, which meant we never really managed to properly pull away into safe territory like we had done with lesser, more unknown teams such as Clapham Legends and Fire 1. They eventually managed to string a run of several breaks in a row to be up 14 - 13 with two chances to win it... Thankfully, we finally managed to hold to bring it to universe, where our very own Dr. Niall Jackson (MD) diagnosed a Bristol huck with a serious case of "get that weak s*** out of here", slapping it out of the air with no hesitation to save the game. A dubious toe-in at the back of a very non-clearly marked out endzone later, and we were celebrating the cup victory. 

Shout-out to the weather for staying sunny despite rain being forecast for the entire day (sucks to be you Tessa), and to Bristol's Hamza Alawiye for not only being a Warwick Bears legend but also teaching me how to cook rice properly.

Jake Waller (Bristol, he/him): It's a rare privilege to lose a match and still enjoy it this much, and that was testament to the quality of ultimate from both teams as well as their positivity. Smash'D were loud, athletic, and intense from the start (as expected) and I'm proud we kept our heads and brought the fire to take an early, narrow lead. 

Our O line took a while (and a few overheads) to figure out the Smash'Defence, while our D line caused turns throughout. Then came their fire—Smash'D upped their level and romped to a 3 or 4 point lead at half. Starting the second half well inspired us to our own run, and we grabbed the lead late, 14-13. Smash'D held nervelessly, and we were onto universe. Smash'D came out zone and we found a gap through before shooting to the endzone. Two big men underneath it, one in red, one in white, and neither could reel it in. Would our turn make their offence think twice about sending their own deep bomb? Not a chance. These boys trust their athleticism and they ran down a big put for the win. 

Fantastic game overall and hope for a rematch at Nats. Smash'D deserve a big trophy—so that we at least deserve some silverware!

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National Playoffs

Lemmings  15 - 9  EMO

Location: Leamington Spa

Nathan Sanders (Lemmings): A very blustery start to the game saw EMO struggle to move through a zone giving Lemmings the upper hand and a controlling 4-0 lead. Ollie White threw up some hilariously good pulls which meant EMO were consistently starting deep inside their endzone. Not only that, but playing out against an athletic bunch (lead by Will Marshall on chase) who were putting in everything they could meant that EMO struggled to find their form. The middle of the game saw the efficiency of both teams drop significantly, a lot of turns and unforced errors from both sides but Lemmings manage to find the endzone more often and maintain a good lead at 14-5. 

Lemmings were sitting pretty but EMO mounted a strong come-back, channelling their inner Kapow and looking for 10 points on the bounce to see them take home the win. Unfortunately for them 10 proved too many, and Omar Khan manage to squeeze in a gorgeous upwind flick to Dave Cubitt to send Lemmings through to their first nationals in the Open division.

Devon 1  15 - 4  EDI

Location: Winford

Cameron Dick (EDI, he/him): Another 450 mile journey for one competitive UKU game. Conditions were wet but firm underfoot with a clear upwind/downwind split. EDI scored the first point, going a break up against Devon. However, as the game went on our offence was self sabotaging with a few execution errors in the redzone. We had opportunities and should have converted on those better. 

It was the first time playing against a top 4 club for many of our players, so it was a pretty good (albeit gutting) experience for us, but helpful in our clubs development. Credit to the lads for their efforts this season and whenever I'm next stuck in the back of a Seat Mii travelling down to England, it'll be too soon.

A forfeit from Devon 2 meant EDI went straight through to play Devon 1 in the game-to-go.
A forfeit from Clapham Legends meant there was no seeding game for Lemmings to play.
The Clapham Legends vs Ka-Pow! game has been postponed, but not forfeited.

The Recap: Women's Playoffs

 Editor: Hazard (he/him)

And so, the eight top teams who will meet at Women's Nationals have been decided! Iceni, Bristol, SPICE and the cup-winners London Masters will be joined by SYC, SCRAM, Reading and SOUL in Nottingham. Thanks again to all our contributors, and thanks to you all for joining us for this coverage.

In this articles we have reports from the cup final, the playoff games, and also two additional friendlies - including a Nationals preview game of Iceni vs Spice! 

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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.

We have 6 National League teams. Bristol and Iceni gained Nationals spots through this route.

We also have the National Cup. London Masters (winners) and SPICE (finalists) gained a further two spots here.

Now that the playoffs have been settled, SYC (4th place league), SCRAM (5th place league), and the two Cup semi-finalists (Reading, SOUL) have taken the final four spots.

The Women's Playoff bracket. A "W-L" result indicates a team forfeited.

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National Cup Final

London Masters  11 - 9  Spice

Location: London

Lily Huang (London Masters): Swirly wind, on-and-off rain, and Spice offering some preternatural heads up/poachy defence made for a frustrating start for LMU. It seemed that every LMU pass was straight into the hands of a Spice poach. Within the first few minutes, LMU found itself down 5-0. 

The time out at 3-0 didn't seem to work, but the 5-0 time out saw the LMU handlers do a better job of engaging their defenders. The defence held up their end by playing some nice shut down with a few smart switches. Somehow we took it back to 6-5. To be honest, that bit of the game went by in a blur for me. We then traded to take half 8-7. 

There was 2 minutes of halftime, then only 15min left to play. LMU started on offence, but Spice took the first point to tie 8-8. LMU then took the upwind to 9-8. The next point saw multiple turns from both teams. Spice called a time out with 30m to go to score. LMU sandwiched in the endzone with fierce handler marks to deny any resets. We got the turn and possibly a few turns later from both teams, converted to take the morale boosting downwind point 10-8. Spice then answered after a few more turns from both teams 10-9. Cap on. 

More turns from both teams, Chesca Weddell has a target painted on her ankles--multiple discs die at her feet. We graft to get the D back. Stopped play on the sideline from about half pitch, LMU on offence. Jenna Thomson calls reverse chariot. Then says, "take a moment to think about what that might mean". The sideline echos it but has no idea what it might mean. Luckily, cutters all go deep, defenders all follow, leaving Catherine Gainey standing open in the middle of the pitch. Jenna tosses it to Gainey, who tosses it back to Jenna, who got eyes from Sophie Beavan and found her deep in the endzone. Game LMU 11-9. We all remember to breathe again. Lots of stand out moments from both teams!

Maya Israel (Spice): Our game against LMU was a tough loss, but perhaps a great lesson on mental toughness. We took a 5 point lead over LMU at the beginning of the game. Our defence was strong and I think perhaps LMU had a bit of a slow start. After our 5th point, however, and a couple of time outs, something in LMU switched. They had a great 6 point run comeback, taking the score to 6-5. After that, points were traded until half (8-7), which was scarily close to the end of the game. After half, LMU continued on their roll, taking two more points before the cap, which made it a game to 11. It was a hard fought final, with a lot of incredible layouts on both O and D, but ultimately, LMU took the title 11-9.

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National Playoffs

SYC  15 - 7  Uprising

Location: London

Rupal Ghelani (SYC): Firstly SYC want to shout out to Uprising to say thank you for helping us get this game organised. We were all concerned about travelling given the current COVID status however we are glad that together we managed to come to a solution and that wouldn't have been possible without Uprising's help! 

The game was very wet and very soggy and practically took place in an ongoing cold jetwash. So credit to both teams for dealing with the conditions admirably! And shout out to Barnes Sports Centre for letting us continue to play despite questioning our sanity to do so. 

SYC started out playing zone hoping to encourage Uprising to take one too many passes, however Uprising dealt with our zone handily with some really nice over head looks - perhaps one of the best offenses against our zone all season! We then had to switch to match defence and managed to get our offense going as well as capitalising on some unfortunate slippy drops by Uprising to break quickly and utilise the deep shots. SYC took half, but Uprising came out storming after the break and put a few of points on the board. SYC then managed to get our heads back into it before taking the game 15-7. A thoroughly enjoyable game despite the conditions! A HUGE shout out to Freya Lenton from Uprising for being a formidable cutter and bringing down lots of high discs!

Georgia Forder (Uprising): A massive thank you to SYC for organising the pitch and our games with themselves and Brixton. Before we started, we knew this game was going to be tough. The weather was not what you’d want for any game. I’d imagine I’m speaking for the majority of players when I say that we practise in all weather, but have never played in rain like we were experiencing that day. 

Despite that, both teams came out hard. SYC had put out a zone and despite some fabulous handler movement and fantastic cutting and grabbing by Freya Lenton, we were unable to continue for a score. After 2 great scores by SYC, Uprising took a time out to relight our intensity. #fireitup We came back and scored off our time out and after a couple more points, the score was 4-2 to SYC. SYC took half but Uprising came back with a couple more points to boost the score. We had finally found our groove and the points started to become longer, with both teams revving up defence. With SYC’s slick offence and the rain easing up for some deep shots, SYC took the game 15-7. I’d like shout out a couple more Uprising players - Katie Barraclough for non-stop cutting, Han Booth for some excellent handling and Suzy Qu, who had some solid switched-on defence - me and Ola were still talking it about later that day!

Reading  14 - 2  SOUL

Location: Reading

Gemma Coleman (Reading): Knowing that we were through to Nationals due to Red’s forfeit, Reading came into our match against SOUL looking for an opportunity to simply play a bit more fun ultimate as a team before Nottingham. The match started in speccy fashion, with the first point being scored off a full-stretch layout grab by Elspeth Newlin due to a fadey huck from yours truly (thanks Speth). 

We alternated between zone and match defence, taking advantage of our tall, speedy players to cover the unders and back ourselves to hunt down long shots. It took most of the first quarter for both teams to get a handle on the breeze upwind, which was light compared to the forecast for the day, but wrecked havoc on a number of leading forehands. SOUL started to flow towards the end of the first half, but couldn’t quite connect in the endzone as Reading took half 8-0. 

In the second half, SOUL’s handlers Hannah Pendlebury and Rebecca Lindsay helped run their structures from the back, whilst Abi Cohman provided some great options downfield. We managed to play through both match and zone looks from SOUL, with special credit on offence to Beth Jeffrey for always being a threat in the end zone, Izzie Collins for using pace and height to get free all over the pitch, and on defence to Cam Spearing for some sneaky run-through catch D’s. Thanks to SOUL for battling floods and thunderstorms to make it to the match, and giving us one last hit out before the August long weekend!

Due to RED and Sheep, Birds, & Bees both forfeiting games, SCRAM and SOUL qualified automatically.

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Challenge League

Iceni  14 - 7  Spice

Hannah Brew (Iceni): We have been waiting to play Spice all season and were super excited that they'd conveniently arranged the cup final at Jenna's school, making it only small trip to see the final and then get the pleasure of playing Spice. 

From the get go-we focussed on Spice's smooth down-the-line to lead-pass offence. We took around 3 or 4 defensive points to have an impact on this style of play really focussing on our handler defence. After adjusting slightly, it took Spice a few points to switch onto this, until they started taking on the swing options much quicker in order to attack the handler space laterally instead of forwards. 

They then threw the same back at us with handler defence that made the throwing lanes seem tiny, which really made us be conscious of how much width we were using. This resulted in a time out of the classic "pull it together and just swing the disc" variety. I think Spice's success on D came down to energy and effort and that's exactly why we were looking forward to playing them! 

Once they got a bit more slick at this we turned to a handler sag zone trying to separate the upfield from the handlers which resulted in some hard throws for Spice around and down the line. Iceni struggled to be consistent outside the endzone as Spice forced us to take countless passes and squished us into the not so fun places on pitch! All in all I think it was a well executed game from both sides with Iceni just pipping Spice to the post on those last few passes going upwind. Glad to be playing a great team in some wind and a bit of rain - perfectly recreating Nationals in August...

Maya Israel (SPICE): We’d been wanting to play Iceni before Nationals, so were grateful they travelled up to our Cup Final game against LMU. Coming into the game, we’d just lost the final. I think this had two effects. Obviously, we weren’t running on fresh legs and were feeling frustrated after the last game, so I think that led to more errors than we would have liked. But I think Spice players appreciated a less pressurised game after the last (even though we still wanted to win and give Iceni a good game). When Iceni got into the game, their offence was incredibly slick. They loved up-the-lines and used their long game really well. They took half at 8-4 and continued pushing on until the end of the game, winning 14-7.

SYC  15 - 2  Brixton

Rupal Ghelani (SYC): We love playing Brixton! And this time was no different! Thank you to Brixton for coming down and playing us and Uprising - and for bringing the good weather with you. Brixton's clinical offence meant we had to be hot on defence throughout, with the Brixton handlers making some really nice swing passes and up the line cuts. Brixton got us on the back foot and worked the disc up the pitch quickly on offence, but had some unfortunate drops closer to the endzone. SYC managed to generate some turn overs and had tidied up our endzone since the first game meaning we were able to work efficiently off a deep shot. Shout out to Emma Pickens and Alana Calne for taking control of the offence. And to Tessa Jalink for some tasty shots to break through Brixton's zone! From Brixton shout out to Georgia for huggggeeeee layout grabs and to Rose for tight shut down match defence

And, to finish, here are the Reading and SYC Instagram posts celebrating their wins this weekend.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by SYC Ultimate (@sycultimate)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Reading Ultimate (@readingultimate)

The Recap: Mixed Playoffs

Editor: Hazard (he/him)

Distinguished readers, we've done it. We've finally reached the end of Mixed qualification. The Cup, the League, and now the Playoffs are all completed. Very well done to Cambridge, Oxford, SMOG 2, and Deep Space for joining Reading, SMOG 1, Lemmings and Thundering Herd at the National Championships.

Also, an additional well done to Lemmings for winning the National Cup! They beat Thundering Herd in the final to see themselves atop a pyramid of 17 teams that started facing off almost two months ago.

So, for the time before Nationals, here is the lowdown on all things Mixed.

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Other Coverage

The ShowGame are doing weekly podcasts every Friday/Saturday covering all the action

Hogi filmed some games this weekend. You can see his watchalong on Twitch, or watch the game footage on YouTube

Ulti.tv are trying to gather support to produce high quality footage at Nationals and other UK tournaments (released for free to the public). You can support them and find out more on Patreon

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Structure

The overall championship is the UK National Series. Within it, teams compete for 8 spots at the National Championships. 

6 National League teams played in a mini-league, with Reading (1st place) and SMOG 1 (2nd place) taking Nationals spots. Mighty Hucks (3rd place) declined their spot.

From 17 teams in the National Cup, Thundering Herd (cup finalist) and Lemmings (cup winner) claimed two more spots to Nationals.

The remaining 4 spots were claimed at the National Playoffs by Deep Space (league 4th place), SMOG 2 (cup 3rd place), Oxford (cup 4th place), and Cambridge (cup QF recovery winners). 

The Mixed Playoff bracket. A "W-L" result indicates a team forfeited.

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National Cup Final

Lemmings 11 - 4  Thundering Herd

Location: Milton Keynes

Nathan Sanders (Lemmings): We were very grateful that Herd had managed to find and book a gem of a venue in Milton Keynes. The game had a very strange start with neither team being able to control the elements and after what seemed like forever, Lemmings took the first point. The next two points weren’t much better, and after 25 minutes of playing some of the worse Ultimate you’d ever seen, the game was sitting at 2-1. 

The conditions calmed down as the game moved on but it seemed that both teams were slow to adapt to this; the strong winds and forecast of a thunderstorm was definitely still on everyone’s minds. Some unfortunate drops in and around the endzone from Herd saw Lemmings take a healthy lead at half time. Andy Partridge gave a fantastic first half performance from in his first game back from injury, before a bad collision meant he was back on the sideline for the home stretch. With most of the time gone we were able to close out a heated game with a comfortable hold against a Herd zone. 

We finished with a quick team photo before a sharpish departure to try and catch the end of the Lemmings Open vs EMO game. [SPOILERS] - it was a doozy!

Chung Leung (Thundering Herd): Both teams struggled to find their offensive rhythm early on in the game. Lemmings started picking up more of their offensive points and converting their turns with some expansive looks. Great play especially from their women who were incredibly consistent. Herd got into our own heads a little bit and didn't play our game until the second half by which point Lemmings were comfortably clear. Well done to Leamington on being Cup Winners. Thoroughly deserved. Rematch at Nats

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National Playoffs

SMOG 2  15 - 5  Oxford

Location: Manchester

Heather Williams (SMOG 2): The weather created some mildly challenging conditions due to some on-and-off rain and the occasional unexpected gust (Welcome to Manchester!), but thankfully the worst of it held off and cleared up early on in the game. Both teams were a little shaky at the beginning, which may have been down to a bit of nerves and Oxford not having as much time to warm up and settle on arrival thanks to some traffic disruption. The teams traded until fives, with Oxford taking an early lead before something seemed to click with SMOG 2, and we found our flow to take half. 

Oxford decided to mix up their defence and brought out a zone and some well-placed poaches to stifle some of SMOG 2’s flow, whereas SMOG 2 opted for hard match to generate turns, with a notable mention to Ed Simpson for a spectacular layout D. Both squads struggled to reach players at times by overthrowing some otherwise excellent deep cuts. However, SMOG 2 managed to connect a bit more often to take the game 15-5. 

Despite the score line, it was a much closer game than it reflects and Oxford’s unrelenting intensity and graft meant that SMOG 2 couldn’t afford to take their foot off the pedal. It was a fun and well-spirited game, and we hope that both teams have more like it at Nationals!

Harry Mason (Oxford, he/him): Oxford came out hard for this SMOG 2 game, or as hard as you can with a dramatically reduced warm-up due to traffic on the M6 (thank you SMOG 2 for agreeing to the 15 minute delay). Some bad weather cleared up just as the game started, but it was clear both teams were still shaking off a few rain drops.

SMOG 2 took an early couple of points, but Oxford fought back to take the lead themselves. From there it traded a little, with Oxford up 5-4. Then, SMOG 2 won 15-5.

There were a few drops from both sides, but it was clear SMOG 2's endzone play was a lot more clinical - Oxford spent a lot of energy working up to the end but not quite converting. Turns were still happening throughout the game, but Oxford weren't able to capitalise - perhaps with one eye on saving energy for the game ahead. 

SMOG 2's women were as athletic as you might expect, and Harry Glasspool had some excellent heads up defence throughout the game. Very well played, and good luck at Nationals!

Oxford  15 - 12  Glasgow

Location: Manchester

Harry Mason (Oxford, he/him): Fresh off the loss against Glasgow and facing the prospect of losing three "game-to-go"s in a row, Oxford quickly went down again in what would turn out to be a very fiercely fought game. The first half featured a lot of lead-changes with both teams utilising a variety of throw lengths, making defence have to play more honest. Well, in theory, but a lot of poach-D still happened from both sides. Oxford rallied to break for half 8-6, in what would turn out to be a crucial point.

The second half featured a lot of two-point runs, as 10-6, 10-8, 12-8, and 12-10 all showed the teams gathering energy for a break and then not able to convert the subsequent offence. The rain had started to drizzle in the lovely way northern rain does, and this did seem to put a dampener on Glasgow a little more than Oxford. Oxford ended up pulling away slightly to make a final score of 15-12.

Full credit to Glasgow for an amazing game! Audrey Melançon-Fournier had some amazing grabs to save dying discs for Glasgow, and Ben Cornelius bested me personally with a cut deep on at least one occasion. For Oxford, I'm going to shout out my first half performance and how I did on that first half only. Phili Kent came in with some amazing grabs as she always does, and Luka Nedic integrated quickly to become part of our team backbone.

Ben Cornelius (Glasgow): Glasgow and Oxford both came out fighting hard with us both trading for the first couple of points. Oxford put up a zone which slowed our offence down but we still managed to be calm and collected and work our way through it. 

After a few unfortunate turns on our behalf, Oxford took half 8-6. Oxford had a plan and that plan was to shoot it deep, which they did very well, particularly to Harry Mason. A plan which I was a personal victim of... 

The score was pulling away in Oxford's favour and Glasgow created some momentum towards the end, getting some breaks but sadly not enough to close out the game with Oxford taking the win at 15-12. Congrats to Oxford for the win! 

Thank you to everyone we played against in the League. It was an interesting change in format this season and it will be exciting to come fighting next year! Good luck at Nationals. No Scotland. No party (specifically mixed).

Cambridge  15 - 8  Birmingham

Location: Tipton

Elva Preston (Birmingham): Birmingham started slow and with a lack of intent on defence which set the tone for the start of the game. This allowed Cambridge to get some points on the board with some great endzone shots, taking the score at 6-1 before Birmingham woke up. Once they got going, Birmingham started to look like themselves again with some patient offense working through the Cambridge zone and intense defence, with the score at half 8-5 to Cambridge.

In the second half, both teams struggled in the wet and windy conditions and plenty of turns were generated on both sides. However, Cambridge were able to bring the disc down more often with some sick layout grabs to retain possession. Final score was 15-8 to Cambridge with a well deserved win to take them to nationals.

Hannah Smith (Cambridge): I’d echo everything that Elva has said above - it was a close game between two evenly matched teams. We realised early on in the game that Birmingham had great handler movement and so used our zone to try to counter this. Whilst Cambridge were able to get some points on the board early on, Birmingham gained some momentum just before half, working their way through our zone with confidence. This lead to a couple of modifications in our zone which worked well for us in the second half. 

There were impressive bids on either side (shoutouts to Hannah Boddy from Cambridge and one of the Birmingham women for an amazing possession saving grab- sorry I don’t know your name!). There were a few calls on either side which were communicated well and resolved without much issue. Many thanks to Birmingham for hosting us for the game!

Due to Leeds forfeiting both games, Deep Space qualified automatically.

The Recap: Open National League and Cup QF/SF

  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

Here is the final structure of the playoffs, with the decisive EMO vs Ka-Pow league game also shown.

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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.

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

National League 2021
Mixed					Women's					Open
Team	Played	Wins	Losses	GD	Team	Played	Wins	Losses	GD	Team	Played	Wins	Losses	GD
Reading	4	4	0	31	SMOG	5	5	0	37	Clapham	4	4	0	28
SMOG	3	3	0	21	ICENI	5	4	1	22	Chevron	5	4*	1	15
Mighty Hucks	4	2	2	12	Bristol	5	3	2	24	Alba	5	3	2	20
Deep Space	4	1	3	-11	SYC	5	2*	3	-11	Devon	5	2	3**	4
Birmingham	4	1	3	-25	SCRAM	5	1*	4	-31	EMO	2	0	2	-22
Glasgow	3	0	3	-28	RED	5	0	5**	-40	Kapow	4	0	4	-35

*SYC, SCRAM, and Chevron have all benefitted from being forfeited against
**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.

A graphic showing the open cup structure. Credit to u/smoothconch on the UK Ultimate subreddit