Barramundis v Team USA (aka Shazam returns)

Fired up for the big pool game v USA the mundis on show field #1, in front of the bar and a growing contigent of aussie fans and a moderate up-down breeze, the aussies were pysched. coming out on offense up wind the crowd, and the opposition, got a taste of things to come. 4 passes later, tex was celebrating a goal after a smooth sequence and a wazza huck. the quote from the sideline as tex took off was simply "Oh!" as he left their speedster A-ron in his wake (the thunda boys had given up our secret weapon to them so they had heads up on the match up :( ). they scored the next upwind, using a timeout in the process as the mundis D repeatedly stalled their progress. then at 1-1 they burnt their 2nd (and last for the half) timeout as they discussed stopping Tex and playing zone D. we traded for a few more getting to 3-3 with our O-team playing some inspired defence upon turning it, with Seb and Notty getting layout and dump blocks respectively, as USA also turned up the intensity. A few soft/cheap (depending on your perspective) fouls fired captain aL up and he let the spectators hear upon celebrating a goal.

Their pressure around the disc and tightening up on our cutters saw them skip to a couple of goals break which they held through to half 6-9. our zone wsan't quite tight enough and they seemed to play thru the middle of the field with inside out breaks throws, so we changed our force at half from b/h to f/h after and that succeeded in forcing them wider. Vickie continued to get stronger as the game went on with blocks, goals and assists. JD asked me on the sideline how to fire Lucy up - 30 sec later she got a run through/layout block in front of us. sebbo kept getting blocks and aL had a sweet fully ho' saving catch up the line. leanne was strong anchoring our dump and offense and with aL and Sebbo, working a sweet combination. Mel and Laina were running machines, always presenting with big under cuts. Tex had a sweet trailing rim layout grab to save our offense. Yet the points got longer and our scoring dried up.

At 7-13 we played a particularly strong line and converted the goal. At 8-14 the game was rapidly slipping away. Yorston had a big point, saving a goal with a sky block before running long to pull in a slightly floaty upwind huck. This led to an upwind score and a mundi D run, as time kept ticking. A pick robbed us of an upwind goal from an endzone set play to Freise from a backhand around break, but upon checking it in, the inside out forehand break hit the same target. We scored to make it 12-16 as soft cap (100min) went. Game to 17 win by 2 or 18. The mundi D brought their game, scoring again and again from USA pushing passes too much. 14-16, the crowd was sensing something. We won another turnover as their late game tactic of hucking again failed. Alas it wasn't to be, ultimately our too many drops pulled us up short.

The MVP awards from USA went to Leanne and Vickie, Tex (4 goals) and Sebbo. aL also played superbly but without the extended highlight reel of the others. We were up against a very well rounded team, as their stats sheet will attest and when we sort the separation and timing between our handlers (the dump area) and our receivers (timing off the handlers dump cuts), we'll be a stronger team.

The handshakes were accompanied by many smiles as we recounted the overall high quality of spirit the game was played with and we traded games, clothes (both Mundi Undies and playing strips) and later that evening, hooch recipes.

Now we've got their respect, next time it will be their pride ;)

PS- as this post is late, i have just come from watching a sensational game between Japan and Canada, the latter rallying late to reverse a 11-15 score to a 17-16 win, thanks to a great pull and a 1st pass layout block on double game point. Righto, off to play Italy.