BD,
The EUCC draws to a close with a emphatic win for Clapham, not just the
gold medal but the Spirit Prize too.
Clapham's win yesterday was confident and certain. They quickly identified
and removed the threats and scored consistently on O. Ragnarok are a strong
side although they were lucky to be in the final. Had some earlier seeding
games actually been played rather than just conceded then Ragnarok would
have met Flying Angels Bern in the Semi, and things may have turned out
differently. Ragnarok's O involved a lot of very accurate hucks to some
gargantuan receivers, that made Si Weeks look small. But with Britney
closing down the main handler and the call of CHEEESSE going up every time
the disc was with a threat the long game didn't produce enough for the
Danes. The inevitable turnovers gave Clapham the chances they needed to put
the game beyond the opposition. On O, clinical handling from Sam Webber, who
dominated with mid pitch discs and cuts in the zone, kept the score ticking
over nicely. Si Weeks got on the end of quite a few early scores. There were
big games too from Hicky (though he did drop in the zone to prove he is
human) and Hargreaves. The celebrations from the win were huge.
Bliss's final just didn't seem to go to plan. They traded with the well
organised German team Jinx for the first 8 points. But the Jinx line seemed
fresher, and more patience that Bliss's who didn't value the disc as much as
the needed to, and were beaten to discs on O and D by faster and more
horizontal Germans. The lead was only getting bigger as time and time again
the steady handling worked the disc around and through the Bliss zone, there
was no answer to the questions Jinx posed. I don't think a single Bliss
player would argue that the best team won.
The presentations were fairly standard though every team did receive the
full applause and respect of their competitors and the crowd.
LLLeeds Ladies won spirit of the game.....
as did Clapham!!!!
That's right, a team, a British team, defeated every opposition they
played, and they beat them so fairly, so competitively that they earned not
only the top prize in European club ultimate, but also the respect and
admiration of their peers.
The rejoicing from the South London camp at the news that they had won
Spirit matched if not exceeded the elation of winning the tournament. 4
years ago Clapham came 2nd, but they did it at the cost of being one of the
most disliked teams in European competition . Now they are a powerhouse of
top flight ultimate and a example of how to conduct yourself in competition.
They won the hearts and minds of their competitors, and the admiration of
the other UK teams on the sidelines who recognised what they had achieved.
I'm proud that the UK not only has the best team in Europe, but also the
most spirited.
Further down the orders, Leeds finished off with two wins to place them
5th. Fusion entered the top 10 and only lost the plate in sudden death.
Iceni were hard done by in a bitter 3/4 playoff that also went to sudden
death, they finished 4th. Bristols finished 8th and LLL Ladies 10th.
Ltd Release and BAF came 4th and 5th respectively.
Its been a great 3 days, and I'll highly recommend coming to watch a top
competition to anyone who enjoy's their ultimate.
Photos will be up in the next couple of days.
Cheers all
Tom
PS I'd like to thank Fusion for sorting me out with places to stay on all
three nights.
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