Tournament Recap: Edinburgh Invite

 By Tom McClintock

Welcome readers to the first ever Tournament Recap here on Ro Sham Blogs. This weekend saw the hometown heroes host the Edinburgh Invite. As this is the first tournament since the inception of this blog we are breaking new ground here. Hopefully we'll be able to provide coverage of all of our future tournaments, especially Regional and National Championships. So without further adieu, let's get rolling!


Setting the Stage:
Edinburgh Invite was intended to give Scottish Uni teams a chance to compete in a one day event in the midst of most student's finals before the most important weekend of the year: the National Championships next weekend. With Aberdeen Mojo and Stirling Blaze unable to attend, this left Ro Sham Bo and the Shooting Stars to battle it out. A third team dubbed themselves the Edinburgh Squirrels participated. They were a sort of frankensteinesque conglomerate of Sneeekys, Fusion, and local pickup players that provided some variety and allowed teams to see some new looks.

A perfect storm of injuries, the flu, and non-ultimate commitments resulted in the Squirrels and Ro Sham combining forces to give Dundee two well spirited and hard fought games. Players rolled up between 10:30 and 11:30 AM. Some well rested, some not so much (looking at you Oli). The fireworks that took place on the fields drew literally ones of fans away from the Rock-n-Roll Half Marathon taking place not fifty yards from the sideline. As old bags wheezed on by towards the finish line at Holyrood Park, young spry legs got the most out of Sunday's morning games.




Game One:
In the afternoon's opening match up Stars took on the Squirrels who were supplemented by Ro Sham Bo's Mike Noblett, James Glover, Tom McClintock, and Ross Walder. Squirrels struck first after receiving downwind with Walder seeing Andy Quickfall (Fusion) in the endzone, but Dundee took the early break to take a 2 - 1 lead after a flick to space from Andy McCilwrath found Dave Alexander in the back corner. Stars would break again three points later with the same throw to make the score 4 - 2, but this time from Jared Cordner to rookie standout Andy 'Dickers' Dick, who made his first-team debut at Regionals just a few weeks ago.

Ro Sham finally recovered one break when Walder and Quickfall reversed rolls to score an upwinder to even the score at 5's. This was only a hiccup for Dundee though, as their O-line marched up the field to score 6 - 5, and Cordner found primary cutter Graeme McDowell after an untimely Squirrels drop to reclaim their two point advantage. At this point, however, our local heroes had enough of this outsider success and decided to step their game up. The next four points saw eight different players earn fantasy points for the Squirrels, highlighted by Barry O'Kane (Fusion and GB Masters) finding Quickfall on the breakside with a hammer. Stars' O-line took to the field to stop the bleeding with Cordner hitting Dave Rostill to bring the score to 9 - 8, advantage Squirrels, however this would prove to be only a temporary reprieve. The Squirrels continued to throw both junk and FSU zones to force Dundee handlers to either throw over the cup or bring McDowell to play behind the disc rather than in front of it. In this uncomfortable position the Stars were unable to navigate the field with consistency, allowing Fusion teammates Noblett, Glover, McClintock, Quickfall, and late addition Ali Brown to connect on the last four points and close out the morning round.


Final score: 
Squirrels 13 Stars 9.


Playmakers: 
Stars Jared Cordner (5 assists, 1 goal)
Squirrels Andy Quickfall (1 assist, 3 goals)


Game Two, the Rematch:
The second game of the day was supposed to be Ro Sham Bo vs. Shooting Stars, however with Ro Sham only able to field eight players due to a combination of factors, the Squirrels reformed to give Stars another go. Team leaders decided to split the Edinburgh team into two lines that each played back to back points before switching: a Ro Sham line and an Edinburgh Celebrity (a.k.a. everybody else) line.


Dundee came charging out of the gate with a changed mindset and renewed vigor. Ro Sham took to the pitch first and traded points with Dundee to make the score 1 - 1. With the addition of cutters Connor Gaffney and Johnny Towler, Ro Sham was able to play a more disciplined style and run their set plays much more easily. For the visiting team Ciaran Delaney, Neil Henderson, and Isaac Smith were able to come alive, finding space against zones and in their roundhouse both underneath and deep. Critically, Dundee was able to work the weak side, as Cordner hit McCilwrath with an around break to make the score 5 - 2 only twenty minutes into the game. As the Celebrities took to the field they responded in resounding fashion. Quickfall caught an underneath pass from Oliver Browne (Sneeekys), pivoted wide and ripped a massive flick in the direction John Stainsby (Sneeekys and Heriot-Watt). Stainsby kept his eyes on the floaty disc but kept his defender McDowell in his peripheral. McDowell, known for his his bids, throws, and especially his ups, was not prepared for the athleticism of Stainsby; a relative unknown outside of the local scene. Stainsby showed why he deserves more respect around Scotland, and got an easy four inches over McDowell to make the catch deep in the endzone to put one more on the board for the home team.

Ro Sham and the Stars traded the next two points and Dundee would go on to take half 7 - 4 on the ensuing possession. Out of half it was much the same, with Henderson finding Alexander to widen the gap to 8 - 4. At this point two diverging story-lines emerged. With the split lines for the Squirrels, we saw two very different teams taking to the pitch every two points. While the Celebs would not find the key to score the rest of the game, the Ro Sham Bo line would not miss a point. Five players for Ro Sham threw for scores including Noblett (twice), Glover, McClintock, Walder, and Gaffers, with four of those scores made by the speedy Towler. For Stars, Pierre McCarthy and Toby Waterhouse found space against the Celeb zone looks and kept Dundee either three or four points ahead at all times.

Dundee would go on to win the game 13 - 10 after capping it off against the Celebs on the eleventh time their line took to the field with only two subs, however the statistic to remember is the 9 - 3 differential between the Ro Sham Bo line and the Stars. Standout players for the visiting team included McDowell, who made a filthy bid on a huck from Cordner that was unfortunately brought back due to an unrelated pick call, as well as Dickers, who got up over a group of players to make a momentum saving grab against Ro Sham's junk set as well as getting a run-through D against the Celebs on an undercut which would later lead to a break for Dundee. For the Squirrels, few could argue that the big guns were Towler and Noblett. Towler racked up his four scores in the second half to prove that he deserves to play first team, despite being off the squad for the indoor season. Noblett was able to live up to his Fusion nickname by putting up big numbers on both sides of the disc, and provided a firm foundation and first look as Ro Sham Bo found their rhythm.


Final Score:
Stars 13 Squirrels 10


Playmakers:
Stars Graeme McDowell (1 assist, 3 goals)
Squirrels Mike Noblett (3 assists, 3 goals)


Looking Ahead:

Game two may play spoiler to an eventual Finals or Semifinals matchup between Scotland's two powerhouses next weekend at the National Championships. The big question for both of these teams is how they can adjust their game and prepare for more diverse competition down South. The Shooting Stars will be bolstered by the addition of offensive handler Chris Hunter and defensive specialist Jo Trotter. Will these two be able to reproduce the chemistry displayed by Dundee at Regionals that allowed them to make their spectacular comeback? Ro Sham Bo will see even more additions. While Jay Felver-Gant, Todd Graham, and previous UKU Champion Jack Beezer will surely add life to the sometimes stagnant O-line, the biggest splash could be standout rookie Jake Cowpland. Cowpland led Ro Sham in D's at Mixed Nationals and has demonstrated tremendous improvement each time he takes to the pitch, whether it's on offense or defense.

Stars are looking to be among the top seeds at the championship, while Ro Sham is likely to be horrifically underseeded, coming in around 10th spot, so upsets will be the name of the game. Will the Open title finally return to Scotland? And if so, where is it going? Get ready for fireworks when these teams get to work next weekend and chase down the title. Stay tuned to Ro Sham Blogs for a recap, and thanks again for reading!


*Many pictures courtesy of Rob Starr and Jo Trottet.