So we turned up to Jesus Green on a warm Saturday afternoon to find what
might be euphemistically described as a strong breeze. Hmm, we* said.
This will be interesting. With the pitch set up upwind-downwind, the key
to this match was going to be winning the toss and then not allowing any
upwind breaks.

I promptly lost the toss.

Never mind, we thought. The first point got underway and we found it
difficult to get more than a few yards off our end zone. Even the
shortest passes were flung wildly off-course, and more than once
returned to the thrower.
Despite this, our D completely shut down Homerton's vertical stack in
the end zone ("don't get beaten to the open side" + a strong force -- it
works!), and so we managed to drag out the upwind point for several
minutes. Eventually they jammed in a point, but we quickly replied with
a downwind point far faster than them and quite confident we'd be able
to get that all-important upwind break.
Our O consisted of 3 handlers back and the remaining 4 stacking up in
the middle of the pitch. The handlers worked it up one of the sides (up
the line cuts are great against college league marking) and looked for a
cut from the stack for the final pass.
Homerton's D consisted of man-marking and Tom Cozens poaching deep. This
left one of our players free at all times (usually Aly or Helen) --
questionable decision, especially upwind, as the handlers always had an
easy reset option.
Downwind Tom's poaching was more effective, but the DCU cutters quickly
figured out how to split him and get free.
We took half in magnificent style with two upwind breaks 7-3. The second
half was a similar story, with cap coming on at 9-3. We had a minor blip
where we let them get an upwind break -- I think our defense got a bit
too cocky and poached under a bit too far. Next point we broke back, so
the game ended with a final score of 10-4.
Notable events
Kaustuv laying out into dog doo
Point blocks for Sam and me
Tebbs as a handler being left without a stall for a good 30s, simply
twiddling the disc
commentary from the cameramen on the sidelines (
http://youtu.be/MAsyrK9ttOM )
MILF

MVP: Aly for her excellent use of being poached.

Things we learnt in this match:
How to work it upwind. Short discs between the handlers, flat but floaty
leading passes.
How to use being poached. Stay active, if being poached deep, provide a
short reset option to the handlers. If being poached under, don't run
towards the person poaching you -- run away from him, and force him to
stop poaching because you are a viable deep threat.
How to split a deep poach. Talk to and work with your fellow cutters,
and go in opposite directions -- force the poach to decide whether to go
deep or under. Get him in a situation where he can't mark you both.
Don't rely on the other team dropping discs as your defense -- in the
beginning of the match, when Homerton were trying to work it upwind,
they were going for longer passes and dropping them, so we got a bit
lazy marking upwind. If the offense are getting their hands to discs
uncontested, it means the pass was on, and as a defense you should not
be ignoring that threat. When Homerton suddenly started catching those
longer upwind discs, they got their upwind break.
Poaching can work but leaving a player completely free as Homerton did
is rarely a good option. Leaving the handler unmarked is not a good
option either (see Twiddling Tebbs). Part of good poaching on D is
knowing when to stop poaching and stick with a man.

Also worth mentioning is that everyone had good spirit, both teams made
some calls but we didn't let any bad feeling creep into the game, which
was important considering how the last DCU vs Homerton match ended.

Overall, great work Lions, it was an excellent match and everyone played
some really great ulti in difficult (windy) conditions.

- by T

*May or may not be the royal we.

WATCH the highlights of this match - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sd3xfcO7ZjI&feature=g-all