Team MVP, MSP and "A" Game awards.

After the dust settled on the pitches of our last games, it was time to think back on the week and decide who should be the recipients of the team awards of Most Valuable Player, Most Spirited Player, and the person who played their "A" game for the week. For the women's team, the deserved winners were:

MVP of the tournament: A close vote, but with a clear winner of Yiv, who handled solidly the whole week, as well as being a real asset when it came to defence, especially anything that went up.

MSP of the tournament: Again a close battle, but this one ended up with win for Linda and Fiona. Both kept everyone going with their constant support, and set an excellent example on the field for how to play with Spirit, sorting out calls with minimum fuss and with the appropriate manner. Both are a credit to the team.

“A” game of the tournament: This was a really close vote, with Dee and Ciara really playing their asses off all week, but in the end it went to Sinead for playing so well on both O and D, and really making her mark on the pitch despite being the least experienced of all of us. Great to have in the endzone.

For the Open team the voting was equally tight in all categories.

MVP of the tournament: This vote was always going to be close with big performances from a lot of players - Cian deserves a special mention along with nearly all the O Line - Niall, Brian, Derryk, but in the end no other player contributed quite as much as Enda. He ran hard, made space, caught big catches and most importantly threw few turnovers. Hag for MVP!

MSP of the tournament: Closer still with three or four players in with a shout but there is only one Gagman! Derryk plays hard and fair and when calls happen reacts honestly and in a polite way - no swearing or hissy fits! He was an example of how to act in tricky situations.

'A Game' of the tournament: From the first game until the last, Softy played excellently. Cool under pressure and strong on D he contributed hugely to the team's success.

Big Thanks from Liz!!

I think I can speak on behalf of everyone on both teams when I say thanks for the endless support we have received from family and friends, both last week and over the last 6 months. It really means a lot to have people cheering us on on the sidelines and at home, as well as having a real interest in how we were getting on. It served to make us play harder to do you all proud.

On a personal note, thanks to all the guys on the Open team for sacrificing your lie-ins to come and support us at every game you could. We wouldn't have got half of those Ds without you and really appreciate the effort you put in.

Thanks also to all the girls for putting up with me for the last 6 months, and especially for the last week. It was a steep learning curve, but an enjoyable one, and I couldn't have done it without all your continued patience and understanding when I started to go a bit crazy!

Fiona has also been amazing throughout, I can't imagine a better person to have done this with. Thanks for everything and all the help since November!

And not forgetting Ibuprofen, a never-ending support throughout!


lizxx

Women's Day Six: French gain revenge to steal 9th seed

After coming first in the bottom pool with all out wins, it was time to match up with the French again to battle for 9th/10th place. It was always going to be a tough game as we knew they were out for us, and they certainly proved their worth. We ate through their zone, and they ate through ours, so man defence was the order of the day. We traded on points for the first few, and then they got the essential turn to bring a lead to their game, and from then on out it was an uphill struggle for us. We were tired, and despite fighting till the end, having that lead spurred them on more than us, and they were able to convert the ridiculously long points that we were unable to score. Time out after time out were called, and finally it became a point cap at 14-9, game to 16. More long points were to follow, and before we knew it, it was the end and the French had come out on top, 16-10. A really enjoyable game, it was good to end the tournament with a proper battle till the end.


It was unfortunate that we lost our seed, considering that we had already won the bottom pool, but all in all it was great to have 5 wins and 5 losses, and I’m confident that the future is only brighter!

MVP of the day: Lorraine O’Donnell

Women's Day Five: 2 more wins makes it 5:4 wins to losses!

The last of the early starts! First game saw us facing up against Austria. Having not managed to see them play at any stage during the week, we weren’t really sure what to expect from this team, but in the end we got a very well matched, hard fought, and spirited game of ultimate. They threw on a tricky zone after we had notched up a few points on them, but we soon worked out how to handle it and started to break through and score the points. We took the half by a number of points, before the Austrians came back after to bring it to within 2. By then our defense also started to come together, and we were really working to get the turnovers. They had some very good players who could run fast and throw some really great discs, but in the end we had managed to get enough points on defense, probably about 4 in a row at the end, to get the win. Most notable of these was a Callaghan score that was handed to Catherine on a plate!

Next up brought the Russians, who again we were confident we could beat looking at the track record, but we weren’t going to let anything go to chance, We started off strong, putting in as many points as possible, and I think took the half 9-0. However, they did have some very strong aggressive play, which matched well with our physical game, and it was getting harder and harder to get the points in. Anything that went up was pretty much a definite to land in Russian hands as they outstretched us in speed and height. They put a few points past us, and we got flustered, but after pulling it all together we ended up the winners 17-4 in our biggest win of the tournament. It was great to play this team as they are very determined despite their lack in age and experience (their youngest was 16!) and I can only imagine them improving at a very fast rate over the next few years when they improve their disc skills.

MVP of the day: Catherine Gainey

Women's Day Four: More wins please!

Up again at the crack of dawn, and the early starts were beginning to take their toll, and becoming that little bit harder now that the excitement was wearing off a bit. It was time for the last game of our group, against the Latvians. They had lost all of their games to that day, so we were pretty confident that we could beat them and quite solidly. We started off strongly and began to get some points on the scoreboard. However, they were a better team than we had an anticipated, with some very good hands, grabbing stuff out of the air that hadn’t necessarily been thrown the best. Still, they also had a high turnover rate, and we were able to monopolise on this, taking the half by 4 points, if not more. After the break, we came back in, and luckily weren’t having too much trouble scoring our O points, but again they were getting a lot of high break throws off that felt frustratingly hard to stop. Luckily though we had the legs on them, and so we could out run them and take advantage of any turns they did end up making. In the end it was a pretty convincing 17-9 win, not without it’s hairy moments though!

With the group games over, it was time to face another fault with the women’s schedule: no crossovers. Having only won two games in our original pool, we were left in the bottom 6 pool with result carrying over, meaning that we were to still play France, Russia and Austria, before a final placing game. This was to be pretty frustrating, especially when we noticed the performances of some of the teams from the other pool (GB beating Netherlands 17-5,who we also beat in Brugge, and the Swiss ending up in third place) and will be something I will be bringing to the attention of the organisers.

Onwards and upwards though, and our first game of the bottom half saw us face the French, who were top of the bottom half of their group as well. We started off trading points, and then a dropped pull on their part led to a key score, or so we thought. Following that we then got another D point, and things started to really come together. Their heads were down, and we were really at the top of our game. We continued to push out the Ds (even a contested Callaghan from Sinead couldn't hold us back), were playing better offence than we had all week, and we were duly rewarded with a fine win over a team that had completely demolished us in Brugge. 17-9 to the Greens! Brilliant stuff!

MVP of the day: Sinead O’Sheil Flemming

Women's Day Three: Sweden and GB too strong to shake

Again it was a hot day, and the game started off with both teams trading points and scoring after some really good offence. They had some lovely long points, and so did we. This team were quite similar to us in terms of fitness and endurance so it was important to us to keep possession and make every disc catchable, as anything up in the air was likely to be taken down by a leggy blonde! Unfortunately as it came to the half, they got the much needed D point and they ended up leading 9-7. We came back into play on Defence, and they scored the offence point, and soon we were trailing by a bigger gap. We tried pulling a zone, and managed to get a turn, but in the end the gap was too much, the heads were down, and we ended up losing 17-12.

The GB game kicked off at 1pm, so it was time to pick the heads up and get ready. Favourites for the tournament, we knew this was going to be a tough game, and that we had little chance of winning it, so we went into the game with the added knowledge that our top 8 dreams were over. We started off well, making sure to punish the poaching that they like to use, but they were still able to force the turnovers and their quick turn-arounds on offence and great receivers meant that they were wracking up the points. The two teams fought really hard and there was definitely a good bit of argy bargy through the whole game (a disc to the face of defensive marks on each team and some dubious calls from an intimidating sideline) but we were never really in the running for a lot of points, and they ended up deserved winners 17-4.

MVP of the Day: Yvonne Halpin

Women's Day Two: Swiss game = lie in

Due to the punishing women’s schedule, this would be are only morning we had off and didn’t have to get up at 6.30am. However, most of us were awake anyway and headed in to watch the open team bagel the Czechs and play some great ultimate against the Italians before heading over the road to play the Swiss. Having watched their earlier confident defeat of the Swedish, we knew we were in for a tough game, and knew that this team were definitely better than their 12th seed (the seeding being one of the many flaws of the Women’s schedule).

We started off strong scoring a number of the first points and taking a strong lead. They pulled back and soon we were trading points coming up to the half. Then they brought out their zone and things started to get a little bit tougher. As the sun beat down and the wind constantly changed direction and force, it wasn’t long before we were turning over and they were capitalising. I also managed to land on my shoulder, putting myself out of the game for a number of points and lessening our already small group of handlers. They took the half by a lead of two points and our heads went down a little.

Coming into the second half we were still fighting though, and managed to pull some points out with some really great offence against the zone, and when they did turn us, the points would last for ages as each team continued to fight for the D-points. However, when it came down to it they had some really fast runners and some really great handlers, and the zone just ended up being too much for us in the end. Final score at the time cap was 17-9.


MVP of the day: Sparky Booker

Women's Day one: It's even...one loss, one win.

After the minor set back of not having any green jerseys for the team (bit of a manufacturing problem) and getting past the hurdle of waking up at 6.30am to get breakfast before the game (not really too hard when your as nervous as we were) we walked out against a strong German side for our first game. Tipped for big things, there was no denying that this was a well drilled and experienced team, but that there were also feeling the nerves, and the first few points got off to a slow start with a number of turnovers off both teams. However, their offence had some excellent handlers who could work it quickly up the pitch and they soon and knocked up a number of scores before we could even manage one. Finally we managed to pull some scores together from a number of long points and against a zone that they ran, but our own nerves were our worst enemy, and they finished up the win 17-5. Not the greatest of starts to our week, but we also knew that we hadn’t played to our best, so there was still a lot to play for.

With another game at 1pm, we had to eat quickly before heading to warm up. We were to play the Belgians, and after beating them at Tom’s Tourney we were confident this could be our first win. But we didn’t want to be too certain about it, and ended up going 3-1 down at the beginning! Still, we always felt like the stronger team, and it wasn’t long before we started to pull ahead, and took the half. Our defence was really making an impact, and we were managing to make them turn over a number of times. After the half I think we only ended up conceding maybe 3 points, and then settled into a comfortable, 17-9 win, a first for Irish women and a really great feeling!!

MVP of the day: Laura McGrath

Another view point...

Mark did an excellent job of keeping people up to date about what was going on all week, afraid we weren’t so great at it on the ladies side, so here’s a little retrospective of the week that was from a women's game point of view...

EUC 2007 - Final Standings

After the finals day on Saturday here are the final standings from the Open, Women and Mixed Divisions:

OPEN

1. Great Britain
2. Sweden
3. Switzerland
4. Finland
5. Germany
6. Ireland
7. France
8. Denmark - SPIRIT WINNERS
9. Russia
10. Netherlands
11. Belgium
12. Italy
13. Austria
14. Sklovakia
15. Latvia
16. Czech Republic

WOMEN

1. Finland
2. Great Britain
3. Switzerland
4. Germany
5. Denmark
6. Italy
7. Sweden
8. Netherlands
9. France
10. Ireland
11. Austria
12. Russia
13. Latvia
14. Belgium - SPIRIT WINNERS

MIXED

1. Great Britain
2. Czech Republic - SPIRIT WINNERS
3. Germany
4. France
5. Belgium
6. Finland
7. Italy