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