Everyone loves a spectacle...Finals Week 2 Preview!

Well given the blog enjoyed a triumphant return to form last week and I love procrastination, here are the predictions for Week 2 of the finals!  With some teams enjoying the bye and others wallowing in the disappointment of being knocked out, look for some crazy ultimate happening in the scratch matches.  The scratch matches may play a big part in this finals series, as injuries can happen and form can be lost with a poor performance.  So Black Magic and The Amazing Technicolour Dream Discs go out there and ‘break a leg’.

Seriously.  James David, break yours.  Makes everyone’s life in the finals easier.

Anyways, on to the games that will count the most, our two knockout finals!

Game 1: The Highlanders vs Green Goblins

This game sees a battle of last semester’s champions, with Captain Highlander Timmy Roland taking on former teammate and Captain Goblin Ryan Miller.  The Highlanders apparently are named so because they possess some deadly height on the field, with Cade Bradshaw the backbone of a solid offence.  With the safest hands in Ultimate Frisbee, look for Sanne to make some great cuts and ever better catches in the end zone.  In defence look for this height to create havoc as they zone you until you can’t get zoned no more!  Further threats are added by the two pronged Rob attack in Rob Edmond and Rob Davies, who run circles around most defences.

The Green Goblins, favourites only a few weeks ago, have stormed through to the second week of the finals.  Much of this is the result of the Mike Larson factor, however strong contributions all over the field have made this team a nightmare for any defence.  With Liss and Ryan providing great stability to the team, if the Goblins get going there aren’t many defences that can stop them.  With Mike at the back, the long throw becomes a difficult task for any opposition, but there are some opportunities to exploit the Goblins defence with short throws. 

This game will come down patience and execution.  For the Highlanders they have to resist always looking long and play short give and go Frisbee, keep the Goblins moving in defence and make no mistakes.  For the Goblins, it’ll be about shutting the Highlanders offence down and keeping Cade out of the game as much as possible.  A game for the spectators to enjoy, I think it will go down to the wire. 

Prediction: I said The Highlanders would bounce back this week and I think they will, with a 13-11 victory over the Goblins.

Game 2: Mite-y Discs vs 100 Shades of Grey

This should be interesting, very very interesting.  Two teams that have had polar opposite seasons to date, with the Mite-y’s smoothly sailing through most of the season and the Shades only recording one victory in the regular season.  But this is the finals and none of that matters, as we saw last week when the Mite-y’s went down heavily to Black Magic while the Shades had an upset victory of the Gold Diggers.  The Mite-y Discs have some solid offensive options, with the expected return of Dr. Pete further strengthening their game.  Look for Captain Mattie Hamilton to be everywhere, and catch some discs in the air that he has absolutely no right to catch.  They’ve been strong in defence through the season and a return to form this week will see that happening once again. 

100 Shades of Grey are a bit of an unknown quantity, you never really know what you’re going to get.  They’ve got height in Duncan Webley, speed and aerial threat in Bobby Jackson, handling prowess in Andy Craft the best girl cup you have ever seen!  Sometimes this clicks, sometimes it doesn’t.  But if 100 Shades want to go any further in the competition, then they will have to bring their absolute A game to take down the Mite-y’s.  Shades have slowly been getting their defence together in the last month, look for this to go up another notch and we’ll have ourselves one very close game. 

This game will come down to defence.  Both teams have strong offensive options and execution on offence is key, but the winners here will be the ones who make the 1% plays in defence.  The team that recovers quickly on transition, doesn’t get broken and defends to their strengths will be the victor.

Prediction: Universe Point.  Everyone loves a spectacle and I think this game will provide it!  The winners? Your guess is as good as mine; we’ll have to find out tomorrow night!

Play hard and good luck! Villain out.