This morning at 8:30 Kaboom finally took to the field at the World Ultimate Club Championships in Prague. Day 1 proved to be something of an epic for us as we fight for the top spot in our pool. Placing first in our initial pool of 5 teams gives us a great position in the next phase of the tournament and close to guarantees a spot in the round of 16 later in the week. At 8:30 we faced off against Ah Ouh Puc, a French team captained by two Canberrans who have been based in Paris for the last few years (and recently returned to the bright lights and clean air of the Australian capitol) and also starring one-time Canberran Cyril Cayla. Kaboom rested some of their top players and started slow, with Ah Ouh Puc taking the first two points. Kaboom fired up to trade to 3-1 down before going on a 5 point run. The French scored twice to keep it close but Kaboom responded with three more goals before half and two after to go to 11-5. Ah Ouh Puc scored a few here and there and Kaboom ran out winners at 17-10. As usual, Kaboom led the way with stifling defense and clinical execution around the disc. In a hilarious typographic error, Kaboom technical handler John Horan was attributed 6 assists for the game. In an equally baffling result, Gareth Beyers scored once and assisted once without ever stepping onto the field.
No doubt you're all wondering where the epic bit comes in. Sure, a 17-10 win from a scratchy start is OK, but where's the glory we've come to associate with Canberra teams? Well, dear reader, let me tell you about game 2.
12:30. Kaboom vs. Squal, Japanese second seeds. We're missing Gareth, Myall and Riss.
Kaboom seems to be struggling with the heat and look flat in their warm-up. It shows on the field with Kaboom giving up 3 soft turnovers to go down 4-0 to Squal who haven't made a turnover. Simple execution errors and over-generous defensive cushioning cause some of the Kaboom cheer squad to give up on their heroes in the bright yellow shirts.
WRONG. Kaboom finally score on offense with a paradigm shifting Heather Tolley layout goal and we come out in zone to stop the precise Japanese deep game. Two quick defensive breaks see Kaboom draw close at 4-3 down. The cheer squad rethink their early despondancy. Squal and Kaboom trade, first 1 each, then 2 each to bring the score to 7-6 Squal. The wierd half-time cap rule means half is at 8. Kaboom are losing control of their defense in zone and have gone back to trusty match, this time forcing forehand.
Squal take half 8-6 and Kaboom hit back straight after to make it 8-7. Our defense is stifling now, we're jamming up the open side on offense and winning the contests deep. Tom Watson comes down with a bunch of the disc on D, Heather Tolley makes her player look slow, Laina has stepped up her physicality and stopped her defender from shoving her. Defensively we're in control, but our offense still needs to score.
They score again and we score and break to level up the game at 10-10. Squal have been playing 4 women on offense all game but our women are beating theirs on D and getting free on O. They score and break to go to 12-10. We trade and time-cap goes and they score to make it 13-11, game to 15. By now we're getting heaps of the disc. Offense is still sketchy though - unfamiliar D, heat and fatigue are sending a bunch of shots stray and people are anxious to score in a hurry. We stack our D line, win the disc and punch in a goal. Matt Dowle is a nightmare for the Japanese, pulling out some trademark Dowle Family Magic to get a bunch of blocks on the increasingly pressured Japanese long game. We grind out another goal to level things at 13 all. Squall settle and work in an impressively clinical offense to edge closer to victory, 14-13. Kaboom send out another strong line, win the disc and score. It's universe point, 14 all, we're on D. Matt lands a great pull in the corner of the field. Japan swing and huck it deep. They make a tough catch just outside the endzone and throw a certain goal that Laina Hall snaffles with a great block in a very compact piece of defense. We go nuts. Matt informs us all that the huck was a travel, the disc goes back. We stop going nuts. Great pressure around the disc leads to another turn in a stronger position as the Japanese throw a dodgy hammer to a wrong-footed receiver. He falls down, Max gets it and the poor Japanese guy has to leave the field with cramps. Misch Phillips runs deep and the huck goes up but it's too floaty and Misch is soon surrounded with defenders. Something bad (but not majorly bad) happens and she leaves the field with another injury sub. Erin Wallis comes on to keep up our running on D. Again, we grind it out against the Japanese horizontal stack. Our women are dominant in the back field and our one boy in the cutting lanes is working to help cover on deeps and still bid on the unders. The sideline is going nuts again. Again we win the D. The disc swings to Adam who launches a huge hammer to Matt but it's out of bounds and Matt can't keep it infield. Back to D. Again, huge pressure pays off when a throw to one of the Japanese women is overcooked and she drops it. Our third offense is gritty and patient - there's heaps of traffic around the cutters and the handlers continue to recycle and swing. Moving the disc laterally is easy but cuts upfield are hard. Finally, we swing across the endzone to Matt who hits Max running to the forehand front corner. Max catches the final goal and we go really really nuts. Tom and Adam make out on the field (seriously) and we win 15-14 in 125 minutes. Many of us have lost 1.5 to 2 kilos of fluid in the second game and all of us are pumped about a big win and awesome fight back. We've never been behind like that before so it's exciting to know we can punch in goals when it counts. That Kaboom defense just keeps winning the disc.
Tomorrow we play XLR8Rs and Sugar Mix. Check out http://scores.wucc2010.com to stay abreast of developments (I don't think they're live, but then that's probably a good thing because if they were Pete Hemphill would be up all night keeping the baby awake). Spirits are high in the Kaboom camp and we're looking forward to more tough games tomorrow. Once our offense synchs up we're going to be criminally good.
P.S. If you do see Pete Hemphill, say something nice. Poor guy.
