Weather: Heavy Snow
Gate: 40k
With neither The Panzerbourne nor the Tragedy having won their debut matches in the expansion Southern Conference, a match-up between the two sides was a great opportunity for both to assert their claims to a top slot in the Conference and to boost their campaigns in the always difficult first season. The Tragedy had come off a tense draw against the Ultimate Team while The Panzerbourne found their first opponents in the Flatliners to be too tough. There had been some confusion as to the location of this match but when Revengers' Tragedy turned up at the home of The Panzerbourne, the game was on regardless of the originally designated geographical specification. The confusion had clearly riled the visitors for whom it was something of a Grudge Match. Despite the atrocious conditions of Heavy Snow, 21,000 fans had to be turned away from The Panzerbourne's Not-So-Grandstand.
The opening coin toss was won by the home side who elected to receive but in the adverse weather conditions, decent plays were going to be difficult to put together. Right from the off, there were handling problems for the home side. Orc Thrower Fatima spilled the kick-off and the impetus was lost immediately. The visitors were also finding the snow to be a problem. Seeing the spillage, Lineman Gage rushed upfield but slipped on the unsurprisingly treacherous footing. With difficulties in the backfield game, there was little action up front as both sides had to commit additional players to make even the simplest of actions succeed. The first blood on the front line was drawn by the visitors thanks to Lineman Dodd with a blindside shot that knocked out Panzerbourne Mummy Bubba Ho-Tep.
A KO can sometimes be enough to swing momentum behind the team that caused it. In this case, it did serve to inspire Gage. Recovering from his slip, he homed in on the small cluster of Panzerbourne around the ball. Just as Thrower Joe Montana scooped up the ball and a handful of ice, Gage blitzed in to knock Joe on his back and generate another fumble. Gage was unable to take possession of the ball for himself and that provided one opportunity for the home side to escape from their own half. Fatima managed to pick up the ball and throw out a beautiful short spiral on target to the receiver, Linford the Werewolf. Cold weather makes even the simplest of catches a real test and Linford failed this one. He put the ball down and was made to regret that almost instantly by Tragedy Ogre Landok. A horrible backside hit really shook up Linford and he was carted off the field Badly Hurt. The ball was still deep in Panzerbourne territory and Gage was the man in prime position to take advantage. Dodging one tackle zone and collecting the loose ball in the snow was impressive and earned him an unopposed run into the end zone to open the scoring and his TD account.
Revengers' Tragedy management were clearly confident that their players were better able to handle the slippery conditions so sent out an aggressive defensive formation intent on rushing the passer once again. Unlike at the opening kick-off, there were no handling errors from the home side. Joe Montana collected the ball with ease and was able to set into a small pocket behind the front line. The visitors were unable to make the same push either on the front line or by running people threatening positions. Supported primarily by Fatima, Joe was able to move up the field without pressure from the defence who found themselves over-pursuing in an effort to strip the ball once again.
The lack of pressure gave The Panzerbourne the time that they needed to make wheel their attack towards their left hand flank that found itself relatively un-opposed thanks to defenders focussing on stopping the run down the middle. The grateful recipient of free space was Norse Thrower Iorek Byrnison. Joe broke from behind the point of his protective wedge and towards Iorek. All that was needed was a successful hand-off and the Norseman would be away. There was no-one in front of Iorek and he showed safe hands in taking on possession and streaking off downfield. Iorek waved to the crowd as he ate up the yards towards the end zone. The score was the first for The Panzerbourne.
A touchdown against was clearly aggravating to the visiting crowd who took their vengance upon referee Kim "Melted" Nelson. The second Ref Casualty of the season following that of Grimlot Sternfeature. The replacement ref was Mill Slain who was making his first appearance in the league and unsurprisingly showed some nervousness at the prospect of performing before such a hostile crowd. That crowd had little play left to watch in the first half. It would take some impressive play from the visitors to score again before the break. Skaven Thrower Tor took the kick-off direct and paused to survey his options. Those options were generated by a rapid rush forward on both flanks, spreading the defence and giving the team one shot at another score before the break. The chain was set, in the snow it would not be easy but each player knew their part on the move. The first part, a quick pass to Wood Elf Lineman Penn was a success. For his part, Penn was able to pick his way through the tackle zones to reach Skaven Gutter Runner Kyle but it was here that it all fell apart. Kyle could not take the hand-off, the ball fumbled free and the half ended one apiece.
Level at the half, both teams will have felt that they were still well in the game. The snowy conditions had made things more difficult for the skill players but the power players made little impact during the first period. The visitors style gives them a chance to score rapidly thanks to their chain play while the home side will have been buoyed by their first ever score and a possible sight of their first ever league points.
With both sides coming out in the second half to some understandable anticipation, The Panzerbourne put up a 5-4-2 formation to cover across the field and posited a short kick. In response, Revengers' Tragedy opted not to fight directly up front. Instead, Wood Elf Lineman Penn was sent up to collect the ball and retreat back towards the safety of his own backfield. The blocking unit made a couple of hits but mostly sought to limit the amount of damage that the home side could inflict. This tactic frustrated The Panzerbourne a little with their pass rushers finding the way through to the ball carrier to be heavily guarded. The lead pass rusher was Michael Howard the Vampire who posed a real threat but was taken out with a blindside hit from Tragedy Blitzer Luke that put him down and then the boot of Lineman Cameron knocked the number one pick in Da Krush out of the game.
with the removal of the lead pass rusher, the visitors had the opportunity to consolidate their ball control. Possession was handed on to Skaven Thrower Tor whose first instinct was to rush backwards. The game became one of position, with no movement on the ball front once Tor had gotten hold of it and neither side able to make a crushing impact on the other's blocking unit. To the un-trained eye, it may have appeared a case of just blocking with abandon but there a strategy was being developed under Tor's watchful gaze. The Tragedy began to commit slightly more attackers to their right flank and so drawing greater numbers of defenders to that wing. The defensive re-positioning created gaps in the center and on the left flank. Each of these gaps was exploited by a different Tragedy player. The ball was still deep but the Tragedy had managed to put multiple scoring threats into position.
The final phase of the strategy was put into place with Penn moving into centerfield. The threat of this action prompted The Panzerbourne to respond with a blitz from Orc Thrower Fatima that knocked Penn out but it was not enough to stop Tor. The Skaven Thrower finally rushed upfield having dropped even deeper during the half. Once upfield and with multiple options, he selected Luke the Blitzer who in turn showed safe hands to receive the short pass. Luke was fully aware of his role in the process and made straight towards his target. That target was Skaven Gutter Runner Kyle and unlike at the end of the first period, the Gutter Runner made no mistake in the still icy conditions. The successful hand-off gave Kyle a free run into the end zone and the go-ahead touchdown for the Tragedy.
With their team in front, it was time for the Tragedy's fans to play their part yet again. They created a riot in the stands that held up play. Referee Mill Slain took the sensible option and ran for his life. The time available for the game expired and the result was in the books 2-1. The first victory for the Tragedy this season was a step forward following their opening draw and they managed to cope with the horrible conditions slightly better than the hosts. The Panzerbourne suffered a loss but picked up their first score and some good yardage while being in with a shout through most of the match. The result will not be enough to determine a finishing position and both sides will take positives from the game to carry through the rest of the season.
Injuries: None
Key Stats
| Team | CAS
|
Rush
|
Blocks
|
Downs
|
Stands
|
Panzer | 0
|
26
|
42
|
27
|
19
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flatliners | 1
|
26
|
42
|
27
|
9
|
MVPs: Bubba Ho-Tep, Jane
Best Players
Gage: 1 TD, 1 Rush for 7 yards, 5 Blocks, 2 Down, 1 Tackle, 1 Dodge, 1 Fall
Iorek Byrnison: 1 TD, 1 Rush for 6 yards, 1 Block, 2 Stands
Kyle: 1 TD, 1 Rush for 5 yards, 1 Fumble