Revengers' Tragedy 1-1 Ultimate Team The Second

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The first game in the expansion Southern Conference was held at the Alpha Rats Nest and was greeted by the largest crowd ever to attend a league game. With 52,000 screaming fans and two untested teams, no-one could really be sure of what was about to unfold. With no previous league history for anyone involved in the two teams, it would be a first chance to see what kind of impact they could make on the AD Blood Bowl league.

Those 52,000 fans in attendance were not going to be giving either side an easy ride in their first game. A chorus of boos echoed round the vast stadium with its elegant Grandstand clearly un-nerving the players of both teams. The hostile reaction may have been the voice of those opposed to the expansion or it may just have been down to the natural inclination of Blood Bowl fans towards intimidation. The Tragedy won the coin toss and elected to receive. The Ultimates put up a midfield defence with deep cover but not much on the front line. Skaven Thrower Tor fielded the kick-off for the Tragedy and the first rushing yard in the Southern Conference was a negative one as he shifted backwards and out of the range of any potential pass-rush. Both teams were naturally a little tenative and the early sparring was limited by the lack of contact between the sides. When contact did happen, it was rough. Tragedy Blitzer Luke picked up the first Casualty by Badly Hurting Ultimates Lineman Macho Man Randy Savage. Within moments, the Macho Man was followed into the Casualty box by "The" Ultimate Warrior who suffered the same fate at the hands of Tragedy Lineman Tucker.

The brutality of the blocking opened up the left hand side of the Ultimate's defence, it was an opening that the Tragedy moved to exploit immediately. Tor lateralled the ball to Wood Elf Lineman Penn who in turn gave the ball to Kyle the Gutter Runner. Kyle is the fastest player on the Tragedy team and he backed his pace against the Ultimates as well. With the blockers ahead of him having removed the cover, it was a straight race for the line between Kyle and the Ultimates secondary. The race would have been won comfortably by the Gutter Runner had intervention not been forthcoming. With just a couple of yards to go and having already paused to salute the crowd, Kyle's hopes were dashed by an enormous fist appearing in front of his face. The size of the fist was difficult to gauge as it only appeared momentarily but it was large enough to knock Kyle out on his feet and cause the ball to fall from his limp grip.

A knock-out blow was just what the Ultimates needed. They had been on the receiving end of some beats and the flying fist had offered the perfect chance for a counter-attack. The ball was still deep in Ultimates territory when Wood Elf Thrower Smoove B arrived on the scene to take up possession for the visitors. He was in no mood to wait around, instead the Ultimates raced up the pitch and moved the ball as far as they could towards the Tragedy end zone. Amazon Thrower Mina Murray took control of the ball and launched an innovative play. Despite being among the furthest Ultimates down the field, she threw the ball ahead of her and into the open space. The innovation was there for all to see but the purpose was slightly less clear. Tragedy Lineman Gage calmly strode over to collect the ball once it had come to rest and proceeded to head back up the field. Unfortunately for the home side, Gage's calmness wasn't matched by that of Tor. The Skaven Thrower misfielded the ball and let it squirm free in a dangerous position. Seeing the ball lying freely in home territory, Tragedy Ogre Landok knew exactly what to do. He blitzed with full force into Smoove B and Badly Hurt the Wood Elf. It didn't help secure the ball but at least it hurt.

The ball was still in the Tragedy half and it was Mina Murray who was the first to grab hold of it. Despite pressure on the ball, she was able to barge her way free and head off into the backfield. This time there would be no simple turnover of possession as a receiving target emerged in the form of High Elf Lineman Mr Darcy. The Elf caught the quick pass with no difficulties and an unguarded goal line awaited him. As with Kyle earlier, it would not be so simple. This time, Mr Darcy fell for that crudest of tricks, the Pit Trap. The Elf was partly unfortunate and partly clumsy not to avoid such an obvious hole in the ground but once he had, there was no way for him to clamber out. Referee Grimlot Sternfeature called a pause in the game while Darcy was retrieved and ordered a freshly taken kick-off. Despite the pause, there was very little time left in the half and this was evident when the Tragedy set-up with an emphasis on avoiding contact and the Ultimates blitzed but to little effect. The only play that emerged from this drive was a negative yard of rushing from Lineman Cameron.

The half ended at a 0-0 stalemate. There has only ever been one game that was scoreless at the half and that was the first ever game so it was in a way fitting that the first game in the expansion conference would follow a similar pattern. 0-0 should typically favour the team who are set to receive the kick-off in the second half as they can control the ball and hope to be the ones to break the deadlock. In this case though the three Casualties recorded by the Tragedy must have led to some confidence during the half-time interval that they would be able to dictate the second half play.

As the teams emerged for the second half, a wave of fans burst free from the Grandstand and onto the pitch. The players held back to ensure they didn't take any of the damage. This left Grimlot Sternfeature as the lonely figure in the middle of carnage. The Dwarf was ripped into pieces which were promptly carried off by the home fans who returned to their seats in triumph as they recorded the first ever fatality on a referee. That's certainly a powerful way to make an introduction to the league. Graeme Barberous was the reserve referee and he showed some understandable trepidation before he blew the whistle to launch the second half.

The slight delay in the action clearly wound the Ultimates up and they started the second period with a bang. Mina Murray fielded the kick-off and despite only having ten players fit enough to take the field, the visitors pushed forwards with a vengeance. The line of scrimmage did its job for the Ultimates with both Orc Blitzer Doom and Lineman Hacksaw Jim Duggan causing Casualties. The harder hit was Duggan's, his blow took his opposite number Tucker out of the game on a stretcher. It later emerged that Tucker's back was injured by the force of the assault and he is expected to miss the next two games while recuperating. The damage heightened the Ultimates desire to press forward but again Mina Murray elected to pass when no receivers were available. The ball dropped free and the impetus seemed to have been halted. Penn, the Tragedy Wood Elf Lineman was on deep cover and easily the first to the ball. The Ultimates continued their surge forwards to put Penn under pressure and wisely he elected to pass the ball. What Penn couldn't have accounted for was a moment of brilliance by Ultimates Goblin Bubble. The diminutive Gobbo seemed a harmless enough figure to Penn who attempted to bullet pass his way out of danger but Bubble timed a jump perfectly for the ball to rattle into his outstretched arms. Remarkable, the ball stuck and it was an interception. There have been only two interceptions recorded previously, Krump Forznit for the Mercenaries against the Savages and Mr Jeffrey for the Wildmen against the Mugaz.

Perhaps the importance of his actions failed to dawn on Bubble but he showed no signs of panicking with the ball in hand. Bubble's first response was to run towards the end zone until a call from Wood Elf Catcher Rudolf Nureyev led to a hand-off and the simplest of touchdowns for Nureyev. The play made the Wood Elf the first player to score in the Southern Conference.

Everything had seemed secure for the Tragedy despite the casualties they had suffered and it was only the individual brilliance of Bubble that had cost them. The speed of the touchdown meant there was still plenty of time to come back. Tor once again received the kick-off but was put on the back foot immediately by yet another casualty. Wight Blitzer Jonny Gloom opened his account by blitzing Lineman Gage out of the game. The hit evened up the caualty count at an impressive three each. The Ultimates could not get through to the deep lying Tor so he had time to wait for an opening to emerge. The Tragedy ground their way down the pitch against a fair amount of resistance. With only nine fit players, it was inevitable that the going would be slow and particularly so once Skaven Gutter Runner Kyle was knocked out by a hit from the impressive Bubble. The game became increasingly stretched with Tor holding back in an incredibly deep position and so drawing defenders into his own half while at the other end, the Tragedy slowly pushed their way deeper into Ultimates territory in the hope of finding enough space for an open receiver. The pace of the Tragedy meant that the stretched play worked. Space was eventually found once a couple of failed attempts to dodge away from the advancing pack had left an open route for Penn. The Wood Elf Lineman was the perfect target for Tor who took his cue to race upfield and connect on a long pass. Penn showed safe hands and it was a simple matter for him to run the ball home for the equalising touchdown.

There was little time left in the game but still enough for a decisive score. Despite this, the next action was again from the Tragedy fans as they invaded the pitch once again. The Ultimates stood their ground and took no significant damage but the point was made that the Tragedy fans are rough and they will be looking to inflict pain on any team that visits The Alpha Rats Nest. Once play resumed, it was clear that both teams needed to make desperation plays to grab a last gasp winner. The teams almost ran past one another in their attempts to close in on their targets. With Amazon Thrower Mina Murray in possession of the ball from the kick-off and remaining deep, the play became more stretched than ever to the point where possession from any number of players would result in a simple touchdown for their side. At this stage, neither team could make any mistakes as they would be punished thanks to the proximity of the opposition to their own touchline. Despite staying very deep, Mina Murray was put under pressure by the onrushing home players and was forced into a pass from a difficult angle. The pass only found Tragedy Amazon Catcher Sunday who picked the ball out of the sky to ensure that this match doubled the all-time number of interceptions in the league.

Having got so many players into Ultimates territory, the interception could have led to a winner but an outstretched leg tripped Sunday up and she could not recover in time before the final whistle went. A rough and rowdy game had ended 1-1 between two evenly matched teams and evenly matched tactics. Either side could have scored at the death and it's clear that both intend to make their mark utilising the passing game. With 3 casualties apiece though, both have already made a mark on each other.

Injuries:

Tucker - Damaged Back (Misses 2 games)

Key Stats

Team	CAS	Rush	Blocks	Downs	Pass	Fumbles
Tragedy	3	32	35	12	6	5
Ultimate	3	34	29	15	7	4

MVPS: Gage, Mr Darcy

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