No Talent All-Stars 2-1 Fabienettes

Weather: Haze

Gate: 35k

Two teams that switched coaches in the off-season met at Bring-a-Bed Stadium with the visit of the so far pointless Fabienettes, a team that until last week had not registered a touchdown. The All-Stars entered the game on a slightly better run of form having picked up their first win against The Panzerbourne in week 3 and being undefeated since the opening game. The teams met once last season, the score ending in a 2-0 win to the All-Stars. There has been a lot of change for both clubs since then though that was a season in which the pair qualified for the post-season. For the Fabienettes, another defeat would make the chances of qualification this season unrealistic.

The home side won the coin toss and chose to receive. The defence arrayed in front of them was somewhat irregular and appeared to be attempting to channel the offense down the right hand side. Whatever the purpose of that formation was, the All-Stars lined up in regular formation with High Elf Thrower Thaleus Thunderarm at the back to field the punt. Ignoring the queue from the defensive setup the attack went towards the stronger flank. Beastman Garek Hornskull was the player on point, blitzing a path for the skill players to move down. The player charged with taking that path was Witch Elf Svetlana Domina. The first round pick ran in the first touchdown of her career last week so will have gained a lot of confidence. Thaleus Thunderarm clearly had confidence in her, he fielded the punt early and without rushing upfield passsed accurately to Domina.

Domina found her fourth reception so far without any difficulty and in one motion flowed into the space created by Garek Hornskull's blitz. The defensive cover was stretched by the impact of the All-Stars line of scrimmage which had blocked accurately all the way across the front. Despite it being the stronger defensive end, the home side had managed to take down enough players to limit options. One of the few players in good defensive position was Orc Thrower Wagwag who was another to have taken confidence from a career rushing performance last week. The Orc blitzed in at an acute angle and was able to grasp hold of Domina, tackling her down. It was only a momentary setback for the All-Stars. Garek Hornskull reacted with reasonable speed to the imposition of WagWag, blocking him down and out with a ferocious headbutt. That hit cleared the way for Svetlana Domina to jump back to her feet and move towards the end zone.

Despite the obvious and imminent scoring threat from the Witch Elf, the Fabienettes instead focussed on trying to bolster their front line. There were no big strikes up front though the All-Stars kept on putting their opponents on the ground while the visitors kept throwing reinforcements into the mix. Ignored, Svetlana Domina could literally stroll to her second touchdown of her rookie season and an opening score in the game. The defense seemed to have given up too early on their attempts to halt Svetlana's progress but she did not complain about that for one moment.

The perceived lack of effort aggravated the fans. At the subsequent kick-off, the haze that seems to follow the Fabienettes around was pierced by a large rock flying in from the crowd. It was not clear which set of supporters were responsible but the impact was perfectly clear. The rock hit Fabienettes Wood Elf Thrower Fabino directly on his temple. Fortunately the game was not in full flow and the medical staff could get on to administer emergency treatment or it really could have been the worst for Fabino. The rest of the team got on with the action as Fabino came back to his senses, WagWag collecting the kick and lateralling to Wood Elf Wardancer Fabio. The Wardancer made a lone rush into enemy territory but Garek Hornskull was waiting for him. The Beastman lowered his gnarled forehead to meet Fabio front on. The collision was a stunning one for Fabio, the ball dropping away from his grasp.

Ending the immediate threat, the All-Stars sensed the chance of a counter-attack. Norse Lineman Samuel Magnusson stepped up to the ball and attempted to get it quickly to Svetlana Domina. The attempt was far too rushed. Samuel had not previously attempted a pass and his lack of familiarity with the skill showed with the ball flopping out right next to him instead of veering towards his target. The play had been really loose from both sides, neither had consolidated around any position so that left both sides with chances to attack the now loose ball. Magnusson's opposite number "Long" Pugh Bes was the first to make a break. As the All-Stars lines had pushed up, there was only one player to beat. Unfortunately for Bes, that player was Kirk Angel. The Lineman had somehow secreted a chainsaw onto the pitch and had it running to greet the Fabienettes Norseman. The cut was deep, Pugh Bes's limp body was carted from the field as the half ended.

Some kind of frantic deal was cut during the half on that blow. Pugh Bes was eventually restored to full health some hours after the game but by the All-Stars apothecarium rather than that of the Fabienettes. Perhaps that reflected the All-Stars confidence in their position, being 1-0 up at the break. That is acknowledged as a slim margin but the manner of the play had favoured the hosts as their strong blocking was not being dealt with effectively by the Fabienettes and they had been able to stop the dangerous Fabio.

The second half began in a completely different manner. The Fabienettes faced the same eye formation defence but this time were able to run right by it. A chain motion recovered a deep kick thanks to a combination of Fabino, Wagwag and finally Fabio. The Wardancer fielded his leg of the relay and then turned on the style. He dodged straight through a couple of tackle zones on his way into a threatening position. The speed of the move caught the All-Stars off guard. Aenarion Swift the Wood Elf Lineman tried but failed to respond, not being able to get off a block and slipping down. That slip was enough for Fabio to break away. The carefully placed eye formation had not been able to stop Fabio at all, the Wardancer added to his score against the Dolts to equalise early in the second half.

A slow start for the All-Stars to the second period had been punished by Fabio. The Fabienettes may not have recorded any points so far but Fabio is always a threat to score within moments. That differs from the more measured approach of the All-Stars that is based on a heavy blocking game. Playing a blocking game allows the team to take advantage of positional mismatches and one of those was on the line of scrimmage at the subsequent kick-off. Rookie Ghoul Catcher Pete Graveyard is not ideally designed for front line action and his lack of toughness was taken advantage of by All-Stars Orc Lineman Grak Hedsplitta who Badly Hurt the Ghoul with a straight-ahead block. The front line action was signifcant as the Fabienettes were able to hold out on the flanks this time round. No penetration could be gained on either side as the blitzers failed to make an impression.

The lack of movement on the wings meant that Thaleus Thunderarm held onto the ball for longer during this drive than he had done earlier on. The defence did not give much ground except up front where the All-Stars blocking was too strong. This grinding approach allowed a cage to form in the center of the pitch. The visitors backed off from it recognising their inferior physical strength. At the middle of the cage was Aenarion Swift. The ball was popped up to the Wood Elf by Thaleus Thunderam and the collective maul surged forwards. The attacking formation was too powerful for direct intervention as all the skill players of the visitors found out. The entire ball handling and skill crew were knocked out as they attempted to circle round to prevent further forward motion. Lacking in numbers and unable to hold out any longer, the Fabienettes could not get close to Aenarion Swift. The front of the cage parted to allow the Wood Elf out and over the line for his fourth score of the season and a 2-1 lead for the All-Stars.

Lacking their first and second choice attacking threats, the Fabienettes found the going extremely difficult for the remainder of the game. The All-Stars remained in their eye formation for a long time, not having to press up as the Fabienettes did not get into their half at all. A couple of fumbles from WagWag, for whom the situation without his ball-handling colleagues was probably too pressurised, meant that the drive got off to a stuttering start. By the time the ball was under control, it was with almost no time left. A desperate final pass was off target and the game ended 2-1 to the All-Stars.

Back-to-back wins for the All-Stars against cross-conference opponents sets the team up for a run at the post-season in the second half of the season. They threw an enormous number of blocks against the Fabienettes to some good effect and were only undone by some careless play at the start of the second period to allow Fabio in for a score. For the Fabienettes, there are some positives to be taken such as Fabio breaking through a tight defence and that the team has now scored in two consecutive games after having been shut out of the first two. However, from this position it will now probably take four wins from the four remaining games for post-season qualification.

Injuries:

Key Stats

Team	CAS	Rush	Att	Block	Downs	Stands	Dodge
All-Stars	3	40	8	61	34	3	4
Fabienettes	0	27	6	19	6	21	18

MVPS: Grak Hedsplitta, Vood Azizpour