Check out how Fling did with their beginners this year in Sheffield beginners tournement. Looks like there's some talent in the ranks.....

Saturday

It was an early Saturday morning for all, we arrived at the sports centre in plenty of time for the first game (3 mins is enough time to prepare isn’t it?).  A thank you to the random guy who told us when to get off the bus, was a damn sight more useful than the bus driver.

Phat' Eds 3 (6)              Vs. Fling   (4)

We got caught a little cold early on and took our time to settle down during which they opened up a 5-0 lead over us.  We got ourselves sorted but didn’t have enough time to claw it all the way back.  Maybe 3 mins isn’t enough time after all, next time I’ll give it at least 5.

Bears (8)                      Vs. Fling (2)

Coming into the weekend we’d decided as experienced players to hang back and let the beginners run free and play, unfortunately Bears hadn’t and their experienced players were very much involved in everything.  Lots of switching, poaching and some dodgy hats that kept falling off all ultimately led to our demise.

Fish (0)                        Vs. Fling (7)!

We now had our Fling banner up for the whole world to see and with us sick of losing we came out really wanting to win.  We dominated the game all the way through with great flow, stacking, cutting and clearing out was all starting to work.  So much so I barely even remember touching the disc, good work!

Phat' Eds 1 (3)              Vs. Fling (2)

Our pool play left us in 11^th with a crossover for 6^th with another of the home teams.  First point was epic (5 or 6 mins) and they took a 1-0 lead, another long point and we were 2-0 down with over half the game gone.  We managed to stick in a quick one and a great toe drag hammer take from Mathieu made it 2-2 and set us up for sudden death.  We had some chances to take it but just couldn’t put that final pass in.

Saturday night saw us get dead into the party mood in our zombie outfits. Before hitting Jambo's local we managed to put away some takeout and somehow get fake blood up the walls of our host's house (who didn't even play frisbee!). After a hell of a lot of double takes in the pub and a scoreline we're not going to mention, Jambo took us to Bar One and the students union a short walk away. Definitely the best dressed there!  We threw plenty of zombie shapes and Chuck and Buck really had the whole zombie lethargy down, back to the house for a quick game of buckaroo and a drawing session.

Sunday

 Mental Discs  (7)              Vs.            Fling (2)

 An early start after a chilly night spent listening to Sam's guttural coughing took us back to the Concorde Sports Centre for our game against Mental Discs. These guys were really annoying, not only for the fact that some of their experienced players looked younger than Jambo but because they had the mighty Bollard who kept whipping out sweet hammers to the kid with the blood restricting goofy cycling shorts. (NB: for the lufbra beginners- you have to play in proper shorts, cycling shorts or tighties of any kind are illegal). Ah well, we pulled back 2 well deserved points and special mention to heroic Joe who put up a great D bid in their endozone to stop an 8th point right on the hooter. At the same time he managed to smash his bum on the floor and hold up the next game!

Fish    (1)                         Vs.            Fling (9)

 Second time around and we weren't going to get complacent after we bagelled them on the saturday. This was my favourite game of the weekend with loads of Fling connections and sooper pitch awareness. Very chilly on O we stacked up nicely and mixed up the cuts for some long passes/points. Great play from everyone, definitely the best team performance so far! Shame they got that token point, I think it was the guy's ridiculous Jamiroquai Space Cowboy stylee hat that put us off.

Roehampton  (3)               Vs.             Fling (7)

 Roehampton made the journey up after all the southern beginners' tournies were booked up and showed great spirit despite being trounced by Fling. All out effort for our last game paid off with some speedy turnovers coming after some hard D pressure. I don't know how they scored 3pts as we seemed to have 90% posession- maybe it was the freakish tickling girl taking Mike's attention like at the party?!

MVP: Joe. Some sweet backhand puts came from the trigger happy Topshop approach and nice hammer attempts. Some great vision there and overall 'hard-arse' dedication in every game...if only you would stay on your feet! Great spirit with Little Miss. Tickle from Roehampton too!

MIP: Jenn. Gradually made more and more pitch appearances and gained confidence as the tournament went on. Used her height to her advantage with some nice interceptions. Surprised herself with how her sidearm came on after the first game on saturday!

Chris 'Rock' Reynolds: No doubt the biggest guy at the tournie and certainly made some important D's in the endzone. Some great backhand pulls and awareness of tactics. A good dance impersonater we can always see in a crowd. We now know this 6ft 7 Rock needs and likes his food to be served with a knife and fork, not too dry and ON TIME!

Mathieu a.k.a Asterix: awesome long cuts and great pressure on D, I think you got a foot block or two? A few fumbles in the endzone but never failed to surprise us with holding on just enough!

Nat: Improved her catching and sidearm massively over the weekend. Some tight marking against Roehampton too, just a shame about the throwing in the wrong direction! Proved herself to be a pun master to rival Brynn!

Sam 'Buck' Cooper: Played some hard O and partied equally hard on Saturday night. Proved an excellent Buckaroo canvas and ended up with a few facial additions by the time Sunday morning arrived. Great effort in the endzone and nice cuts too.

Mike 'Chuck' (Wild- Smith) Norris: Excellent interceptions all weekend and good reading of play. Also enjoyed Sheffield Students Union and probably played better with the hangover (and whiskers)! 

Dr. Harp: Took the Peeling Banana call back to its roots and shocked a few freshers. Classic Harp sticky fingers with some sweet low grabs. Fulfilled the title of the sober 'driver' perfectly by pushing the fresher-zombies to stay on the dancefloor for that extra half hour!

Soph: Came up with some appalling nicknames but redeemed herself with her blue marker pen.  Great on pitch as we’ve come to expect and a dab hand with the face paints.

Thanks to everyone for a great weekend, you all improved massively and we hope to see you all at plenty of tournaments throughout the rest of the year, photos and video are on the random fling facebook group NOW!

 Authors Harp and Sophie