DUB Tourney is back!

Friday night saw about 30-40 people party out to an ipod and stereo in Suttonians Rugby Club. It was a relaxed affair, with a bbq and a few pints. Thomas the red van took centre stage after the bar closed and people retired to their tents. On Sat we awoke to sunshine! First games were at 11am and the wind was beginning to pick up. Mixed Veg, Throwing Shapes and PoS all won with relative ease and Binge? began their tournament with a walkover (they had so many players themselves that they played a fun gam amongst the squad!) given the Chilli-O couldnt field a team. After game 1 we had a lunch break and then out for the 2nd round of pool games. The wind was now very strong and huck and zone was all most teams were playing. It made for tricky, repetetive and far from spectator-friendly Ultimate! Still, it wasnt raining so we werent complaining, at least nobody did to our faces! Shapes, Veg, PoS and Jabba all won in the second round of matches before a quick break then the last games of the day. In a grudge match Shapes held off Veg 10-7 to take top seeds for Day Two. Binge? lost narrowly to PoS 8-6. Jabba beat Juice by 5points and NLM took care of an undermanned UCD team.

After showers and dinners we dealt with the much more important Saturday night party began. We were a little on the dark as to what to expect from a local Battle of the Bands but then came Funzo - a ska band. We all danced and drank in the club for a few hours before the bar was shut an hour earlier than promised. Luckily for us, Linda's parents let a load of us go back to their place. Details are sketchy but apparently its a bungalow, there was a piano and I was a lout. Sorry for that! Either way, the night was fun and went on until the early hours.

Sunday morning quarterfinals sa the top 4 seeds win through into the semis with Juice fighting hard against PoS, Binge? getting run close by Jabba the Huck, Veg beating NLM to 2 and Shapes receiving a Chilli-O walkover. The semi finals saw Binge? take on Shapes and Veg play PoS. Both games were tight, with Binge unable to get the vital upwind, losing 12-10. The Mixed Veg game was tight to start but a 4/5 point run saw them go 11-6 up game to 12, cue a few squeaky bum moments before a 12-9 win. Elsewhere, Jabba and Juice won to meet in 5th place playoff. Chilli-O and NLM playing for 7th. The final began as the other games finished and saw Shapes start strangely flat. Veg took advantage of this to open up a 5-1 lead, but the team in red kept picking away until half and at 8-5 had seen the deficit reduced by 1. Conditions were a mixed bag but not windy enough for either team to zone too much. Int eh second half Shapes D stepped up a little and soon cracks began to appear, with a few turfed throws and missed Ds on Vegs behalf. Suddenly time was gone and the score was 9-9. Game to 12. Again, the pressure was on Shapes with Veg receiving to go 10-9 up but after a turn and score Shapes were in the lead. 10-10 became 11-11 and a game to 12, after a great break throw for a score from Oisin Flannagan. Shapes worked the disc up the pitch, upwind and despite his best efforts, Steve MacDevitt held onto the disc to score the winning point.

Spirit of the game went to Juice, in their first ever tournament. Mick and Podge threw furthest but Mick outgunned Podge 2-0 in the all important RoShamBo. Courtney Hosp took the womens prize after sneaking a 2-1 win against Sarah (PoS). It was a fun end to a fun weekend. Thanks to everyone who cam along, to wll the people who helped and t the captains for the organising. More of the same next year!

Marko, Robin

Mark 'Marko' Earley