Jesters Ultimate

Plymouth Qualifiers

Due to the disappointment of missing out on university nationals, we figured we would give ourselves a chance to regain our pride. We went for a different challenge and threw ourselves right into the club fray by going to Plymouth Qualifiers. Out of the 16 teams there only 4 could qualify, and we were seeded 11th, only needed to jump up 7 places! How hard could it be? This is the story of when 9 Jesters took it to the South West.
Team:
Me
George
Medic
Rainer
Wong
Louise
Olly
Guest Coach Ben (GCB)
Cheeky Essex


Saturday
We all decided that Saturday morning would be a good time to leave, we got our own bed to sleep in and all the other stuff you might do at home…buuut it was pretty tough looking back at it. We met at 4.45am, with people leaving the late lounge we were ready for our weekend of redemption and then we saw George and GCB completely off their tits trying to play Frisbee. I was amazed that they were able to pack their bag let alone get to uni on time, but they did. So the J Tour started. On the way we stopped off for some food for GCB and Rondo to eat/try sober up. We also got some Gatorade with free wristbands, we were sponsored by them for the weekend! Then we continued to sunny Plymouth. We got to the sports hall and for an extremely sexy team we were all looking like complete rubbish! The lack of sleep was already kicking in, for me it was anyway! So we had all our pre match dumps and got ready for our first game against….Kent open 2.
Game 1 - K2 These guys were quite a solid team and we really had to try and control the game from the outset. We had good cuts coming under and we started getting some flow into the game. Our D was pretty chilled out compared to how it should have been for a team of this calibre. We ran them hard and fast still with good long points proving useful giving us a 3 point cushion at one point. Luckily we had this cushion as they finished strongly and the score ended 7-6 to us. One thing to remember is that this was the first game in which I had won the toss….and also the last…all I can say is sorry.
Game 2 - Mongoslings These guys were pretty new to the game, still getting to grips with their throws, but they still had the desire to run and go for it. We were pretty chilled out and didn’t get into any sort of rhythm for this game, but we did not really need to. But one of the moments of the weekend happened here with a loopy side arm being put up by myself and Lou completely skying two guys! It was HUUGGGEEE! So big she nearly spiked the disc…nearly. We should have looked at what to work on in this game but I think the tiredness was still having an effect. The final score looked to be about 9-2 I believe. Next game was against the highest seeds in our pool, 2nd seeds so we all woke up for this game big time. We were out there looking for an upset, looking to prove we can kick it at the top.
Game 3 - Flute Crumbs Ltd. We certainly took it to them and traded for the first 8 points, we had great D pushing every cut under and cutting off all throws just from a man. This was a turning point for our D this weekend with everyone on the pitch truly working their arse off and pushing everything. Our O was incredibly slick during the game too with some great flow with one point I remember from the pull being just four quick passes to result in a score. But these guys were seeded 2nd for a reason and they raised their game. Our man D was tight to the extent that it was like a zone, all they could do was keep the disc and chuck it around which with their experience were able to do all day long. From this I think they wore us down and were able to score a couple of lucky puts into the end zone. But the final score was not at all bad considering the ability. 9-5 to them.
Game 4 - Sublime This is a team I was really up for beating to try and prove how good we are. These guys are a university team from Portsmouth and came second last year at university outdoor nationals division 1 last year. It was always going to be a tough game from the off, but we were confident we could do it. These guys played a tight zone in a house formation with 2 guys playing chase, two guys playing wings/middle and 1 guy long. We managed to play around the zone very well considering the lack of practise we have had this year at playing a zone, our flow was disrupted but still at points when we made the initial break through the zone we broke through the whole thing relatively quickly…but this was still hard to do resulting in risky throws. Our D was strong and these guys showed their experience and clinical finishing holding onto the disc until the final pass was there to be made. But we gave a good account for ourselves again as the score was once again about 9-5. After this game we had a cheeky couple of calls which resulted in 3 stories being told by each team about team mates. Sublime seemed to be a fairly close team that wet themselves a lot, got arrested a lot and frog marched, with one team member admitting that another tea bagged him! Team bonding or what! If you don’t know what tea bagging is I wouldn’t look it up on the net or if you do expect some sort of porn to come up involving some guys balls and a mouth….might have given it away there. So anyway our 2 toughest games down, next game we definitely fancied having it.
Game 5 - Picnic 1 These guys are Plymouth University team and these days I think Jesters fancy any sort of game against any university no matter their reputation. Our O was sick as per with great long plays great under cuts and breaks occurring willy nilly. We just could not get a decent D together in this game they kept doing a really annoying ISO with some big guy that took a lot of bollocks down and then it was 1 quick pass and score. This seemed to happen for the first 5 points, but then we got to grips with it. It really annoyed me so layouts started happening, we were taking stuff out of the air, but our D was too little to late as the buzzer went on 6-6. A game we really should have won, 9 times out of 10 I think we would have won, but never mind. So we had our tough games with the final game of the day still to come. We were still in a strong position with higher points than most in the group.
Game 6 - Uriel 1 These guys were seeded 7th so we definitely wanted to beat them… and we did relatively easily, it seemed to turn into a slight cool down for us I guess with some chilly cuts coming and a chilly D, not really much to say about the game to be honest apart from being a nice game to finish on. So the days games were over, I had an incredibly sore arse which only seemed to get worse after having a shower (no homo or anything like that just hurt my bum). We found our host called Lemon, who was described to us throughout the day as being ‘the tall ginger guy’ and sure he was pretty tall and ginger. We headed to Sainsbury’s got some supplies and headed to Lemons place where we sat down for 10 mins chilled to Rainer playing guitar (there is just no end to his talents). Wong was continuously shot gunning that the drivers had the bed (him and Lou) and Lou looked slightly scared of spooning with the big Wong. Lots of tea bagging jokes were made, if you didn’t get tea bagging reference the boat has already set sail. We then decided to cut long on the break side and go for some dinner in a spoons, but we couldn’t find one so we looked to our dump and went to a Chinese with a hot line. Judging by the look of their waitresses I wasn’t surprised! So we all sat down Rainer changed the menu completely, I had the least rewarding gamble ever, didn’t pay off in the slightest but it was a nice little sit down meal with everyone in the restaurant with lots of people shouting about tea bagging up the table in this quiet restaurant. After getting the bill, we made our cut back under to Lemons pad again where me, Olly and Essex had a cheeky beer, probably one of the best warm ciders I have ever had thinking of it. Essex whipped out the charades with such classics as ’It takes two to bury the past’ featuring in the game. We eventually settled down with Medic me and Essex sharing the small double bed and having a girly giggle from lights out and the rest of the Jesters spaced out around the floor with spare mattress’. It all looked quite cosy, it was the hottest room ever so GCB opened a window, suddenly turning the room into the artic circle!

Sunday So me and medic woke up pretty early with Essex using the double bed well. We all packed up ready for our latish start to the day with our first kick off at 11.20 against air badgers 2 - a local school team. We got to the sports centre in time to make breakfast with chicken sandwiches, peanut butter and jam sandwiches and raspberry sponge sandwiches….I might have got a cake rather than a sandwich there but o well don’t worry about it.
Game 7 Air Badgers 2 This was our final pool game so we wanted to play well, work on our low releases to give them a slightly fairer chance instead of just throwing everything over their heads, and also to improve our game for later on in the day. So we did just that had some good flow going worked on D, but this kids were good at cutting for their size and light on their feet. They managed to get a cheeky 2 points past us. After our pool games we ended up coming 3rd in the pool, out of 8. This meant we were now 6th seeds in the tournament with a cross over against the 4th seeds Kent 1. This was our chance to push our claim on Club nationals so we had to go for it with all we had. We ate some chicken had a chuck around and dosed up on painkillers to get ready for this one.
Game 8 Kent 1 We came out all guns blazing and so did they. We had some good early breaks worrying people on the force and some lovely cuts happening. They tried to shut out our fast pace O. We were producing quick passes with the stall count rarely getting past 5 before the throw was off. Our D was still getting hotter as well from the previous games. We traded for a few points. Then Kent tried to throw a zone, which just did not work with a cheeky hammer over the top of all of it short work was made of it all. It was incredibly close coming into the final few minutes. Kent took forever to score their points but they made sure they scored. We just did not hold onto the disc for long enough, so when we started getting edgy and needy of a point throw aways and basic errors occurred. It was a fair try and a game that we could have won on another day there is no doubt in my mind about it. But the final result was 6-5 to Kent. This meant we were still in 6th and this next game was a must win game to remain in contention to still qualify for nationals. This was against Kent 2 and they were out for revenge.
Game 9 - Kent 2 After losing yet another toss we were on D straight away and they scored a quick easy point to take the lead. We responded with a positive O point and traded a couple of points. Our D was strong but they had some good receivers, especially 1 guy that was causing lots of problems, but we held strong on D. They tried to throw a zone against us which, again did not work we threw straight through the zone with confident breaks, nifty hammers and coming to the wall had a chilly O to find the break we needed. Going into the dieing seconds of the game was incredibly nerve racking, they had a couple of drops in the end zone and it was 5-5. On our own end zone line George puts up a hammer for Rainer to bid on with pressure from a couple of Kent players. It actually went in slow motion as I sent a little prayer up for the completion and Rainer caught it just as the buzzer went, Hollywood stuff! There was a massive eruption from all the Jesters, to find that Rainer had been called not in. After a few minutes play restarted with us on O on their end zone line and with a little cross zone pass George finished off the point. That was possibly the closest game I had ever been involved in and we did well to finish it off, since we never seem to win the close games! Now we definitely had a spot and a sense of destiny of reaching nationals. It just depended on who we would be playing. If we won our next game it would be Sublime, if we lost it would be Kent 1 again. We just went into the next game wanting to play and keep our winning streak and confidence going.
Game 10 - Surrey Scorpions So we didn’t actually have to win this game so we all had a fairly relaxed attitude going into it. We still wanted to prove that we were the better university team though! So we took a very easy and commanding lead of about 3 points and basically chucked it around for a bit. We still ran hard on D trying to improve it but it was obvious we were a bit chilled out with breaks occurring resulting in some scores. But the final score ended 6-4 to us without really reaching 5th gear. This meant we were now in 5th position in the tournament ready to face 3rd to try take their nationals spot in a last chance saloon. This was to be another match against Sublime, a repeat from the first day. Time for pay back.
Game 11 - Sublime We came into the game knowing that they were going to throw a zone, and it’s a strong one so our tactics were to try and play before the zone was set. They were all trained and drilled to play every position of the zone by the looks of it so it was literally a sprint to the disc and move it straight away, without dropping it ourselves, it was not going to be easy. So we lost the toss…again and were straight on D. I was determined to make up for the toss loss again so I was straight on one of the main handlers who went for a cheeky break…no chance with a point D pick up and knife to Rainer we took the early advantage. We then began to trade points for the next 6 points. We kept our frantic D going throughout the game and they struggled to get around it. We were getting under their skin as they started shouting at each other and drops started to occur. We took advantage of these at the start with quick discs to the end zone before they even knew it…cheeky and effective. But they began to step up their D, catching onto our approach so we had to play around their tight zone, which was not easy. The seemingly only way to do it was with a precise knife over the mids/wings and in front of the deep, surgical stuff but we pulled it off a few times to come to their wall and find a way through that when we came to it. Sublime showed their skills in holding the disc under pressure and showing how clinical their finishing could be. With a couple of quick points we found ourselves trailing by two because of a lapse in D, but this was understandable from running around like crazed lunatics all day long. Medic discovered the wonders of laying out on his chin in this game with a nice graze for it. Sublime were able to pull away with good play and after a great effort the score was 9-6 in the end, an admirable effort to keep the score to 9 in 25 minutes and to score 6 against this zone. Kent 1 who came fourth only scored 1 point against Sublime. Well played to everyone at the weekend, was truly awesome play and a special mention to Lou and Wong for taking the driving responsibilities, the weekend couldn’t have happened without you. The story of the 9 Jesters did not end perfectly, but when does it ever? We had trials and tribulations, we saw different challenges and played new players but we never let our heads drop. Through injury and pain, with blood sweat and pure exhaustion we powered on without complaint and pushed some of the very best all the way. We looked the best in the eyes and showed them little respect on the pitch with fearless throws and cuts. A performance to be proud of and a weekend never to forget…returning back to Leicester after this we do not just have 9 Jesters, we have 9 Heroes. Until next time…Peace