Outdoor Regionals 2010-2011, Cardiff Mythago 1 Being seeded 4th at the start of the competition meant that Mythago 1 were placed in the tough pool with the 5th seeds - BLT (Bath) - as well as Mwnci See (Aberystwyth) and Skunks 2 (Southampton). Our first game was against Mwnci See, although we started slowly we eventually got into gear and won 15-6. Next was the crunch game against BLT. Winning this meant that we would have held on to the 4th seed overnight and avoided crossovers. However, Bath came out really strongly and caught us a little off guard. By the time we had come to our senses it was too late and we went down 10-7 in a game that highlighted many areas for improvement in a brutal way. To finish off the day we had a game against Skunks 2 that we went into determined to prove that we were better than we had performed against Bath. We came out strongly and won 14-4, helping to restore some much needed confidence. This meant that we held the 5th seed overnight. So we left the field with the prospect of the 5v12 crossover to start Sunday. Against Mythago 2... After far too much pizza for our own good on Saturday evening, the early start was probably needed to make sure we were all awake later in the day. After - of course - the game with our seconds, which we expected to win comfortably. It took a few points for us to wake up and so it went to 1-1 (which the seconds were enjoying!). But eventually we did get going and we pulled out to a 13-2 win - retaining 5th. Next was the 5v8 against Mwnci See - showing the strength of our pool. After beating them in our pool game we expected another victory, but they made us work for it considerably more than on Saturday. Although we won 9-4 it was a much tighter game and we had to make some adjustments to ensure we hit our potential. So onto the 5v6 versus Heat (Bournemouth), who were somewhat of an unknown quantity as we'd only really come across them Indoors. In another tight game, we had to shift up a gear and sort out the flaws in our game. Happily, we managed to do so and won 7-4, guaranteeing at least Div2 nationals and setting up a rematch with Bath in the 5v4. By this time the wind had picked up a bit, which suited our zone defence nicely, and we went into the game determined to make amends for our first day defeat. It was clear straight away that we had grown as a team from day 1 and the game was much closer than in the pool. Both teams were fired up and there was plenty of intensity, which helped us step up again and play our best game of the tournament. It became apparent that the wind would be key to the result with both teams trading downwind points, we knew that a single upwind point could be the difference between the teams. And so it proved, although we came close in normal time on a few occasions. It got to 7-7 - all scored downwind, before the buzzer went and we were into sudden death - a game to 9. Both teams scored another downwind point 8-8, with us going downwind on the game point. For the first time in the game, they looked dangerous upwind and went on to win the game 9-8 with the only upwind point. Although it wasn't the ideal way to end the weekend, we were elated with 5th. The feeling was that we could go to Div 2 and challenge for the top. Mythago 2 The second team started regionals once again in the same group as No Thrills 1 and were once again crushed by them – this wasn't so bad as we used it as a warm up match so when we came to the crunch match against BLT3 we were ready. A loss here would condemn us to 13th place and a cross over against UWE (who don't have a team), however we came out all guns blazing and dominated the match 13:1. The next match of the day was against Uriel 2 who came 3rd at indoor div 2 nationals. However, this was not the same team and we felt confident that it would be a close game. This would be our undoing as it became apparent that Uriel were taking this game just as seriously and they stormed out at to an early 4:0 lead, a well called time-out was enough to rally Mythago but were only able to rally points for the remainder of the match, finishing 9:4. On the second day, we faced a cross over with Mythago 1. A first by my memory! With more important matches coming up we again used this as warm up match but were keen to give some of the firsts a hard time. They led out with the first point but we quickly took one back, making certain a first team captain quite unhappy. A similar awesome point was scored latter as we crushed their zone but apart from that, their superior numbers (and maybe skill?) showed. Immediately after we played the 9 v 12 against our old favourites, ugly ducklings. A victory here would put us within sight of Div 2 nationals – however the ducklings surprised us, by NOT being really hung-over for starters and also for throwing a polished zone on us. Though we had 90% of possession we could not break them and they took the victory. Our last game was the 11 v 12 against BLT2, not exactly a massive game! We went out to have some fun, relaxed match – I don't even remember what the score was (we lost though). Though we had only won 1 match all weekend and probably should have finished a bit higher, we had kept our seed, improved on last years result and finished above several other second teams. Fun times were had by all. Back to Results. Read the report from Nationals.