24th Apr 2010 - Aberdeen Spring Tournament
What comes to mind when thinking of Slut Monkeys, Rob Lee, and Beliefs? Or how could a brand of biscuits be so powerful that Trevor would be forced to go cold turkey on them? Why did I spend my Sunday night falling asleep to thoughts of ‘Would Sule find him attractive’ and then dreaming as I finally did sleep of Madonna and John Major? What about Dave is so special that when he pees in the woods everyone shouts out their observations, while I pee in humble silence?
Ah yes, the magic of going on tour. If only what goes on tour didn’t have to stay on tour. Or perhaps that is indeed a good thing. At the very least, it makes my job easier in generating a write up……
Eleven people answered the call this weekend to carry the Superhands banner over the weekend in Aberdeen. Our third place finish in pool play (4 wins, 2 losses) placed us in the Tankard semi-final. We eagerly won that match up and came up just a bit tired in our Tankard final, although we somehow managed to find a bit more energy to close the gap in the second half. Add it all up and we played 170 minutes of touch rugby, earning a very respectable record of 5 wins against our 3 losses as we claimed 6th place in the 13-team tournament. Our cumulative score line was ~28 tries to 12. This includes a 1-nil loss to the tournament winners.
But that’s just the numbers. Each game we exponentially improved our performance and standard. Led by the enthusiastic running of RobLee and the aggressive tackling of Sunshine Coast Gillian, we played very inspired throughout, and turned in a flawless performance in our semi-final victory. Proudly living up to our self-proclaimed title “Best Supported Team in Scotland”, we delivered a true team effort. Darting runs by Trevor as he broke through helpless defenses, field general precision from LA as she directed our middle of the field actions, brilliant hands and punishing defense from Jo and Sule, beautifully choreographed moves from Doug and Pierre in toying with our opponents, be everywhere play of a flanker from Jen, and charging runs and fiery play from Dave. I get special mention for my ability to lose coin tosses: eight games we played, eight times we started on defense going the opposite direction we wanted!
And the above is just the play. What everyone really came for was the Saturday night. The team (minus 3, each of whom will surely pay tenfold for the indiscretion) adjourned to Tullynessle for DIY pizza and quantities of red wine. Judge Dave issued the fines that Fine-master Rob had been noting throughout the day. Both Jen and Pierre attempted to appeal against the injustice of their fines. These appeals were thrown out unanimously by the jury and the forfeits were doubled.
First, compliments to all for making it out for this. Second, special compliments to the drivers – Dave, Trevor, and Pierre/LA – for providing the transport. Third, special compliments again, this time to not just LA, but also her parents in absentia, for turning their house into the official Superhands Aberdeen residence. Finally, special compliments once again, to everyone for their individual efforts in making this a successful trip. From Chef Pierre’s tasty cooking to Doug’s wizardry tour management to Coach Pierre’s gummy bear guidance, we did a fantastic job on all accounts of carrying the Superhands banner.
With that, I will have to sign off as I see a new email in my inbox from Pierre. Last week, I was reprimanded for updating the Player Availability sheet too far in advance and had my “A”s deleted. This week, I have been reprimanded for not updating the PA sheet. I wonder what I did wrong this time!
Your Aberdeen correspondent and captain,
Steve.
DC on location in Aberdeenshire contributed to this article.
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Team composition
Captain: Steve Tanghe
Jo, Lesley-Anne, Sule, Jen, Gillian
Rob, Doug, Trevor, Pierre, Steve, Dave
Results:
Finished 6th out of 13th.
Pool game 1: lost to Geckos 0-4
Pool game 2: beat RDS Peregrines 8-0
Pool game 3: beat Xodus 6-0
Pool game 4: beat Leopards too 4-1
Pool game 5: lost to Meerkats 0-1
Pool game 6: beat Hoodlums 2-1
Tankard semi final: beat Genesis 6-0
Tankard final: lost to Wallace Monumental 2-5