No new champions, but plenty unexpected results and some big upsets in Great Britain
July 19, 2024 by Felix Soedira in Recap with 0 comments
UK Nationals returned to an eight-teams-per-division format and, thanks to the changes to the EUCS qualification system, there were no Irish teams present for the first time in years. The result was a very exciting tournament in Nottingham where old winners reclaimed the titles. Outside of the finals there were also several thrilling results that will have significant impacts later this season and beyond.
Mixed
Deep Space Wins Back-to-Back Titles
Deep Space (London) won Nationals on a universe point against Reading. Reading, the underdog coming into the game, staged a dramatic late comeback to force the game to a final point. Deep Space looked like the best team all weekend, including for the first 16 points of the final as it built a 10-6 lead. The only time the Londoners looked in any real peril all tournament was in Reading’s 5-1 run to take it to the 11-11 universe point.
Space seemed to struggle earlier in the season, but was bringing depleted squads and managing injuries. The team showed that once complete, they are a team to be feared at EUCF. Jack Halkyard, Alvaro Iturmendi, and Amy Van Zyl had great individual performances in the final, and the London-based team looked like it had the depth to compete with anyone in Europe. Defending another title won’t be easy but it looks like the team is still improving and could yet take home another trophy.
Reading will be disappointed to lose again but will be proud of the comeback to force the dramatic finale. Adding Becky Thompson, Sam Wilson, and Andy Lewis back from GB Mixed was a boost but, in the final, Deep Space’s excellent defense took the team out of its comfort zone several times and led to a slight reorganization of its 1-6 offense. A comfortable win over Elite Invite winners Lemmings (Leamington) in the pool will be something of a consolation as it should help Reading’s EUCS ranking, and showed that all three teams will compete at EUCF.
Lemmings Fall Short This Time
Lemmings had high hopes this Nationals after a tremendous season, capped off with winning Elite Invite. The team struggled to hang with both of the finalists, though – teams that Lemmings had beaten at Elite Invite, albeit with weaker squads. Lemmings lost 14-11 to Reading in pool play to set up a rematch of last year’s final in this year’s semifinal: Deep Space.
Lemmings struggled with Deep Space’s smothering defense, especially when in the red zone. Space set out a number of different defensive looks, including a handler sag and zone, and Lemmings duly turned 14 times on offense compared to only six for Space’s O line. A 15-7 loss knocked the team into the third place game, where Heck (Edinburgh) was dispatched comfortably, 15-8. With a wildcard already secured the EUCS ranking isn’t much of a concern, but falling out of the final after silver medals last year will be a disappointment.
Glasgow Continues to Fall
GUX (Glasgow) may have had the most disappointing weekend, finishing in seventh. The team had a shocking loss in the first round of pool play against lower-seeded Thundering Herd (London) on universe point, and followed it up with losses against Reading (15-6) and Lemmings (15-7). A closer loss to BN1 (Brighton) on Sunday meant a seventh place game against bottom overall seed Newcastle Brown, where the Scots easily handled business, 15-5. Glasgow did not use Nationals as a ranking event but losses for Heck will likely impact the ranking anyway. There are some wrinkles to iron out ahead of what is a crucial tournament at Summer Tour in Birmingham in August.
Quick Hits
- Heck beat BN1 convincingly, 15-9, in a de-facto quarterfinal1 to make semis in its debut season. Great performances by the Trim siblings, Katie and Thomas, and Alexandra Hiley helped the Scottish side pull out some great results.
- BN1 came into the tournament favored to make semis, but fell into the lower bracket after the loss to Heck. Wins over GUX and then Thundering Herd saw the team finish fifth. Thundering Herd’s sixth-place finish broke a run of three straight years finishing eighth.
- Newcastle Brown had close games against Heck and Thundering Herd but finished last in its first trip to mixed Nationals in many years.
Open
Clapham Regains the National Title
Clapham (London) regained the title as national champions after beating Chevron Action Flash (Birmingham) in a rematch of last year’s final2, 15-13. However, the road to the final didn’t come without some trouble for the Bullfrogs. In the first pool game, LLLeeds put up seven points against the Londoners with a surprising and impressive first-half performance from the northerners. After cleaning things up, Clapham faced Alba (Scotland) in windy and rainy weather. Again, Clapham wasn’t perfect, but neither was Alba. The teams exchanged zones and poachy looks but Clapham had the upper hand throughout and took the game 15-12. A 15-3 win over Smash’D (London) rounded out the pool and led to a semifinal against SMOG (Yorkshire). The result was a fairly routine 15-7 win as the Bullfrogs seemed to be growing into the tournament. The final was tighter than many expected, but the trophy is back in London after a sabbatical following last year’s result.
Chevron Action Flash will be disappointed to have lost the national title but will take a number of positives out of the weekend, not least the seemingly seamless integration of some new players. The weekend started poorly in the first round of pool play as the team had to claw its way back from 12-14 down against SMOG to win on universe, but wins over Bristol, Ka-Pow! (London) and Smash’D were all very positive results. Missing key handler Ethan Morrell due to injury was a big loss for Chevron’s O-line but it gave newcomers Ed Graham and Kody Elliot-Edwards bigger roles in high pressure games, and both responded with excellent performances. Chevron will undoubtedly be hungry for a Summer Tour win in just over a month’s time before likely heading to EUCF where it will again be a tough out for anyone.
SMOG Finishes a Sensational Third
SMOG (Yorkshire) may have had the most impressive weekend in the division. The pool play game against Chevron was a phenomenal watch and, despite a universe point loss, building a late two-point lead on the reigning champions showed that the team was a threat to anyone. Two critical turns on offense were the difference, but the performance across the board was hugely encouraging.
That belief carried over into the final pool game against Bristol. Both teams struggled with the wind, with only eight clean offensive holds in the whole contest. Bristol thrived more in the slop, taking an 8-5 lead into half. SMOG pulled one break back early in the second half but a late callahan by James Sully pushed Bristol’s lead to 12-10 with time expiring. SMOG responded with a clean hold, then two clean breaks to take the upset win and secure a semis spot. The final point was secured with a huge inside backhand from handler Tom Lees, who had earlier come on as an injury sub, with Nick Williams playing a huge role with a three-goal, two-assist stat line.
Despite struggling in the semi against Clapham another come-from-behind win against Smash’D on universe point secured an unlikely third place at SMOG’s first Nationals as an open team since 2018.
Alba and Bristol Disappoint
Alba and Bristol had big plans for this weekend but ultimately fell short. Alba was knocked off by Smash’D in the opening game, losing 15-13, and another close loss against Clapham meant no semis at Nationals for the first time since 20193 Alba has had a bit of a low year this year and, similarly to other teams across all divisions, has struggled without its GB representatives and with some key departures. The Scots may now struggle to make EUCF.
Bristol, a program that has been building for quite some time now, had high hopes after a solid season, most notably beating BFD La Fotta at Tom’s Tourney. The universe point loss to SMOG, while knocking it out of the semis, shows that the team is right on the doorstep of the top tier. The team still managed to play close with Chevron but seemed to struggle late in the tournament, losing to Alba on universe point to take sixth for the third year in a row.
Quick Hits
- Smash’D had close wins but big losses, with the exception of the loss against SMOG. It notched a big win over Alba but was thumped by both Chevron and Clapham, before falling on universe in the bronze medal game. The young team is still impressive and has shown that it’s just outside that elite level. Sam Hill, Chun Lee, and Christian Turvill was a very solid handling corps, and Ben Phipps was a force downfield.
- Ka-Pow! has to be pleased with their performance against Bristol putting 10 points on the board before getting rolled by SMOG and Chevron. They continue to impress on Sunday, also putting 10 points on against Alba before winning their final game against LLLeeds in a close affair.
- LLLeeds started Nationals off brilliantly, putting seven points on the board against Clapham. It continued this momentum with a close 15-13 loss against Smash’D, going step for step until the very end. Despite a last place finish, there’s a lot of positives for the northerners to take away.
Women’s
Bristol’s Back
Bristol won its first national title since 2021 in dominant fashion. Carla Link and Molly Wedge returning to the fold after injury was key to that, but it wasn’t a two-player affair at all. With the exception of SMOG in the first game, Bristol didn’t let a team score more than nine points throughout the weekend and often ran away with games in the second half. Lisa Hocking drove the offense forward with Saskia Kantorowicz and Natalie Oldfield downfield cutters. Bristol dismantled Iceni (London) in the semi and LMU (London) in the final pretty easily, outplaying the 2023 and 2022 champions, respectively.
Bristol’s willingness to play a deep game put both London teams on their heels, and the aggression on D raised the intensity to a level that neither opponent could match. The number of first-pass turns that Bristol forced on day two of the tournament was shockingly high, with the pressure dialled up to 10 right from the outset. LMU defeated SMOG (Manchester) in its semi to return to the final, an excellent result considering the team had seemed a little shakier this season than in previous years. Giving up eight breaks compared to three clean holds is a disappointing way to finish, but the weekend as a whole provided lots of positives for the Londoners going into the rest of the season.
Iceni Bounces Back to Finish Third
Iceni came into the tournament as reigning champion so will undoubtedly be disappointed in third place. The Londoners were punished by the draw, facing Bristol in the semi after SMOG took a shock first-game win over Bristol in the first game of the weekend.
Iceni defeated finalist LMU 13-7 in the pool, so was very likely the second-best team in the tournament, but the way it lost to Bristol will be what stings more than the loss itself. Bristol took an 8-4 lead into half and never let up from there, scoring seven breaks to Iceni’s two. Iceni did recover in the final game, coming from behind to beat SMOG on universe thanks to an incredible sky from Hannah Boddy.
Horizon Gets Over the Hump
Horizon (Yorkshire) has been building for a few years now and had an impressive weekend. In the first round of pool play, the northerners knocked off SYC (London) 14-13, capitalizing on SYC’s unforced errors and throwaways. This was the first time Horizon had beaten one of the traditional powers of the women’s division, so it was a huge result.
The team also managed to put eight points on Bristol before losing to SMOG by two. Sarah Ladd, Patty Taleongpong, and Katie Allen were notable standouts as Horizon utilised their hex offense to move the disc quickly and effectively. A close loss to Spice (Midlands) in the fifth place game finished off a weekend where the young club turned heads and made its biggest splash yet.
Quick Hits
- SMOG finished a creditable fourth at its first women’s Nationals. Beating eventual champion Bristol in an excellent universe-point game was a highlight, but a tough Sunday with losses to LMU and Iceni showed that there’s still room to grow. Some young players played crucial roles this season and should stand the team in good stead if the club does continue to play in the single-gender divisions next season
- Spice had a tough weekend to conclude more of a development year after losing lots of the founding members this season. It completed a big comeback to win on universe against SYC, with GB Women’s players Heather Gibson and Marina Symington particular standouts. A final win against Horizon left Spice fifth with two wins on Sunday, and the rebuild looking to be in good shape.
- SYC had a disappointing weekend, falling once again after last year’s sixth place to seventh this year. A surprise, universe-point loss against Horizon left the Londoners in a tough position, and the loss to SMOG4 killed any chance of a semis spot. SYC has been in a development phase, changing the way it operates and bringing in more young players, with many of the experienced players that led the team to the later stages of Nationals5 beginning to move away. The next few years will be crucial for the club.
- Chameleons6 struggled as expected, scoring eight points in five games.
The game was the final one in the pool with both having a win and a loss. ↩
And many finals before that. ↩
This was Alba’s debut at Nationals, where it lost in the quarters. ↩
The game was level at 9-9, but SMOG scored five of the last six points in a 14-10 win, including four breaks in a row to go up 13-9. ↩
Including a final in 2017. ↩
Chameleons is a pan-UK team that focuses on development at tournaments, so there’s no central location for them. ↩
