The Semi, the Town and the Bug
The Semi
The 2 v 3 Semi final was held last week between the Moreton Bay Buggers and the Slamtown Flatball Club. It was a semi final worthy of the great Brisbane Premier League.
The game started with a break to the Buggers in the first 2 points which was quickly followed by a break back for the Gold Coast boys. 2 all and the game was off to a fast and intense start.
It stayed tight throughout the first half with the Buggers working against a zone and the Gold Coast trying to negotiate a man defense. Both offenses were finding ways to score and the turnovers from both teams were reduced from the face off two weeks prior. The Bugs squeezed out another turn and score during the half and the score going into the break was 8 to 6.
While the score remained close during the whole game the play was not stagnant, both teams held periods of ascendancy. It felt like a range of strategies were used as teams attacked and counter attacked, both teams adapted to mistakes that were letting them down. It was a great contest with multiple tight and tense points.
The Gold Coast closed up the gap and when time cap went the score was 11 all. The stakes were high, the lines were stacked and everybody wanted to make the play. Each team turned the frisbee over at least 2 times, twice into the same corner of the endzone for the Bug boys. The winning goal was in line with the rest of the point as a miss thrown floater into the endzone was snatched up the third or fourth guy in line. A desperate point played by both teams who looked pressured.
It was a great semi final with the Gold Coast demonstrating their ever increasing maturity by handling the pressure and the occasion to eek out their first semi final win.
The Town
After 3 seasons in the BPL the first non Brisbane team in the competition will be featured in the grand final. The Slamtown Flatball Club. The Gold Coast team is one of the most exciting additions to the competition of the last 2 years and it is excellent to see them in the final this week.
They are now a team with talent and experience across the list with less dependence on a few key players to get the job done. They do have some top weapons who do the damage however matching up the whole line is now very important for any opposition. They look to attack long against Man D and high and over against a zone. I think they look their best when they utilise their running O to progress the frisbee up the field. An overly exuberant long game in the final this week may not be the strongest strategy.
Regardless of weather the BPL trophy travels south this season or not the Slamtown Flatball Club has made its mark on this BPL season.
The Bug
Another disappointing semi final exit for the Moreton Bay Buggers this season. 3 seasons in a row with the Bugs absent from the final. This season certainly felt like a step forward with better showings against the table leaders (close losses to the Dojo and Slamtown, as well as a draw and win respectively).
Exiting the finals race last week hurt especially as the team feels like things were really just getting started on the field. After a long time struggling with finding systems that work on O and D it has clicked into place at the back end of the season. It will be interesting to see what shape the team takes next season and if we will continue to build on our way back to the final.
We say farewell to Oscar as he heads back to Colombia, a country that has served the Buggers well with 3 men spending multiple seasons under the big bug.
We celebrate the 10th season as a Bugger for Mat Ryan, the 8th man to achieve this milestone.
With the core of the team playing another season together the social and tactical connections are present and healthy. Aside from playing some shocking ultimate on occasion this was a very enjoyable season with the boys and a great team to spend time with.
The Bugs will be back in season 2 and we look forward to building another great team and challenging ourselves again in the best Open league in the country.
