The match was dated: 2007-10-20 15:36:59. My fifth tournament, my first major and only the second time I have faced a wizard with dwarves.

My opponents were the Divine Assassins, http://fumbbl.com/FUMBBL.php?page=team&op=view&team_id=130741. Pace and power with a good coach at the helm.

Conscientiously I sought out advice from good coaches on how to deal with the wizard. General consensus was "hope and pray". It was not heartening.

Having viewed some matches played by JackDaniels in the Lustrian Cup, I set to with my opponent, Fanatic.

The Match, http://fumbbl.com/FUMBBL.php?page=match&id=1889189, starts. 1 spectator, 2 spectators, 3... and so on. My opponent asks me about nerves, I'm feeling them all right.

Handi's look ok, I get illegal drugs, and so with an AG4 blodge runner, blodge blitzer and Zara the Slayer, I'm not so worried about the wizard anymore. Now if I can only get that Claw/RSC/Tackle Storm Vermin, Loren (his only tackler), I'd be looking good for this match. Decide to receive first, trying to reduce his numbers and force the wizard out. Loren's lined up in the middle of the pitch surrounded by players. I'm going to have to bide my time.

Turn 1, The kick is on the LOS near Headsplitter, this is a problem, as it goes against my original plan to leave him tied up with an expendable Long Beard. Kick-off result "Get The Ref", hmm I'm in trouble, but then I've got 2 DPs on the field to his one. Maybe I can give as good as I get, given my AV9 vs. his AV7.

I'm moving slowly. Ideas aren't forming coherently into a plan of action. I'm making mistakes. Manage secure the area around the ball and to take down his rookie Rat Ogre and KO him with a foul. Still it's not looking safe.

He presses his expendables on to me and KOs my Blodge Blitzer with a 3-die block from Headsplitter.
Loren is safe behind his line.

Turn 2, Thinking to flank, mistakenly make a 1-die blitz, which ends in a POW. Still not thinking clearly. Form a loose cage but many of my players are tied down out of position.

Loren comes out knocks down Zara, who is BH'd by the subsequent foul. Not good, but maybe if I can get Loren... It's no good he's chosen his spot well. I'm too slow to redeploy and get him effectively. I should have dodged Zara away in my turn.

I fall back, as I need to stall and score in turn 8. I can't out score his rats in a TD shootout and I need to redress the CAS difference.

In his turn 3, He kills my MA7 runner, don’t mind him dying but that would be two of my AG3 players gone from this match and I don't see the point of saving my apoth, so I save him.

Turn 4, Loren is still protected so I target a Linerat "guard" and take him out. My MA7 runner is KO'd in response.

Turn 5, we trade KO's, and now I'm down to six dwarves, one of which I have used to hold up Headsplitter, as I don't want to test my Dauntless Troll Slayer on his ST6.

Turn 6, here's my shot. Got to take this chance. I can't maintain a cage and keep up with the attrition rate. Also I need to position my blodge Runner to score. Loren is as usual well protected, but this time I have a shot of taking him. I expose my Runner to provide an assist in case of the push back. The remaining Blitzer provides the assist with guard and the rookie Long Beard has to GFI to cancel assists against. My Troll Slayer blitzes needing 1 GFI, with a DP ready to "make sure". Fingers crossed that I can make it a BH as the opponent still has his apoth. The result is a skull/skullpow and rerolled to double skulls. The Troll Slayer is SI'd and the match is essentially over.

But the point of this story isn't about a bad beat. I don't even think that the match was one. The point is I was O-W-N-E-D. I was being spanked with a cactus-like iron rod.

I was being shown how to protect key players and surgically remove threats from the field. Even the judicious use of the wizard was all I had hoped it wouldn't be. Fanatic didn't rush into using it to retrieve the ball and get a turnover score. He used the threat of a wizard to spread my cage and isolate my players, while he systematically silenced them.

Like Jason Bourne he made no mistakes (none that I noticed) and every move had a reason.

In short I was SCHOOLED. I hope I can take these lessons and improve my game. It clearly needs more practice.

For Fanatic I wish the best of luck. He thoroughly deserved the victory and I hope he doesn't mind that I have named my new Long Beard after him. He will serve as a reminder to me of my tutorial today.

My FC is over this year. School's out, lesson's over, but I'll be back for the next semester.