“Ah. Matchnight again. Main season is over, and the team performed very well. Ended up fourth in the Conference, and would surely have gone to the finals if not for our holiday, which forced a loss of one crucial match. On the other hand, we captured the Giantslayer award as a consolation price. So everyone, watch out when the scavengers are on the warpath :)

Tonights Inter-Conference Shield match is against the Rangers, a zon-team that has performed very well in the Albion Conference and was destined for a spot in the finals until they lost for the Goldlords in the last preliminary match. Their team is very good, and we are still short one saurus and don't have much tackling skill in our team, and not enough of a team value difference to buy Hemlock's services (two kills in his latest match for the Scavengers!!), nor to hire a wizard. We speculate a bit on whether to choose a bribe, but finally settles on the services of one Helmut Wulf.

As usual, the opponent have the spectators on their side, and starts with reciving the ball... Since we are quite used to this, the players only shrugs and takes their places. We keep Helmut out of it until we are on the offense. The Rangers starts heavy on our left flank, but before we have even started, the fans flood the Field and leave 6 scavengers and 3 rangers stunned. They seem to have a fascination for backfielders, as the whole backfield of both teams are prone on the ground, still dazed and trying to fathom what hit them. The Rangers move only one player to their backfield, but she cannot reach the ball. Other rangers go to work on my LOS and Purple Protector takes an ankle hit from lead Ranger veteran Adamantia which sends him off the Field at the very start of the match. Luckily, the apothecary can help him, so he'll be back for the next drive. Still, it's an inauspicious start to the match. Remaining scavengers has more than enough job staying on their feet, as the rangers push forward. Adamantia proceeds to knock our journeyskink Whitetree off the field as the zons develop an attack on the left flank but has a problem getting the ball up from the grass. Rookie saurus Magenta Ligthning is the only one left on my left flank, so we need to strengthen it. Clumsytree and Jungle Warrior are placed to back up Lightning, who feels encouraged by the support and immediately attacks Adamantia and sends her off with his right hook. Suddenly, we have managed to stabilise the flank and hold the rangers on the midfield. Artemis takes over the lead of the rangers attack, and tries to penetrate the line by attacking Swamp Swimmer, but is immediately downed, although she stays on the field. Scavengers try a counterattack and sends the skinks Marsh Mole and Clumsytree around on the flanks for the ball, while the sauruses try their best to kick ass. Rangers answers this by picking up the ball and boxing ballcarrier Nafsika in about in the middle of their own half. We try not to attack directly, but instead boxes the Box with our sauruses to prevent progress. In the meantime, the skink squad sends Artemis of the field as well in a flutter of arms and legs, with Swamp Swimmer delivering the parting shot. 9 vs 9 and there are no rangers on the scavengers side of the midline anymore. The Rangers evaluate their options and proceeds to our left, where the skink squad is. The alternative is to go right, where Hollow Claws and the Fraternizer fight it out with three rangers. Again, we choose not to try for the ballcarrier with a skink. Instead, team captain Guardian and the skink squad interposes themselves in front of the onrushing four rangers, and in a surprise move, Hollow Claws frees himself from the melee and runs across the field to tangle with the advancing Rangers. Now there is a 5-4 local numerical superiority for the scavengers, and it is not easy to progress against that. Once more, the Rangers reverse their play and try to Return to the right flank instead, but the pass from Meropi to Kyra fails and the ball is loose and not very well protected. Immediately, the sauruses brushes aside and stuns Meropi and Fani, and interposes themselves between the ball and the rest of the Rangers. The skink squad squeezes through and forms up behind the sauruses, and even though Marsh Mole fails to hand the ball over to Jungle Warrior, the ball is now almost inaccessible to the Rangers, and the half is soon over. Desperate Rangers makes a last-ditch effort, with Kyra holding off the skinks and Alexia attacking Clumsytree, but she trips over her own feet and knocks herself out. With that it is easy for the scavengers to gather up the ball with a skink (Warrior) and he runs for the TD, but Kyra almost reaches him, and hinders him enough for him to stumble as he tries to Dodge away for the TD. So the half ends 0-0, but we have the ball for the second half, and have all 12 players ready for action, while the Rangers are short one blitzer. And we have Helmut...

The second half starts with a deep kick in our left backfield by the Rangers. We move the skinks to cover the ball, and then Helmut starts his chainsaw... which kicks back and hits Helmut in his jaw. That's enough to send him off, and... and... I WANT MY MONEY BACK! Eager Rangers capitalises on the stunning effect of seeing Helmut being carried off the field, and stuns Protector and Booster, and knocks Swimmer off the field. It becomes a desperate struggle for the scavengers to stabilise the situation, but as Claws knocks Leandra off the field, and Jungle Warrior gains control of the ball with the remaining two skinks (Mole and Clumsytree) as support, the situation may be saved after all. An onrushing gang of Rangers lead by Adamantia closes in on the skink squad,but Booster comes to their rescue and pushes Demi down in the grass to allow Warrior to dodge away from Adamantia and slip past along the sideline. Suddenly all the Rangers are blindsided and they need to backpedal. Meropi, Alexia and Kyra can manage, but Demi, Adamantia and Filippa II remains blindside. In close quarters, heroic Fani manages to push Guardian off balance and almost gets to Warrior, but Guardian rebounds quickly, and stuns Fani. Nevertheless, Fani's effort allows Nafsika to get ahead of Warrior and the scavengers need to slow down a bit to recover. Unfortunately, this allows Meropi, Alexia and Kyra to get back on the right side of the ball, and the rush is definitively stopped slightly on the Ranger side of the midline. Frustrated scavengers Returns to grinding down the opposition, and takes advantage of the fact that Demi is exposed on the sideline. An onrushing Fratenizer grabs her and throws her onto the stands so hard she won't be coming back in this match. Claws, Protector and Booster tries to trap Nafsika and Meropi against the sideline and the others covers for Swimmer. Meropi manages to Dodge away from the danger, but Nafsika is not so lucky, and Claws' swiping tail trips her up, and she has to leave the field with an injury. Two injuries close in time, and suddenly, the Rangers are reduced to 8 and numerical inferiority. Adamantia, who had come close to the ballcarrier is pushed away, and scavengers proceeds ever so slowly along the sideline towards the goalline, but time is getting critical. Eager Rangers can see the possibility of an extra half, and pushes and prods as hard as they can, but then Adamantia falls flat as she tries to go too far, and instead Booster can push Meropi away from the sideline and stuns her in the process and it's all over. Yes, Filippa II manages to blitz and stun Marsh Mole, thereby getting close to Warrior, but Booster and Claws frees up Yellow Fraternizer to blitz Filippa II, and Warrior can run in the first TD for the scavengers. Both teams have 11 players on the field, but there is no more time and the game peters out with a Rangers pass from Kyra to Meropi.

Once again, we win against a team with a higher team value, and we do it in style. Helmut was assigned the MVP award, so his spectacular antics when hurting himself with the chainsaw must have been appreciated by the spectators, if not so much by the scavengers manager... Credit to the Rangers Coach for trying, but his players simply couldn't pull through on critical actions in the first half, and then the lone TD at the end of the second became a game-winning one.

We really look forward to next season :)


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