“Some games are a complete wash-out from start to finish - this was one of them.

Having said that, it was still a lot of fun. A good opponent and some fast play can make all the difference and I will certainly keep coming back for more humiliating score-lines against Harad in the future (and actually, this wasn't my worst against him!!)

So, whattaya know? Another blizzard... from start to finish. Are we cursed? Really, it's getting stupid at this point. And the really annoying thing here is that I was up against an opponent who is almost certainly guaranteed to score fast and often, giving me plenty of opportunity for some long passing plays in between. I mean, look... i came away with passing stats of 6 for 30 IN A BLIZZARD! Not many people can do that on a fine day with no opposition! Just think what I might have achieved without the snow.

Okay, rant over, on with the game.

First half was a no-show from the wood elves. The game began with a blitz for the high elves, and so that was that. Harad has so much extra agility that he easily wriggled his way out of the half-hearted defence I put up (both my strip-ballers being on the far side of the field and trapped by a diving tackle).

After that, I just failed everything for a while - or to be more precise, I succeeded in pushing back the Falcons on almost every single block I made, and failed every important roll along the way. Although to be fair, I did avoid the interception on my first pass, only needing to reroll the failed safe throw and the failed pass.

By half-time I was really just going through the motions. Six of my players were temps (2 stars, a merc and 3 journeymen) so there wasn't much point in trying too hard for extra SPPs through blocking - which was just as well, seeing as how I couldn't knock anything down all game. It's a shame the dice stats aren't working, because I would like to confirm my memory that in the entire game, I managed to get just one single High Elf off the pitch - a KO late on in the second half. Yes, I know I could go through the replay, but even I'm not that obsessive.

But anyway. It was a painless game, the tree picked up yet another MVP, and 6 for 30 is reasonable under the circumstances. Harad may feel it was more like a training session than a proper game, but I'm sure he's not complaining too much.

And surely, surely, the weather has to come good soon.”