“Phew, what a scorcher! Not only was it gloriously sunny all the way through the game, but both coaches were on fire and there were some absolutely blazing plays along the way, as well as any other heat-related metaphors you can think of.

I was way down on rating, having been offered a selection of Gary_Gygax's teams to play and choosing the one with the highest rating so that I could try out some star players for once. So Swiftvine and Maple trundled onto the pitch so I could see what they were about. Actually, now that I think about it, I'm quite sure I've taken Maple before and sworn to never take him again because he's useless. My opinion hasn't changed. He managed a couple of blocks for no result and knocked himself over at least once, possibly twice. The tentacles were useful on a couple of occasions, but never at game-changing moments, and really I could have put the inducement cash to much better use. Swiftvine managed one player off the field in three stabs and that was it.

Anyway, as for the game itself, it was the usual display of elven prowess from both teams, with plenty of safe throwing, clever positioning and long runs for scores. But the big difference between the two teams was in the blocking. There was lots of it, all the way through, and on the union side, Neil was particularly effective, causing two BHs and several KOs and generally making a complete nuisance of himself! But Gary_Gygax just couldn't get the injury rolls he needed, with far too many KOs, whereas I seemed to be incapable of inflicting anything except SI. Both apothecaries were used up fairly early (very early in Gary_Gygax's case) and I was certainly lucky to come away with nothing permanent.

Rushing YYZ received the opening kick and had possibly their worst turn of the game straight away. Despite this, they kept hold of the ball and ran it in on turn 2 to open the scoring. I then replied with a majestic long bomb into the endzone for my own score - even though I could have gone for the slightly safer long pass (remember the sunshine) but chose to show off and risk the dire consequences of a mis-throw.

At 2-2 with only one turn each remaining, Gary_Gygax went for the one-turn score. He was even granted a quick snap to make things easier, but as happened at two critical moments during the game, his dice abandoned him. Here his AG5 catcher failed a dodge, preventing the go-ahead score.

Revenge was swift, however, as my first drive of the second half was an out-and-out disaster. Gary_Gygax rolled a blitz, and even though the ball and thrower were far enough back to be safe, the rest of the team were thrown into disarray and I was forced to squeeze the thrower right against the sidelines in order to keep him safe, and even then Gary_Gygax was able to put him in a TZ. But that was fine. After a bit of blocking downfield I was clear for a score, just as long as I could dodge away and make the long bomb. So of course, the curse of the AG5 struck again and I failed the dodge. Twice. And the ball was just sitting there in my endzone, waiting for someone to pick it up.

So after that I was playing catch-up - at least for two turns, until I caught up. But that left Gary_Gygax with plenty of time to retake the lead, and he made sure he did things right, keeping his thrower safely back and protected by a blitzer while the rest of his team set up for the score downfield. By this point, we had a combined 11 players off the field and a tree that had taken root, so there was very little I could do except get in the way.

It all came down to the final turn. I put several of the union elves in TZ, but was unable to prevent Gary_Gygax from clearing the way for one of his linemen, who would at least have to go for it once to get in. So the thrower moved forward, went for it twice to make it a comfortable pass...and then mis-threw, twice, in the second of Gary_Gygax's miserable dice fails.

So I came away with a very lucky draw. But what a truly terrible way to end a truly fabulous game. Rushing YYZ should have had the win, and I would have been happy enough with the result. Gary_Gygax could so easily have scored at the end of both halves and made the game the one-sided affair it should have been, but those pesky dice were having none of it.

Still, the rest of the game should not be overshadowed by a couple of plays. It was fun and tricky and fast and furious and I got to maul some elves without taking any permanent damage myself. And new fans, for both teams.

Spiderplant picked up the MVP, so he's now a quarter of the way to his goal. Unlikely he'll make it before the new rules kick in, and I've no idea how things will be after that - certainly a lot harder to get MVPs, even if I can keep him in the squad along with the super-star thrower who is on his own stats crusade.

But the team has struggled through rules changes before, and I'm sure it will do so again this time. More importantly, I need to get there before I grow even older and more senile than I am already and forget how to play completely.

But hopefully before then there will be many more games against Gary_Gygax and his superior elves (of whatever flavour). These are exactly the games I love to play.”