Cardiff 1sts 7 – 5 Plymouth
No Frills, Cardiff University’s ultimate frisbee team, once again finished top of the pile at this years Western region frisbee tournament; qualifying for nationals in typical No Frills style.
Not only did the first team dominate the tournament, but No Frills’ second team also performed out of their skin to qualify for division two nationals, finishing 6th and becoming one of only two second teams to have ever qualified for the national stages of the tournament.
No Frills 3 also performed well, finishing a very respectable 17th out of 28 teams.
No Frills, who have asserted themselves over a number of years as one of the top teams in the country, went into the tournament with high expectations and confidence.
With a strong and experienced squad available, the first team were expected to perform well and after cruising through the group stages, No Frills proceeded with ease in to the semi-finals, facing Skunks (Southampton) on the second day.
With clinical defence, penetrating offence and an important layout score by Neil Hargreaves at 2-1, No Frills dominated the game, wrapping it up conclusively at 7-2.
This would lead them to face a much improved BLT (Bath) side in the final. But once again, No Frills showed their class taking the game coolly and calmly. After some fantastic work on defence No Frills were quick to counter attack, scoring points in relatively quick concession. Winning the final 7-3, No Frills rounded off a fantastic tournament with style, scoring 86 points and conceding only 8, proving exactly why they are a real threat for nationals.
No Frills’ second team, however, were the surprise of the tournament, beating two 1st teams to snatch a final qualifying place for division 2 nationals. Finishing second in the group stages No Frills 2 showed skills but also a number of weak areas.
Their toughest game was yet to come against Picnic (Plymouth) in the battle for 6th and 7th position.
The high tempo game some great plays from either side, yet a lack of structure let No Frills down on occasion, allowing Picnic, the more experienced team, to capitalise.
Picnic went on to edge out No Frills 6-5 in a highly competitive match, which also saw no love lost between the two teams. Frustrated by defeat, No Frills were eager to come back strong.
Beating Disco (UWE) in the 7th 8th play off, No Frills would have a second bite at the 6th place cherry, and it would prove to be a very exciting and tense finish to the weekend.
No Frills 2 played some high risk, but exciting Frisbee, trading point for point with Picnic initially. Legs were soon tired as the points grew in length and the game only diminished in time.
No Frills showed grit and determination in the game fighting hard against the equally determined picnic side. With great support from the sidelines, No Frills showed their athletic strength and their will to win. Keeping chilled on the disc and working the disc slowly up the pitch, No Frills forced a number of errors from Picnic, which allowed Cardiff to snatch a lead. At 7-5 the buzzer went to cheers from players and fans. Storming the pitch the joy for all No Frills players was evident to see.
Team captain, Christopher Griggs-Trevarthen, commented after the tournament: “This weekend was a massive success for the club as a whole, and showed our dominance in the western region. However, we cannot afford complacency as the level of competition at nationals will be much tougher.”
