Friendly Match vs Winchester University
The third opportunity for Team Surrey Ultimate to gaining match experience at the tail end of the 2020/21 season was against Winchester University, a smaller but competitive team that would put our ability to win games to the test after coming off the back of 2 ultimate point losses.
The line-up for TSU was as follows:
- Camilla Spearing
- Omar El-Ashmawi
- Harry Cope
- Emile Motte
- Lea Motte
- Eve Magowan
- Charlotte Huddart
- Thomas Butler
- Rosie Nightingale
- Zsazsa Kemp
- Robert Bloomfield
- Jacob Beresford
- Tim Pennie
- Jack Hoskins
- Mo
- Chris
- Oliver
- Tom
- Ellen Humpleby
- Kienan Kalami
- Sam Homer
- Alex Ingvason
Unlike the previous matches against GU and the Grads who brought experienced players to play against our younger team, Winchester brought a similarly aged team with players ranging from freshers to final years.
TSU had an advantage going into the match, having had greater opportunities to train and play, while Winchester were playing only their second match of the year and having very few training sessions beforehand. This advantage showed as TSU’s 1st and 2nd year players demonstrated a certain tactical and technical advantage over their opposition. This allowed us to take a quick and early lead with well executed cuts and throws that took Wincher’s defence by surprise.
Winchester, being beaten by TSU’s well executed vert stack and constant deep threat changed quickly to a zone defence, effectively removing the quick deep threat and taking the TSU offence by surprise. They reaped immediate rewards, with their high pressure leading to mistakes by the TSU offence and a floaty swing being intercepted for a callahan.
This awful start against the new Winchester zone defence forced TSU to take a timeout and recuperate our offensive strategy. Being on the receiving end of a Callahan must have touched a nerve, as we managed to finish the game while only conceding one additional score. A combination of more confidence by the team in playing against the zone, and maintaining a high pressure match defence forced errors and low-percentage throws from Winchester while we stayed more calm and composed.
The TSU team will be ecstatic to have got first win in such an emphatic style, with all players performing well and having their own personal highlights to savour. The game was very spirited, with both teams taking part in a friendly mixed game and drinks afterwards. With a potential Mowhawks game in the making, TSU will be looking to learn from this match and prepare for the final ‘friendly’ match of the 2020/21 season.
More photos from this game can be found at this link.
