Hardfisch DM - Spieltag 1 und 2

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Erstellt am Montag, 01. Oktober 2018 21:42

Zuletzt aktualisiert am Montag, 01. Oktober 2018 21:44

The Hardfisch boys arrived in Düsseldorf for the first weekend of DM on a warm Friday night looking to recapture the magic from last years campaign in Münich. While enjoying each others company and a few beers by the campsite the mood for the weekend was clear. Our boys were excited, but focused.

After a quick breakfast Saturday morning they were ready for the early game against Deine Mudder Bremen. The match was physical, but Hardfisch kept the offense clean and the defensive pressure high. In the end they were able to pull out a convincing 15-8 win with the only injury coming from a bee sting on Nis' hand (#hummelhummel). In the midday game Hardfisch would take on Hässliche Erdferkel from Marburg. A solid first half from Hardfisch gave them a 8-6 lead, but they couldn't sustain the effort in the second half and fell to Marburg 15-13. In the final game of the day our boys faced off against the Heidees. With temperatures on the turf field approaching 40 degrees the heat and pressure from Heidelberg proved to be a bit too much and Hamburg was left with a 9-15 loss and a 1-2 record on the day. Not what they were hoping for. The boys regrouped over dinner with Italian food and World Cup Football.

The next morning our boys warmed up for their game against Köln fresh from a good nights sleep. This carried over into the match resulting in a 15-9 Hardfisch win. With this all that was left was the afternoon game against Düsseldorf, a rematch from last years DM quarterfinal. After warmups Hardfisch lined up at midfield and took a long look at their competition. Showcase field. Check. Livestream. Check. Intensity. Double check. During the first half both teams fought hard through several grueling points with Düsseldorf up one break up at the half 6-8. Our boys turned up the pressure to get a break back and tie the game at 10. With time cap on the game would go to universe point. After a rousing speech from Björn the boys were fired up, but the odds were long. Hardfisch would have to generate a turn on defense and convert to win. Düsseldorf recieved the pull and worked the disc down the field against suffocating defense from Hamburg. Finally at their own brick our boys effort on D was rewarded with an overthrow by Düsseldorf. After getting the disc to midfield Michy saw Kenny streaking open to the endzone and neither had any doubt about what was coming. Half field hammer for the win! Game Hardfisch 11-10!

The big win had our boys in a good mood for the ride home and with a 3-2 record on the weekend their hopes remained alive for the championship bracket at the second weekend of DM.

Hardfisch would have a much shorter journey to Kiel for the second weekend of DM and with the second team and both of the women’s teams there as well the boys were pumped for a fun weekend.

In the early morning game on Saturday Hardfisch played the young, but feisty GeRey from Regensburg. Just before the game the wind began to pick up but our boys put in two solid halves of work on both offense and defense and cruised to a 15-10 victory. Next was the midday game against Stuttgart which would decide whether or not Hardfisch would advance to the Top 8 bracket. The first half was fiercely contested with breaks for both teams. Early in the second half Hamburg earned a break to take the lead by one, but soon gave Stuttgart two breaks back. With the game coming to a close Hamburg applied relentless pressure on defense, but Stuttgart was able to answer with several key holds to earn the win 12-14. Our guys were obviously disappointed with the result, but the effort in the game was solid against a strong opponent. Hardfisch would then have to finish the day against Karlsruhe. After trading points until 4-4 the boys picked up their energy and dominated leading to a 15-5 victory.

That night all of the teams from Hamburg met up for a fun dinner at a local Italian restaurant. There was laughter, friends shared stories about the days games, and a few people even got their food in a reasonable amount of time. Back at the fields the party was a bit quiet until Hamburg showed up and after that the teams spent the night on the dance floor preparing for Sundays games together with some active recovery.

In the Sunday morning game Hardfisch faced Feldrenner from Mainz. Our boys took a little bit of time to shake off their sleepiness, but in the end won 15-9. That left only the afternoon 9th place game against Aachen. The game was close in the first half and featured some big plays from both teams, but in the second half Aachen was able to pull away with a few breaks to win 11-15.

After having a few beers while cheering on the second team, watching the finals, and cleaning up the fields our boys had a short ride home think about the season. The 10th place finish certainly wasn’t what Hardfisch had expected or hoped for, but in the end they took care of business to remain in the first league thus giving themselves the opportunity to improve on the result next year.

PLAYERS: Aaron, Bastian, Björn, Finn, Josef, Kenny, Lucius, Malte, Mattes, Matze, Michi, Michy, Nis, Phillip, Ragnar, Robin, Sven, Spencer, Tim, Torben