Scottish Super League – Review/Preview (matchday 1&2)
Hey Release Point, how are those predictions going?
Well, in true TRP style, not very well. In fact, the current SSL table is the complete inverse of our week 1 forecast. We’ll call it a reverse prediction. But hey, we told you we had no idea what we’re talking about. Besides, everyone loves a comeback story.
SKYE vs CLYDE
Clyde came strong out of the gates on this one, taking two early breaks to go 2-0 then 3-1 up, showing early composure in a huck-heavy opening. Both teams struggled to adjust to the indoor conditions, with discs severely fading inside-out, until Clyde’s Flora Girard nailed a perfect half-pitch roll-curve forehand to the endzone. The tide quickly turned, however, as Skye cleaned up their offence and scored three in a row, earning break opportunities through a mixture of pressure defense and Clyde execution errors. The teams then traded to 5-6 before Greg Stewart came up with a huge goal-saving block, in what was the major turning point of the first half. While Clyde persevered with a horizontal stack, Skye mixed it up with a bit of vertical, offering more space for initiating cuts and overhead throws into the break side. The match quickly turned into a game of “who’s the tallest” as both teams calibrated their deep game and found their range with long shots to the end zone. Down 6-7, Clyde played their best defensive point, shutting down upfield cutters and forcing their opponents into making a lot of passes, allowing Alan Jeuken to steal a poach block on the edge of the endzone. Clyde had two opportunities to tie up the game on this point but couldn’t hang on to the disc for more than a couple of passes, eventually giving up a short field turn and gifting the half to Skye. Skye were able to build on their lead after half, coming out on top in a scrappy break point where Lucy Brown eventually made the difference with a devastating deep cut. This was followed by the longest point of the game, with at least four possessions per team, but again Skye were able to punch it in. This was probably the nail in the coffin for Clyde, down 7-11, but they needed to avoid a total collapse to at least finish within five and claim a bonus point. Skye managed another break near the end of the game but in the end, the clock denied them any opportunity to steal away Clyde’s bonus.
Final score: Skye 14-9 Clyde
Skye MVPs: Cal Easton, Harriet Hopper
Clyde MVPs: Andreea Gradinaru, Alan Jeuken
LOMOND vs NEVIS
This was probably the game that should have been filmed. A ding-dong battle which never strayed beyond a 2-point gap and came down to a sudden death point. Both teams started the game by adopting a 3-3 horizontal formation, stacking shallow to free up room for a barrage of deep shots. However, this had the adverse effect of clogging up the under lanes and the early part of the match was dominated by phantom blocks and throws to poaches. Even when teams did find their feet a little, composed offence was often punctuated by a rash decision to throw something “indoorsy” that didn’t always come off. Despite the error-strewn ultimate, the first half was full of highlights including a flying block and greatest attempt from Lomond captain Mihael Dimitrov; and an intriguing deep battle between Audrey Melançon-Founrier (Lomond) and Karina Aitken (Nevis). Out of half, the teams continued to trade, playing more conservative offense styles as the endgame approached. Universe point was called at 12-12 with Lomond coming out on offence having been in the lead for most of this match. However, a turnover on a lateral swing pass put the game in Nevis’s hands, giving them a long-awaited chance to nudge in front at the death. Lomond put in a shift on defense, forcing a lot of swings and backward passes on the edge of their end zone line while Nevis struggled to find space and structure. Iain Lindsay came up with a game-saving diving catch and eventually, Karina Aitken found a clear patch of endzone for Nevis to dish in for the winning score.
Final score: Nevis 13-12 Lomond
Nevis MVPs: Karina Aitken, David Steedman
Lomond MVPs: Nick Byrne, Rachel Pollock
MATCH DAY 2 PREDICTIONS
Despite our complete and utter failure at predicting the future, we’ve decided the best policy is to back ourselves, double down and go all in by predicting the scores this time. What could go wrong…
Skye 12-8 Nevis
Of the four teams, Skye looked the most impressive on match day 1 and seem to have already settled on effective playing structures and developed some tight chemistry in their smaller lines. The only scheduled change to their roster is Zoe Todd coming in for Lucy Brown, so they should carry plenty of momentum into this fixture. Ben Cornelius, Harriet Hopper and Cal Easton are all sitting high on the stats sheets but it’s the all round team performance which should give Skye the edge here.
Nevis have a few absentees, losing Iain Lindsay and notably still without Tristan Millington and captain Joel Terry. MVP’s David Steedman and Karina Aitken are also set to be missing from the Nevis lineup up and this might be the difference in this fixture. On the plus side, Cameron Dick and Katie Trim put in strong performances on match day 1 and Nevis will rely on them to keep racking up the stats. Ailsa Cameron, Sam Finlay and Ali McNeil are set to make their debuts and will be welcome reinforcements when it comes to shutting down Skye’s deep game.
We expect this one to be close throughout with Skye pulling ahead towards the end of the match.
Clyde 14-12 Lomond
Clyde struggled with injuries and dropouts in match day 1 and although they fought valiantly, the match drifted away from them in the second half. This week, they are bolstered by the debut appearances of Cameron Mackie, Hannah Millard, Lauren Logie, Diane Lopez and William Watt. The new additions should provide a better balance to this team in terms of cutters and receivers and we’re expecting a strong performance.
Lomond can count themselves incredibly unlucky to be winless and will be motivated to get their first victory on the board. They too bring in some big guns, with Kevin Lakritz, Leah Dobbs and John Tofalis adding to all areas of the field. These players should establish a more composed base for Lomond, giving some of their squad more freedom to seek the highlight plays. They should have enough firepower to get blocks against this Clyde side, but it may all come down to how well they convert those opportunities.
There’s a lot of potential for this one to be incredibly exciting and we wouldn’t be surprised to see both teams get hot and go on long scoring streaks. We’re backing Clyde to come from behind at the end and win by 2.