Final Tour Standings

After Tour 3 all the points were added up and the final standings were released. Pady Murphy, with 2 10th placed finishes and a 7th finished in 9th place, not far behind Discuits (who were beat comprehensively at Tour 3) . Seamus Murphy came in at 22nd place pipped by the Trigger Happy team. This 9th & 22nd place makes the Paddy & Seamus teams the highest finishing pair after Fire 1 & 2. Again, great work everyone!

The Final Open Tour Standings:

1 Clapham Ultimate 750
2 Fire of London 1 674
3 Fusion 662
4 Leeds Leeds Leeds 650
5 Chevron Action Flash 580
6 Brighton Ultimate 1 542
7 EMO 528
8 Discuits 1 494
9 Paddy Murphy 482
10 Blue Arse Flies 436
11 Fire of London 2 432
12 Bristol Plastic Factory 1 430
13 Ltd Release 312
14 Devon Ultimate 1 296 (*1)
15 Sheffield Steal 1 296 (*1)
16 Strange Blue 282
17 Mild Mannered Janitors 266
18 Sublime 232
19 ABH 1 231
20 Flyght Club 228
21 Trigger Happy 177
22 Seamus Murphy 173
23 Abstract 170
24 UCL 169
25 EMO 2 164
26 Boogie Knights 139
27 GB Juniors 135
28 York Ultimate 124
29 Bristol Plastic Factory 2 122
30 Lords of the Ring 109
31 Lucky Huckers 99
32 Brighton Ultimate 2 95
33 Abstract 2 80
34 Wizards 68
35 ABH 2 64
36 Discuits 2 63
37 Schnell Ja 57.6 (*2)
38 The Brown 54
39 Thundering Herd 40
40 Brixton 39
41 Devon Ultimate 2 32
42 Mustard 28
43 Sheffield Steal 2 27
44 Curve 25
45 United Flingdom 22
46 Disqualified 17 (*3)
47 Flyght Club 2 17 (*3)
48 GB Juniors U17s 12
49 MkUltimate 2

(*1) Devon Ultimate finish above Sheffield Steel due to higherposition at Tour 3
(*2) Schnell Ja received a 10% points penalty at Tour 2 due tobreaking kit rules
(*3) Disqualified finish higher than Flyght Club 2 due to higherfinishing position at Tour 2

Paddy Stats - 3

Once again Perfect was sidelined by the knee injury that's had him writing more than he run. A big thank you from the team for all the hard work, it's not easy to sit there, pen in hand, watching your team play. We appreciate it mate. Anyway, enough of that :)

Here's the figures...

Top Scorer -
1. Tadhg (17)
2. Hag (11)
3. Luan (10)

Top Assists -
1. Marko (26)
2. Hag (10)
3. Niall (7)

Marko with 26 assists and 1 score was the most influential Paddy followed by Tadhg, who threw 5 and caught 17 scores, and then Hag who threw an impressive 10 assists to go with his 11 catches.

After the second win against BAF we huddled and the votes were divided this way:

MVP - Marko
MSP - Seamus
A Game - Kieran, Marko & Softy

Well done to everyone for producing a string of big performances when the chips looked to be down. Great team effort Paddys!

A Tour 3 - Cardiff

The last Tour of this year took place in sunny Cardiff on the 12th & 13th of August and saw 16 Paddy players travel, albeit with 2 of them as staticians/supporters. The group was at first glance a very attractive one from our point of view with 2 newly promoted teams - ABH A and the Cambridge uni team Strange Blue - and our old rivals Blue Arse Flies in with us.

Despite missing one of the our captains and a few other key players the team went into the weekend upbeat and quietly confident. However in only the 4 th point of out first game we lost another highly influential player. Cian was running in a stright line when he hit a divot in the bumpy, hard pitch forcing his ankle to go over on itself and immediately knew he was finished for the weekend. Another cruel injury for a fit player. The team played on though and without firing on all cylinders went on to win the game to 3 against a team struggling in their first ever A Tour appearance. Next up were Strange Blue who had but 8 players. They gave it everything but the Paddy team was finding it's feet and built on the first victory to win 15-3 again with a combination of good disc retention and hard D setting up the win. The focus was improving, the confidence in the team evident and it was in the perfect mindset that we faced BAF.

BAF and Paddy Murphy seem to meet at least once or twice a season be it at the Brit Open or at Tour and every match follows a similarily tight pattern of trading points, disputing close calls and playing hard Ultimate. This match was no different as we both went at each other with all we had. Both teams mixed it up using zone and man defence and forced turnovers and scored goals as the scoreboard ticked over with neither able to establish a decent lead. From 1-1 to 7-6 there was nothing separating the teams until Paddy took half. We rallied, we calmed ourselves and then we cam out firing. We won thw second halk 7-2 with a ruthless display. Turnovers got scored and the D line dominated to secure a big win and ensure the easier of the 2 crossover matches in the morning. It was a great game with good spirit missing nothing except for a Britboy vs Merrick rematch :)

Saturday night at Tour was as relaxed as always with a couple of quiet cans, a game of poker (won by Darkie) and a lot of food sending us all to bed tired and ready to get up at 7am. The morning game was against Discuits who we all felt we owed a better match after our collapse at Tour 1. We warmed up hard and focused on simple skills before our biggest match yet. We came out on fire and quickly went 5-0 up. Discuits didn't know what hit them as we combined tight man D with chilled out offence to take the game by the scruff. It continued through to half which we took at 8-3. It was the D that impressed with no man getting free, no long game being given and every disc being closely contested. The second half continued much the same as the first as we scored our turnovers and kept on firinbg hard until the game was won 15-5. Our best performance this season.

We had a quick huddle after the game and found out we were playing back-to-back, with Chevy the team we had to beat to get a shot at 5th place. This was the 3rd time we were playing them over the 3 tours and again they came out on top. Their offence got the scores it needed and we made a few simple mistakes that they punished every time. Tiredness may have been a fector but not diecrediting them - this was the most solid of their 3 games against us. They won out 15-8 winners. BAF lost their match to Brighton meaning we were to play them again for 7th. We were now doen to 10 players having lost Nialler to calf pain and Darkhorse & Seamus to knee trouble. Sfter a big feed we arrived down ready to warm up and play. A womens match went to cap though so there was a bit of waiting around. Eventually we got on and started well, going a few points up. BAF were without Merrick who'd hurt his calf. Soon he decided to mplay anyway and added a threat to their game as they rallied a little bringing the scores to 6-4 I think but we held on and despite a long point with lots of turnovers we took half 8-5. Similarily to the first game our second half performance was strong as we closed the game out winning it 7-2 to take 7th place and our highest ever finish at Tour.!

Congratulations and thanks to all the Paddys who put in all the hard work over the past 5-6 months. From the fitness to the training and all the travel, well done. Let's build on this Paddys.

Paaaddddy.....MURPHY!

Tour 3 Preview

The final of the Tour weekends takes place in Cardiff in under a week's time and promises to be the culmination of a season of hard work. Paddy Murphy see themselves secure in 10th position having finished the first 2 tours 10th. The aim is to break into the top 8 though, so the biggest games are yet to be played.

The Squad for next weekend is :

Marko (c)
Britboy
Cian
Nialler
Softy
Luan
Blonde
Seamus
Rob
Tadhg
Kieran
Ob
Hag
Darkhorse

Paddy Stats - 2

Again, Dave was sidelined for the whole weekend and again he took notes on each game. Here's the results...

Top Scorer -
1. Tigger (16)
2. Hag (12)
3. Tommy, Nialler, Rob, Cian (6)

Top Assists -
1. Marko (16)
2. Tigger (8)
3. Hag & Tommy (7)

Tadhg (8 assists & 16 scores) was the most influential player followed by Hag ( 7 & 12) and then Marko (16 & 2).

After the weekend we rounded up all the votes and there was a tie in both:

MVP - Tadhg & Tommy
MSP - Rob K & Tommy

It was very tight at the top with a number of players just a vote behind the winners proving that that the whole team played well and fairly. Another big weekend in terms of effort. Keep it up and let's get that top 8 spot next weekend! Padddddyyyy.....

A Tour 2 - Eastbourne

The second Tour weekend saw all 3 Irish teams converge upon Eastbourne for the first time ever. Paddy Murphy, Seamus Murphy and MaC all battled it out with the best of the UK in windy conditions throughout a weekend remembered best for it's injuries and low numbers across the squads.

After Tour 1 our hopes were high especially given we'd played well and hard against some big teams. Friday night brought bad news however - we were down to 14 due to Blonde's illness, Luan's no-show, Stokesy's injury, Hag's illness and Perfect's dodgy knee. Seamus were down to 8 so we couldn't pikey any of their players either. Our group was changed last minute so the highly anticipated Fire 2 (with Dom) game wasn't to be. We were in with Devon, MMJ and Steal. First up were Devon against whom we started shakily. A slow start soon gave way to a more fluid game against a team who never really bothered us. 15-5 was the end score I think. Next up was the big match against Sheffield Steal a team we'd beaten soundly at Tour 1. Again, a slow atart saw us leak 4 or 5 points with only 2 on the board. We got into the game though and soon it became a tough dogfight of a match with both sides forcing turns and clinging on to the lead whenever possible. A run of points and some big performances from all over the team (that resulted in some bad knocks) got us through by a few points. I can't remember the end score, I think it was 14-11. The last game of the day saw us facing a revitalised Janitors side who played hard and well winning the 50-50 aerial battles and pressuring with a tough zone. We couldn't crack it despite fighting hard and ended up losing by 2 or 3 in another tough game.

That night we licked our wounds, ate a lot and sat around for an excellent sing song with the Seamus & MaC teams. With Oisin and Britboy in their element with guitars & songsheets on hand the night was great craic. The next day saw 10 Paddys able to play after 5 injuries ruled out players vital to both lines. First game of the day was against Chevy and numerous unforced errors, a little unluckiness and well-oiled opposition saw us go down to 8. It was a nasty pill to swallow and I think with the full squad that game could've been the breakthrough to top 8. Hopefully another chance will come. Next up saw thw 10 hobbling Paddys face the crestfallen BPF team - struggling for form and missing players the lads from Bristol never turned up. We on the other hand put in a complete performance of hard D, mixing zone with fronting, and strong, fluid offence to win out easily and to the biggest margin of the year yet 15-5. That gave us a shot at 9th place but foirst we lost another to injury, Niall's ankle finally giving in. 9 men on an upwind-downwind pitch against Brighton. They started well as did we but despite their noncholoant and impassive atttitude at points we couldnt quite grind out the win. Tough conditions, tired minds and hurting bodies left us short and we lost by 4 in the end I think 14-10 maybe. It was a big effort though and one I'll remember for a long time.

So Tour 2 over and perhaps more memorable for the amount of players lost to the unforgiving summer pitches than for the final position of 10th. At least the goal of top 10 was achieved again and it bodes well for the next Tour where a full squad will do more damage again. Great work Paddys, keep it up.