By Darren
The first game of the new season for The Snotters and the first at their new stadium saw them win a close fought and action packed game and rise to the top of Group C.
Unusually for early season games, attendance was high and the Sauciers fans outnumbered the home fans, hopefully to try and give their side a push following the disappointing draw with the Glade Gladiators. Both sides had named the maximum 16 players prior to the match and as they came out for the first half both seemed determined to give it their all.
The initial coin toss favoured the Snotters and with perfect blood bowl weather they decided to receive. The initial set up of the Sauciers saw their usual 2 treemen and 9 halflings formation but surprisingly it was the halflings that took to the line of scrimmage while the treemen hung back slightly. The Snotters went for quite a standard set up but present in the scrimmage were number 14 Vin’Ni wielding his usual chainsaw and number 4 E’Man’U’Wel with his ball and chain.
The gamed kicked off to the combined smells of halfling stew and fungus brew and despite a slight gust of wind the kick was good and landed deep in the Snotters half, immediately Vin’Ni chopped at the opposition knocking a halfling unconscious and creating a gap in the line, while E’Man’U’Wel managed to spin through the Sauciers line only to smacked silly by a treeman supported by 4 of his team mates. The Snotters managed to move the ball up the pitch only for it to change hands, and the Sauciers went for a throw team mate manoeuvre that ended up with another unconscious halfling as he was spiked head first into the pitch. At this point all hell broke loose and the game devolved into the much loved brawl that fans want to see, but at some point the ball ended up in the goblin section of the crowd who promptly threw it as close to the Sauciers end zone as possible. The Snotters players managed to break free and number 10 Did’E’A scored a touchdown.
With the drive over and most of the first half still to play both Vin’Ni and E’Man’U’Wel were sinned binned for the remainder of the game for use of secret weapons, at which point the ref was eaten by an over zealous Snotters fan and the game stalled while a new one was found.
The game restarted with the Snotters having brought on number 5 Ash’Le carrying a big bag of bombs that was certain to cause trouble. The kick went up and a mighty roar from the Snotters fans made sure their team knew what they expected but this time the Sauciers seemed much more organised. Retrieving the ball they managed to move it up behind a good line of halflings supported by a treeman and despite bombs exploding around them they started to advance. They once again went for the tried and tested throw your team mate manoeuvre but this time the pluckly Halfling landed feet first and ran in an uncontested touch down.
Once again the game restarted but with the first half almost over all that happened was a bit of thumping from both sides. The half time entertainment came on involving the usual blood and guts but the sight of so many naked goblins will forever stain this reporters mind.
The second half saw the Snotters kicking to the Sauciers and brining on the last of their secret weapons, number 13 Ron’Al’Doh on his pogo stick. The kick went up but was high and drifted right onto the half way line and into the waiting hands of a Sauciers player. The game then bogged down into a slogging match, both sides losing players as they were knocked out and the Snotters number 6 Em’Ill picking up a minor injury but overall the Sauciers looked to be gaining the advantage. Possession swapped over several times with both sides seemingly unable to penetrate the other’s defence and another draw was looking possible until an unlucky tackle by the Sauciers number 6 saw him killed by Snotters number 12 Ste’Vee. The Snotters made a break for it with number 9 Way’N aiming for a touchdown closely supported by his team mates. In a last ditch attempt to stop them scoring the Sauciers threw one of their players into the Snotters but despite a perfect landing while surrounded he was unable to do more than push Way’N to one side before being tackled and the Snotters running in the touchdown to win the game.
After the final whistle both teams had felt the physical nature of this match with only 13 players left on the pitch and 10 players knocked out overall, but these teams are certainly ones to watch as the league progresses. The Snotters have set themselves up well to qualify from a tough group while the Sauciers will have to work hard in their final group match.
