Tuesday 18 December 2007

New odds for the Albion Cup!

Current Odds.
That's A Good Question 3/1
Quasi-Sollipsistic Post-senilist Balletomaniacs 3/1
Night's Watch 8/1
Munch Bunch II 8/1
Karak Norn Blitzers 12/1
Albion Lions 5/1
Sapphire Dream 15/1
Warpstone 13 25/1
Warriors 33/1
Mad Ratters 40/1
Hexoatl Harbingers 40/1
Palais De Bois Bunnies 50/1
Lightning Lizards 66/1

League Table 18th December


Monday 17 December 2007

League Announcement

PLAY-OFFS TO BE DRAWN 8TH FEB

SEASON 2 TO BEGIN AT THE START OF THE SPRING SEMESTER WITH DIVISION 1(starting teams) AND SUPERLEAGUE (existing teams)
Who will win the Albion Cup?

With just a few weeks to go before the play-off draw and the end of the league we asked some famous names their opinion on who their tips were towin the Albion League and Albion Cup. The league gold was widely tipped to go to That's A Good Question, with QPB favourites for the silver. However any one of three teams could sneak in and pinch third, but with Simon Crowe's history of stealing 3rd places, most peoples' money is on Munch Bunch II! As for the play-offs opinion was divided.

Uella Fey, veteran of the Clar Karond Cobras believes the Balletomaniacs are in with a good chance. "Don't write off dark elf teams because they've played fewer games. They did that to us in '97 and look where we ended up..."

Eddie Hitler, ex-star of the Green Bay Picklers, feels his old manager Simon Canham should make the final. "He's done well with a human team to stay unbeaten, and with that big ogre to contend with, who's going to bethe first to beat the Lions?" Said the halfling, stuffing his face with a cheese sandwich, an addiction apparently passed on from his boss.

Other ex stars can't help but admire the power of the Karak Norn Blitzers."That deathroller will be a nightmare in the play-offs, and I just can't see how their opponents are going to break them down", believes Hans Pfeifer, ex-catcher from the superleague Warlords team, "though they could do with a few more stand firm players..."

No-one seems to fancy Sapphire Dream or the Warriors, who are generally seen as also-rans. Few think Munch Bunch 2 can maintain their form long enough and though Night's Watch are a tough team to beat internal arguments threaten to rip the team apart. Meanwhile Dave Bone's chaos team are still top of the league and are fancied by many as top contenders, despite their relative lack of experience...

Finally there are the Bunnies, Warpstone 13 and the Lightning Lizards, all currently below 8th place but in with a chance of qualifying, however none of them look to be a real threat to the top 5.

Current Odds.
That's A Good Question 3/1
Quasi-Sollipsistic Post-senilist Balletomaniacs 3/1
Night's Watch 8/1
Munch Bunch II 8/1
Karak Norn Blitzers 12/1
Albion Lions 5/1
Sapphire Dream 25/1
Warriors 25/1
Palais De Bois Bunnies 40/1
Warpstone 13 33/1
Lightning Lizards 50/1
League Roundup

In a frenetic couple of weeks the league has seen some big changes.Relative newcomers Hexoatl Harbingers and Mad Ratters played a flurry of games taking them past many of the established names in terms of gamesplayed. Both teams had good and bad games but the net result sees them mid table with only an outside chance of qualifying for this season's play-offs.

The Lightning Lizards extended their lead in terms of games played but sadly the lizardmen still can't seem to string two good results together.They played well against the Karak Norn Blitzers to condemn the dwarf team to only their third defeat and the draw with the Albion Lions was extremely creditable. However their loss to the Mad Ratters just shows how inconsistent the team are. Only good wins over the teams in the top 8 will see the Lizards qualify now.

The Karak Norn Blitzers had a frustrating week, winning some games but drawing with the Balletomaniacs after looking odds-on to win. The team had gone 1-0 up in the first half and had the ball in the second. However a disasterous mistimed block lead to the dark elves rather fortuitously regaining posession and stealing a draw infront of a packed stadium. This coupled with the unfortunate 2-0 defeat to the lowly Lizards sees the dwarfs slide to 5th in the table while Munch Bunch II and Night's Watchcreep up having not played.

With QPB drawing the Albion Lions knew a few good wins would see them race up the table. They couldn't beat the Lizardmen but found league leaders That's A Good Question less of a challenge, beating them 2-1 and remaining unbeaten after six games. The leaders meanwhile quickly bounced back from their defeat by beating the Bunnies 3-0 to remain top of the table by a decent margin. The Lions meanwhile overtake Sapphire Dream despite the elf team managing back to back wins agains Mad Ratters and Scissor Sisters. The elf team made a meal of winning both against supposed lowly opposition, though the humans were aided by an appearance by the Mighty Zug...

The Warriors meanwhile remain the last team in a qualifying position for the play-offs having secured their 6th and 7th draws in their last two games. The norse team seem to be making drawing their speciality, having done so in seven of their nine games, and each time with one touchdown each! There is still some time left, but the final positions for the play-offs are beginning to shape up.

Monday 10 December 2007

Karak Norn Blitzers 2 - 1 Night's Watch

In what was to be a tense match between the commanding Night's Watch and the dauntless Karak Norn Blitzers, both teams were out for the other teams blood after their previous encounter. The blitzer's, having been painstakingly defeated in the last encounter, seemed filled with purpose as they kicked to the opposition opening with a bonecrunching injury to the Night's Watch norseman.

The use of a deathroller was not lost on the Night's Watch as it proceeded to roll over several terrified players, knocking them out in the process. They pushed towards the ball but the night's watch were as ready as they are dangerous, pushing a breach through the blitzer's left flank and scoring early into the first half of the game. This did not damage the resolute blitzer's morale or purpose as they again opened with team-worked violence allowing for blitzer Drakk Rik to sprint past the perforated defense to score his second touchdown of the season at the ending moments of the first half.

At the opening of the second half both teams were struggling to field players with several knocked out and one of the Night's Watch injured. The blitzer's would recieve again and this time it was karak Hunk, the team captain who took responsibility for the ball. Pushing down the right flank of the night's watch the formed cage helped to injure yet another night's watch player, while the rest of the pitch was a desperate melee between dwarf and Night's Watch team member.

The snow troll was a constant danger to the blitzer's line often keeping several dwarfs down at once while the rest of the team attacked the cage. Despite their efforts Karak Hunk dodged through behind the lines making his way to score, and with the dark elf tripping in pursuit Hunk's path to score was clear.

With the blitzer's in the lead, and several players now off the pitch all the dwarfs had to do was hold off in the final moments, and although the night's watch offered a swift retribution for the second touchdown, their speed was not enough and the game ended 2 touchdowns to 1, giving the victory to the Karak Norn Blitzers.

With both teams having won home matches, and easily being the closest rivals in the league, many expect a vendetta match to ensue at the end of the season, with fans, coaches and players alike showing their dislike for the other team in what was a very close match.
- report by Dan

Sunday 2 December 2007

LIONS REMAIN UNBEATEN


Sapphire Dream 1 Albion Lions 1

In their sixth match of the season the elf team were hoping for a good performance, and a win, following two uninspiring draws against the Munch Bunch II and the Bunnies. Mykal Eauwin, the team's coach was particularly furious about the last draw, in which another pass from thrower Seaweasel wasn't up to scratch, allowing an Amazon linewoman to intercept and draw the game. Eauwin had seen red at this point and took his anger out on the dwarf coach of the Karak Norn Blitzers, who laughed at an inopportune moment, as dwarfs do... Since then the dwarfs have been trying to get a game against Sapphire Dream, presumably to enact revenge!

The had coach looked a lot more relaxed going into the game against the Albion Lions, and the match could not have started better as a pitch invasion on the Lions' receive allowed the elves to break through. However the Lions are not amateurs, coached by veteran Blood bowl owner Simon Canham, and the humans soon had the ball in a cage. As the half continued the humans struggled to get their catchers through as Firerider and Lightblade proved their worth, finally blitzing into the human cage and after a long and farcical struggle the elves managed to wrestle the ball free. Unanuoc Zephyrcat scored the rather unlikely touchdown, and further bad luck on the human team kept it 1-0 going into the second half.

Once again the elves started the second half receiving, and leading. However once again they failed to take advantage of the situation. This time Seaweasel couldn't be blamed as he'd managed to get himself knocked out in the first half, frcing the elves to try a running play. It started well too as some effortless dodging allowed Sapphire Dream to get the ball into the Lion's half. However the more powerful humans put pressure on the elves, and Jadeleaf, usually sure-footed, made a mess of it trying to run and score.

The following debacle mirrored the last two elf games and Mykal Eauwin once again despaired of his team's inability to actually score when they receive. Gradually a mid-field punch up left the humans in control, but it wasn't until late in the second half that they managed to get control of the situation. An unlikely catch by Ogre Martin Johnson made he elf blitzers unable to wrestle back possession and the giant player scored late on to draw the game.

All in all it wasn't a bad result for either team, but the elves will need to do better to qualify for the Albion Cup, as they have only managed one win, that against Warpstone 13 who obligingly self-destructed in the first half. Once again the elves should have scored and gone 3-0 ahead in the second half, but they cannot seem to make their posession count! The Lions meanwhile remain unbeaten, but need more games and experience to threaten the likes of Good Question and Munch Bunch II.
LEAGUE ROUNDUP

In a frenetic couple of weeks the Albion League has grown to its largest size in five years with a number of teams now looking like real contenders in the race for the play-offs.

Munch Bunch II nailed thier credentials to the mast with an impressive six wins in their last seven, including victories over the hard to beat Warriors and unpredictable Monster Mash. Meanwhile the Warriors continue to underwhelm, with only one win in seven.

The Karak Norn Blitzers managed a very respectable draw against Dave Bone's That's A Good Question and consolidated their position with wins over newcomers Hexoatl Harbingers and previous league leaders Valhalla Destinies. Against the norse the Blitzers destroyed their opponents reputation as the hardest team in the league, winning 7-0 on casualties and showing off their newest addition, a deathroller!

The Lightning Lizards managed three wins after a dire run of form which ended with a 5-1 defeat to Warpstone 13 and a 4-0 drubbing at the hands of Night's Watch. Since then they have managed winss against less experienced teams though in doing so managed to have their Kroxigor killed! Even so the Lizards are finally putting together something of a run of form.

At the top of the table the Albion Lions continue to look threatening, earning two draws against veteran coaches, adding to the woes of John Harris this weekend. Quasi-sollipsistic Post-senilist Balletomaniacs, coached by ex-Buttenoids star Poncey Pointy-Earned Nonce, had a torrid day, losing to Munch Bunch II thanks to unseasonable heat at the forge stadium,and drawing to the humans of Simon Canham. Even that match looked like being another defeat for the Dark Elves as they were 2-0 down at half time. The game against the Chaos team, where the Balletomaniacs were reduced to five players for one setup recorded sweltering temperatures quite at odds with the weather patterns outside. The Chaos coach refused to answer questions on daemonic involvement...

Quietly moving into scond place are Night's Watch, after recording five wins in six games, beating Karak Norn Blitzers, Warpstone 13 and Prodigious Vermin among others. Their team now includes some very skilled players, including an exceptionally strong elf, and many are now tipping the horde team as one of the real threats in the play-offs... As ever, there is still a long way to go.

Saturday 1 December 2007

League Table 01.12.07



League table now including modified averages for those teams yet to play 5 games. There will be two prizes, one for finishing top of the league (ABBL trophy) and the winner of the play-offs (Albion Cup). If the skaven of Warpstone 13 bring it back! The latter is the more prestigious trophy but BOTH will earn all time points...