Paddy Murphy Ultimate

Tour Three here we come...

2007-07-23T06:53:00.000-07:00

After a fair ol' bit of humming and hawing it's been decided that we will take part in the final Tour, Tour Three. It'd be a shame after all the hard work of the first two to leave it all in the balance. And besides, Cardiff is the best venue, Cardiff has a party for the Saturday night and we will finally get a bash at Clapham. (Whether or not 10 hungover Paddys will quite do themselves justice against one of the best teams in the country is a separate story).

Our group will/should be:

Chevvy (1)
Clapham (3)
Paddy Murphy (6)
Brighton (8)

Easy enough eh? (Shame Ferg won't be on Clapham 1, but then he does get to play in the 8 to 12 bracket...)

Anyways, all the details for the tournament can be found here: http://www.malago.co.uk/tour3/

2007 Tour Standings after Tour 2

2007-07-23T05:49:00.000-07:00

The current standings in the UKUA Open Tour (after two events) are as follows:

Pos Team Points
1 Chevron Action Flash 472
2 Clapham Ultimate 1 472
3 Fire of London 1 440
4 Fusion 440
5 LeedsLeedsLeeds 1 410
6 Paddy Murphy 372
7 Discuits 1 352
8 Brighton Ultimate 1 331
9 Clapham Ultimate 2 324
10 Fire of London 2 311
11 Mild M Janitors 280
12 BAF 1 280
13 BPF 1 235
14 Ltd Release 1 215
15 EMO 200
16 Flyght Club 1 178
...
27 Seamus Murphy 88
...
47 Flyght Club 2 3

Tour Two 2007

2007-07-23T05:05:00.000-07:00

10 days ago Paddy Murphy took to the field in Mansfield at Tour Two hoping to improve on the 7th place of Tour Two and aiming to avoid any more injuries with only 2 weeks left until Euros.
Day One saw us take on a few of the heavyweights of Tour with Fusion (2nd seeds), Fire (4) and LeedsLeedsLeeds (5) making up our Group. Saturday started slowly for Paddy, and despite some lovely sunshine we didn't do ourselves justice agaisnt a strong Fire side. We didn't play badly in the first half, we just didnt turn them over. And when we played offence we made a few small mistakes. Fire didnt make any such mistakes, with their offence not turning over once in 9 points. It was a highly frustrating first half and we lost it badly 8-0. The second half was an improved affair, with us getting closer on D and converting the turns. We were awake now and fought hard but there was too much to do. 15-5 to Fire, who looked damn good.

Game 2 was against Fusion, Derryk's old club team and again we started slowly. The difference was personal errors as unusually we dropped discs at chest height, threw a few lose throws and misread a few discs we'd tend to come down with. Fusion got out in front early and held the advantage for the whole game. There were a lot of big aerial battles but the Scots weren't as dangerous as at Tour Onme and the feeling was that we let this one get away. Another irritating match against well-drilled opposition in which we simply didn't perform. Fusion 15 Paddy Murphy 8. Might it be one of those weekends?

Game 3, straight after the Fusion game, was pivotal to us. We needed to play well for a start. We'd had a poor morning by our standards and we wanted to turn that around. We were playing Leeds who had beaten us at Tour One in a back-to-back battle that we'd lost in a tough 2nd half. This time around we were determined to fight right til the end. We came out strongly and went a few up, getting hard Ds and playing strong, fast Offence using our long game to good effect and tearing through a zone that suited us well. The O Line converted ever time they were asked to and the D Line kept creating turns. We took half and spoke about how hard we had worked to get this far. This was the top 5 scalp we wanted and we kept pushing throughout a tougher second half. The game was never in the balance though and despite conceding a late score or two we won well, 15-10 to everyone's dlight. We beat Leeds!

Saturday night was a wild affair. Seldom have I seen a team so out of control. We all piled into the local pub and played Darts, Giant Connect Four and Pool. A few of us tried the local cuisine and were amazed by the variety - how many dishes can you get beans with?? The tales of frozen veg, imaginary lasagna ('I've been waiting an hout - is my Lasagna ready?' - 'Oh, we dan't actually have any'!!) and spaghetti-free spaghetti bolognese can only further add to our love of Mansfield.

9am for the 2nd day in a row. This time versus BAF who'd been unlucky to lose a close game on Sat and find themselves as 12th seeds. They came out fired up and played clinical, clever and varied offence. We traded with them until 5s, unable to break them down. Then they got a turn and converted it. And then another. We were in a right battle. It was pissing rain, the pitch was sh*t and we were having morning slowness issues. They took half 8-6 i think. We got ourselves together and began to fight but they kept scoring. Suddenly it was 11-7 and we took a Timeout to steady to the ship. We came back determined and playing hard D for the first time in the match. They couldnt keep up, and we got stronger by the point. We rattled home 8 D points in a row to win 15-11.

Next up were Discuits, who we play ever Tour no matter what! This was our most complete perfeormance of the weekend. We never stopped playing hard, working for each other and ran the game away from them quickly. Our offence and Defence both played excellently despite missing key players (Dman, Britboy, Blonde,Tadhg, Hag). Despite the lashing rain and a joke of a pitch we won well. We were 14-4 up and finished the game 15-7 after they staged a mini-fightback.

Final game - versus LeedsLeedsLeeds for 5th. By beating Discuits we'd put ourselves in a position to finish 5th and with it given ourselves a chance to beet LLLeeds again, proving it wasnt a flash in the pan. This game defined 'a game of two halves' and unfortunately for us, our half was the first one. We came out all guns blazing and used our good result in our last game to our advantage. The D line played hard and the offence converted. LLLeeds gave us the disc and we scored repeatedly. At one stage we were 9-2 up! 6 pointd form a big victory...However, the injuries began to come (we were doen to FIVE O line players! and lost 2 D Line players too...) and tiredness was telling all over the pitch. The mud wasnt helping and the rain had stopped leaving just a brown mush for a pitch. LLLeeds sensed a comeback and upped their game, using their experience to control the rest fo the match and win out 15-11. It was a real disappointment, a match that hurt us and one that will live long in the memory.

Still, 6th at Tour was huge. MVP went to the ever-impressive Cian and MSP to the upbeat and reliable Dominick. Super Dave played incredibly over the course of the weekend, featuring as a receiver on O and D! He won the A-Game award.

More photos can be found here:
http://ultimatephotos.org/uk-2007-t2/
http://picasaweb.google.com/earley.mark/TourTwo
http://www.photoboxgallery.com/grahambailey/6101629

Tour One 2007

2007-07-23T04:35:00.000-07:00

Tour One took place in Harlington a few weekends ago and saw an all time high - 3 teams travel from Ireland to take part in three divisions. In the A Tour were Paddy, the B Tour Tour Seamus and in the Womens Tour Biddy. Unfortunately I've no idea of the results of Seamus, although I heard Day Two went better than Day One? - I'm sure we'll hear soon. The ladies were brilliant as seen in Liz's report.From Paddy's point of view the weekend was a success, the only minus point being a bad shoulder injury to Tadhg. With enough rest here's hoping he gets well soon.

So...We were seeded 10th and for Day One we were drawn in a Group with Emo (12), Srange Blue (14) and Discuits (15). First up were Stange Blue from Cambridge. We started well in windy conditions and despite conceding a few scores took half 7-4. I think we bageled them in the second half to run out strong winners, 15-4. Their lack of people probably didnt help them. Tigger played extremely well in this match.The next game was against EMO, who we'd always wanted to play over the years but never had. Lately they've seen a lot of their team move 'up' (get poached) to join other teams and are in transition. We came out firing and strong D got us up early. The O Line worked the disc quickly and we got some zone in too. A strong performance gave us a 15-3 win leaving just the Discuits game to come. Cian got an impressive 6 blocks in the EMO game.The Discuits game was a long, tough, error- and call-ridden affair with both teams fighting hard to win. The tricky wind wasn't helping conditions as we were given our toughest match of the day. Their handlers were strong and despite our O Line playing excellently we could never pull away from them fully. Perhaps the nature of the dogfight-y game got to us, maybe the weather played it's part, and that coupled with their determination meant a tiring game. We played thorugh it though and came out on top as 14-9 winners, and top of our group, retaining our seeding of 10th. Special mention to Dman and BB who, along with the O Line, played huge.

Saturday night saw us go bowling. We drank lots of fizzy drinks, acted like 15 year old knackers and I came last. It was highly entertaining and further established JD's reputation as the King. Super and Dominick have both clearly been practising at length. to the degree it was slightly embarassing. Kielys intimate knowledge of WiiBowling proved useless.

Sunday morning 9.30am, windy, rainy and a game against the wise, late and (possibly) hungover Janitors. We started well, using our pace and warm up to our advantage but slowly they clawed back into the game and used their Zone to good effect. The game was a heated affair, with blood running high, a lot at stake and there were a few close moments! They were dealt with though and the game was a good one overall. Kiely scored the teams 1st ever Callahan in bizarre fashion - he pointblocked a Janitor on their endzone line, the disc went diagonally backwards and another player (Rik Shipley) laid out to catch it but only succeeded in macking the disc up in the air. Rob laid out and caught it for the Irish team's first Callahan of the year! Other than that it was a closely fought, wet, tiring and difficuly game, the type you learn a lot from but are glad to see the back of! We won 14-10 to go 'Top 8' for the first time.

Immediately after the huddle we walked to the adjacent pitch where LeedsLeedsLeeds were waiting for us. This was a step up. Leeds are a top 5/6 team and they showed it especially on their offence which used breakside cuts, handlers cutting long and an ability to hold onto the disc well. We played hard and gave it all we had. We traded for the first few points, then they went on a small run. We pulled them back in though and at half the game was very delicately poised at 8-7 in their favour. The first few points were same in the 2nd half but with the score at 10-9 they pulled away again and their experience won the game. We were tired, having played back to back and couldnt quite cope against their Offence. We fought hard but went down 15-9.

A game break and then we played Discuits (who beat Clapham 2!) for 7th place. We both knew what to expect and we both wanted 7th place badly. They were after revenge, we were after a 5th win from 6 and a step forward to consolidate for Tour 2. The game was well Spirited, tightly fought and ebbed and flowed like the previous battle! They drew level, we pushed on ahead, they'd fight back and then we'd take control. They were making less mistakes and getting more Ds than the 1st game and tired legs and heads were having a hard time. We got it together though and won the game by 3 in the end i think to cap a fine weekend's work.

Congrats to MVP Cian and to MSPs Dman & Perfect. Big thanks to Rickard, Blonde and Tigger for all the support. Next weekend we head to Tour 2 - here's hoping for more success!

For more photos -
http://picasaweb.google.com/earley.mark/TourOne
http://ultimatephotos.org/uk-2007-t1/index.html

Tour One Ahoy

2007-06-22T03:13:00.000-07:00

Finally, time to get over to the UK and play. It's been a while since we played Tour proper and a great weekend awaits. Unfortunately the Schedule has been dictated by the top teams and we face a Peer Pool - somthing we didn't expect until Tour Two and which effectively mean we won't play a team seeded above us until Day Two of the event.

Our group includes us (seeded 10th), EMO (12), Strange Blue (13) and our mates Discuits (15) who regardless of seeding we seem to meet at almost every event these days! Last time we played we fought to a one point victory at Tour Zero, who knows how it will go this time? Day 2 will see us get a chance to face seeds 7 up to 5 if we win until then.

With a full squad and the hard work behind us, here's looking forward to a good weekend...
Marko

Paddys to Brugges!

2007-05-18T01:03:00.000-07:00

Last weekend saw all 22 of the Ireland Open Team travel to Brugges for Tom's Tourney 2007. We were drawn in a group with Disc Devils Twente, Mooncatchers and Revolution'Air. Our first match was against Disc Devils on a threadbare pitch at 11am on Saturday. We started well against the young, hard-running team and went on to close out the game 10-3. Next up were Mooncatchers from Brussels who had a couple of lively players but were missing the bulk of their team. We played much better than the first match, with the Defence and Offence scoring at will and won 15-3. The last game of the day was at 3pm with the sun at its peak against a good team from Paris, Revolution'Air. It was a tough game with turns aplenty and they played a fast offence that us Paddys in the sun found difficult to contain. We got stuck in though and ground out a tough victory 9-6 in the end (I think).

The saturday night offered a BBQ followed by a cocktail juggling circus act thingy which was good craic. We ate massive kebabs and chips drowned in more sauce than you'd use in a week, played cards, drank some tasty Belgian beer and went back to the hostel, in convoy of course - we rented about 12/13 bikes :)Sunday morning began with a new group made up of 4 teams, us, Revolution'Air, Wizards (winners of their group) and Ultimate Vibration. We played Wizards at 11am and it was a big game. Both sides played really hard D and quick simple O with lots of longs scores and breaks. We started well and made them fight for every point until we drew away. From 3-3 we won 4 of 5 points to go 7-4 up.But they fought back hard and as tine was called equalised meaning that the scorer of the next point would be the winners. They came out and capitalised on a turn to take the game 8-7. Needless to say we were gutted. The next game was an hour later against Ultimate vibration from Paris and to mak it into the 1/4s we had to win it. We started strongly and continued getting big blocks and converting them. The French team were very solid on Offence but we wanted it that bit more and won out 9-6 to line up a 1/4 final against CUS Bologna - La fotta.The Bologna game was a funny one. We started well, so did they and there were lots of turns but we couldn't convert the big points. We gave it everything, as did they, and in the end maybe the 3 close games took it out of us. A couple of late scores and we couldn't claw back - they won 8-5 in a tough, scrappy fight of a match played on a dustbowl. Not much more to say, except that if we'd beaten them (and we couldve) who knows where we'd have come...

Sunday night was great craic - a lazy afternoon in the 25+ degree heat, a few brews and watching the ladies play in their last game of the day. Some quality sunset mack lining and some food then back to the hostel for more cards. A few of us and all the girls made the bus journey out to the party where a ska band put on a great show. One lad even jumped off the stage through a hoop. Can't ask for much more.

Day Three saw us play OUF from France in a 5-8 semi which we won convinvingly.13-3 was the final score. It gave us a chance to have another bash at the Wizards for the title of 5th place! Both teams were fired up and played tough D against patient O, but it the Wizards who started stronger, making us pay for a few drops to rac into a 3-0 lead. One time-out later and we'd drawn the score back to 5-4. Alas, the tank was nearing empty and some tired mistakes were quickly used to give the Swiss a 9-7 win.All in all it was a superb tourny.

Spirit went to Gentle in the Open Division and OB in the Womens. The Open Division was won by Bologna-La Fotta after they beat Belgium Open in the final while the Womens was won by Yaka of France who fought back from 5-3 down to win by 3 or 4 against Copenhagen. There was an Irish Womens Team called Deadly Buzz in the Womens Div and they did brilliantly - I'll leave that story to them :)

Here's the photos:http://picasaweb.google.com/earley.mark

The Irish National Teams

2007-04-03T09:21:00.000-07:00

The European Ultimate Frisbee Championships will be taking place in Southampton, England this summer. For further details please visit the site http://www.euc2007.org. Ireland will be sending two teams - one in the Open (Men) Division and one in the Women's Division. The following players will be playing for Ireland Open and Women Teams:

Ireland Open 2007

Roger Beatty
Derryk Boyd
John Davis Coakley
Mark Dolan
Alan Doyle
Mark Earley (Captain)
Niall Harbourne
Dara Hayes
Tadhg Healy
Robert Kane
Rory Kavanagh
Rob Kiely
Brian MacDevitt (Captain)
David McAlester
David Misstear
Seamus Murray
Enda Naughton
Cian O'Morain (Coach)
David Rickard
Dominick Smyth
Chris Stokes
Fergus Weldon

Ireland Women 2007

Linda Barry
Sparky Booker
Layne Caulfied
Andrea Fagan
Ciara Fitzpatrick
Catherine Gainey
Yvonne Halpin
Ashling Malone
Fiona McDonald (Vice- Captain)
Laura McGrath
Emer Mernagh
Sarah Jane Monaghan
Sandra Murphy
Deirdre O'Breasail
Lorraine O'Donnell
Dayne Ortved
Sinead O'Shiel Flemming
Liz Schaffalitzky (Captain)

Tour Zero 2007

2007-04-03T09:07:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend Paddy Murphy made it's first appearance of the year in the UK at Tour Zero, a qualifying event for the A Tour. 34 teams entered and there were 11 places on offer (not 12 as we found out upon arrival as the austrian Team the Big Eez are planning on playing Tour 1 - theres a debate and a half going on about this on BritDisc, into which Irish teams playing Tour are being dragged!!).

After surviving 'the worst Friday night at any tournament ever' (that was a coment on the company not the weather!) we were drawn in a group with the 1st seeds Brighton, Sheffield Steal, Bristol Plastic Factory 2, Lucky Huckers and Red 2. Games were 40mins long and Day One saw most teams play 6 games. We won the first 2 games against LH and Red 2 9-0 and then beat Steal 9-3. BPF2 was slightly tougher despite a 8-2 scoreline. The final group game of the day proved the most frustrating. We played Brighton on an Upwind/Downwind pitch and contrived to lose 8-3 I think. They played the weather better than we did and as a result won.

We then played a crossover against Discuits in our last game of the day. If we won the game we'd go into a pool of 3 to determine the semi-finalists but if we lost we'd face another crossover the next morning. Sensing a big occasion the team came out on fire and quickly established a 4 point lead. This lead we held onto until 6-2 when a cap to 8 was put on. We then proceeded to panic and leaked a few points. Suddenly it was 7-7 and the fronting and poaching was causing us trouble. We had (to quote Brian) 'about 20 f*cking chances to score the last point' and eventually a big huck from Derryk was calmly collected up high by Dman to win the game.

A quiet Saturday evening followed, before more camping in the arctic Bristol conditions. If ever possible, avoid camping here, if it doesnt rain it will be so cold you wont sleep. (Unless you're as clever as Darkie who brought TWO sleeping bags or as old & wise as Ferg/Derryk who found beds to sleep in). Sunday morning at 8.30am saw us play Brighton again. We started slowly and found ourselves 6-1 down at half. Fought back to 8-8 and then to 9-9, game to 10.We got two turnovers in the final point but they scored it to win a feisty match 10-9. Straight away we played Clapham 2 and went 5-1 down. Again, we fought back taking 3 or 4 points in a row to get within one point. They held firm though to win 10-7. It was probabaly my favourite game of the weekend - a good test, less windy conditions and a cleanly fought match against a good bunch of lads. Our final tired game of the day was another windy battle against the BPF1 team who outplayed us to win 8-3 in a similar manner to the Brighton game on Saturday.

We finished 6th, meaning a 10th place seeding in the first A Tour event in June. Clapham 2 beat Leeds1 in the final and took Spirit. (We could have beaten them were it not for a couple of injuries and being 7 players short of the full squad. Next time we'll get them!). An impressive display all the same from a club's second team!

I'll leave the Seamus Murphy Report to them, needless to say we weren't the only ones who rattled the Clapham boys! (And, we didn't get an invite to their tourney...)

MVP - Nialler
MSP - Perfect Dave

Well played everyone, hers' to more of the same!!
Marko

ps no 'interception goals' yet, but Niall did throw an assist for one...I mean a Harbourne for one...

Paddy Murphy
Tour Zero 2007

Back row (L-R) : Perfect, Rickard, Britboy, Nialler, Kiely, Seamus, Darkie, Stokesy.

Front Row (L-R) : Dman, Marko, Derryk, Podge, Blonde.

Paddy Murphy Calendar 2007

2007-04-03T08:54:00.000-07:00

The calendar this year looks like this:

Tour Zero
March 31st & April 1st
Bristol, England
http://www.bristoltours.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/home.htm

Toms Tourney 2007
April 27th, 28th & 29th
Brugges, Belgium
http://www.tomstourney.be

Tour One
June 23rd & 24th
London, England
http://www.ukultimate.com/2007/06/22/ukua_tour_tour_1
NB - Venue confirmed - ignore above link!

Tour Two
July 14th & 15th
Mansfield, England
http://www.ukultimate.com/2007/07/13/ukua_tour_tour_2

EUC 2007
July 28th - August 5th
Southampton, England
http://www.euc2007.org/

Tour Three
August 18th & 19th
Cardiff, Wales
http://www.ukultimate.com/2007/08/17/ukua_tour_open_tour_3

Final Tour Standings

2006-08-18T03:59:00.000-07:00

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

2006-08-15T08:17:00.000-07:00

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

2006-08-15T08:14:00.000-07:00

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

2006-08-09T03:54:00.000-07:00

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

2006-08-09T03:53:00.000-07:00

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

2006-08-09T03:50:00.000-07:00

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.

Paddy Stats

2006-07-13T06:53:00.000-07:00

Fortunately for all but himself, Perfect Dave sat out the weekend in Birmingham and while doing so kept offensive stats of our games...

Top Scorer -
1. Seamus & Luan (8)
2. Niall & Hag (7)
3. Softy (5)

Top Assists -
1. Dman (13)
2. Marko (12)
3. Niall & Cian (8)

Top combinations -
1. Marko to Niall (5)
2. Dman to Hag (3)
= Dman to Softy
= Niall to Luan
= Niall to Seamus

Niall (8 assists & 7 scores) and Dman (13 assists & 2 scores) were the most influential players followed by Hag ( 7 & 7), Marko (12 & 0) and Cian (8 & 4) and Luan and Seamus (both 2 & 8).

After the weekend we rounded up all the votes and the resluts were:

MVP - Dman
MSP - Tadhg

In both categories there was a 3 way tie before the fianl vote came in. Well done to the 2 lads and keep up the great work everyone. Padddddyyyy...

A Tour 1 - Birmingham

2006-07-10T07:48:00.000-07:00

Last weekend saw Paddy Murphy 2006 make it's Tour debut and saw us do it in some style too. After a lot of training and talking it was finally time to take to the pitch and play. 18 Paddys made the trip, although 1 was Statto for the weekend - Perfect's knee not quite as flawless as the rest of him apparently. Our first game of the weekend was against the 3rd seeds Chevron Action Flash. WE started a little slowly, perhaps expecting more from the Northern team but soon got to grips with them and started playing on our own terms. The O line consistently converted their scores leaving the D line to prove their worth and despite a slow start in the first half thats exactly what they did in the 2nd, getting turns and scoring from them. The game came down to a 'winner-takes-all' point with the score at 14-14 and Chevy on O. They worked the disc up and despite great defence eventually got the score to win 15-14. It should be mentioned that Chris Stokes was phenomonal in this game, easily leading by example.

The second game of the day came was against Fusion and given they were seeded 5th (and behind Chevy) we quite fancied our chances at an upset. Fusion had other ideas. Their offence was fast, structured and precise and their D was aggressive. They turned us repreastedly and scored long seemingly at will. They were the best team we faced by a long shot and deservedly ran out 15-3 winners. Unfortunately the loss brought with it a big cost - a Fusion defender somewhat clumsily (and without apology) crashed into Chris' ankle and ruled him out for the rest of the weekend. His hard training and perfect attitude had til then been proving that he's on top form with most of the squad agreeing he was our best player.

The final game of Saturday was a game we'd originally set our sights on. Ltd Release were only seeded 2 above us so we fancied our chances. Ther game started scrappily with bothe teams turning over a lot but the scores were ticking along with no team going further than a point ahead. After half Paddy's D got the turna and started converting and when the O was called upon they tucked away their scores with ease. The game was capped to 14 with the scores at 12-10 to PM. We got a turn and scored to go 13-10 up, then they scored to narrow it to 2 points. They went on to turn us twice and score twice to win 14-13 in what was a bitter loss to take. To ad insult to injury Brians elbow imploded, bled and swelled to imitate a tennis ball so he went to A&E. Day One was over and despite solid performaces we were empty-handed.

Saturday night was as tame as it gets - showers, food, a game of keepy up and highlights of Wimbledon were the big moments. Everyone was in bed by 12/12.30 and hardly 2 pints were drunk between us! The nex morning we were all hurting after Day 1 but with our A Tour status on the line we started the first match of the day agressively. Brians mates, the Janitors were the 11th seeds that we had to beat to avoid getting involved in a 13-16 dogfight. We started strongly but then they came back using a solid long game. We switched our D around and soon began to go on a run of points that we hekld until Offence closed it out to avoid a repeat of the Release game! Top 12 Ultimate gauranteed. Kieran further tweaked a groin injury and still gave hie all in this game but it was to be his last contribution to the weekend.

So then we were to face Sheffield Steal with a chance to have a crack at 9th place up for grabs for the winners. Last season Steal took took close games to stop Paddy Murphy going top 12 both times so payback was due. We warmed up well and entered the game in the right frame of mind, confident after the Janitors result. Suddenly we were 5-0 up and coasting. Half at 8-2. Not until they Junk Zoned us did we feel under pressuer and even then they bore little reward for their endeavours. 15-6 was the end score and arguably Paddys finest performance to date. Tadhg and Kieran ran to get their flight home and then there were 13. We played Discuits in our final game of the weekend only 25mins after the end of the Steal game so with little time to eat, warm doen and warm up properly. However we began brightly and took an early lead. They rallied and looked set to storm through to half but we battled back before they sealed the first half 8-7. The second half saw us wilt a little and their handlers started destroying our zone. In the end we were too tired and they finished a tough, spirited and competitive game well to win 12-8 (I think!).

So, with our first event of the year we get 10th place, highest finish yet in a Tour by PM. We scared Chevy and were unlucky against Release. We paid Steal back and beat Janitors. The question is how much better can we do next time??

paddy...

PADDY...

PAAAADDDDDDDYYYY!!!!

Seamus Murphy

2006-07-06T07:16:00.000-07:00

Finally there is the strength and depth in Irish Ultimate to get a second Murphy team up and running. Thanks to the hard work of a few this weekend will see the birth of a new team - Seamus Murphy. This team will compete in the B Tour 1 in Exeter ( www.exetertour.co.uk ) hoping to get promoted. The squad looks strong an with the determination shown in training there is nothing stopping them Best of luck Seamus!

The Seamus Murphy squad is:

Darkhorse (c)
Robin (c)
Al
JD
Kevin
Eoghan
Ben
Rickard
Duffman
Keith

Tour 1 Preview

2006-07-06T06:52:00.000-07:00

This weekend coming sees us finally make the trip over to the UK to play some Ultimate after all the hard training thus far. In our group we have 3rd seeds Chevvy, 5th seeds Fusion and 12th seeds Limited Release. We play 3 games on each day with the 2nd day going straight to quarter-finals after the group round on day 1. 14th, 15th and 16th positions get relegated to the B Tour. We have been seeded 14th.

The first Paddy Murphy squad for this year is as follows:

Dman (c)
Marko (c)
Britboy
Cian
Nialler
Softy
Luan
Pixie
Blonde
Seamus
Rob
Stokesy
Tadhg
Kieran
Perfect
Ob
Tommy
Hag

2006 Calendar

2006-07-06T06:26:00.000-07:00

These are the tournaments that Paddy Murphy is currently going to attend this summer. The first 3 and Bologna are definites, we need opinions on the Ultimate Vibration tournament. Attending all 5 would leave us in great stead for next season...

July
08/09 - Tour 1 - Birmingham
Details at www.ukultimate.com

29/30 - Tour 2 - Eastbourne
Details at www.firebrand.co.uk/britopen/

August
12/13 - Tour 3 - Cardiff
Details at www.ukultimate.com

26/27 - Vibration Touch - Cergy, Paris - cancelled - unfortunately this tournament was one too many so we pulled out. If anyone's interested in going as a pick-up email Xavier of UV at the address on the website...
Details at http://vibration.touch.free.fr/

September
02/03 - UK Nationals - Mansfield
Details at www.ukultimate.com

16/17 - Bologna - Bologna, Italy
Details at www.bodisc.it/tournament/

Paddy Murphy Website

2006-07-06T06:19:00.000-07:00

Paddy Murphy now has a website of it's own. On this site expect to see photos, game reports, squad details and plans for the season.