“
Up against a well-respected coach and a side that had already been to prem three times previously, the Sphinxes were never going to take this one lightly.
Having Slibli turn up to lend the Spawning a hand only reinforced this.

The Game started well, with King Jareth’s first two hits smashing two big Lizards (the Krox and a Saurus) into the cas box. Locking the defense down, and ever wary for a skink breakout, the Sphinxes followed the Spawning down to a sideline. Slibli was thus far not showing much flair, being tied up with Nomarch and Jack – these would remain in a four way tussle for most of the match, until 3deb knocked him out with a foul (his last for the game).

The inevitable skink breakout happened, but the combined team of Debaser and Tomb Soldier just barely managed to bring down the nimble ballcarrier. In the meantime, nearly half the Spawning had ended up in the KO box…

In the second half, the ref was replaced by a rather large, familiar looking individual:
This ref had rather an eagle (or perhaps reptilian?) eye! At the third sendoff in the half, the ref was revealed to be Slibli, who had squeezed into the actual refs shirt in an attempt to impact the game and thus earn his gold. At this juncture it was too late, however, as Jareth had a firm grasp of the ball and had sedately strolled to the endzone. One final foul, and the pitch was clear of opponents. Even Ref Slibli had to let that one by, as even another sendoff would have been pointless.

First round win for the Sphinxes!

Slibli ref icon courtesy of cdwat - thanks!”