“Both of these freshman teams came into this match with high hopes of not being in the division basement, even if it's just a 4-team division. Both teams had lost key players in their first few games, and anything like a team in their TV-bracket was a welcome change.

At only TV 1070 and down 120, the Guardians induced Sinnedbad (Loner, Block, Jump Up, Pass Block, Regeneration, Secret Weapon, Side Step... & Stab), who would make a huge contribution against the AV 7 'Sons.

The 'Sons received, and right off the bat, end of Turn 1 the Guardians put their DP to work, BH'ing a Norse Berserker, who, deemed key to winning the game, was Apo'd back into the reserves (which, in hindsight, might go far to explain why the 'Sons are so beat up). Turn 2 Sinnedbad stabbed and BH the AV 9 Snow Troll. Some inexplicable coaching confusion on Turn 3 left the ballcarrier exposed, and Sinnedbad stabbed him to the ground, leaving only 3 'Sons standing and 6 more on the ground in various states and distances from the ball.

Turn 4 some fancy dice rolling got the ball back briefly near the sidelines, but it was knocked OB and the crowd sent it sailing deeeep into Guardian's territory to the 3, 2 full turns from the nearest player on either side. A full 2 Turns of maneuvering later (during which one lino was KO'd, and one Ulf tripped and knocked himself out and the other got MNG'd with -AV, while on the other side one Skel regen'd to the reserves), the 'Sons had managed to start their Turn 7 on the other side of the Guardians and threaten to be the first to the ball, and made good on that threat, scooping beyond any Khemri response range and stalling on the goal line to score Turn 8.

For their Turn 8, the Guardians gang-fouled a Loner BH, leaving oly 7 'Sons (if all their best players) plus 1 Ulf to defend the narrow lead.


Second half, Turn 1 saw one Lino KO'd and another BH, and prospects looked grim for the 6 remaining 'Sons. Sure enough, they were outnumbered and outpowered by the four St 4 TG's plus support, and Coach clemUSA spent a RR to get his ballcarrier within range to score on Turn 4, hoping to leave ample time for a defensive score for the win. Still, the Norse made a desperation defense, marking the ballcarrier & escort, but to no avail.

End of Turn 4, tie game, only 6 'Sons lined up against the 10 Guardians, who only lacked Sinnedbad (out for SW violation) and their DP from their starting roster, and so pressed all but 2 to the LoS. The 'Sons risked the Blitz and lined up a player free on the sideline with another behind, and an extremely favourable kick allowed them to get the ball in the hands of that pair - but their ball-protection scheme left something to be desired, and the ball was soon on the ground again. Somehow(!), Turn 5 the 'Sons were nevertheless able to recover and punt the ball to the Guardians' goal-line, but the Guardians were able to GFI their Thro-Ra to get his bony hands on the ball there by the start of Turn 6. They only had Ag 2 skeletons barelywithin scoring range, so it was up to the 'Sons to win or not.

End of Turn 6 desperation became inspiration, and the 'Sons made two(!) 3+ dodges to 1d Frenzy the Throw-ra out the back of the endzone, and the (clearly) friendly crowd tossed the ball only 3(!) squares back in, keeping the door open for the 'Sons. The Guardians moved a TG next to the ball but then muffed the pickup.

End of Turn 7 the ball was lying double-marked on the 2, but a skull stopped the 'Sons before they could capitalize. However, the Guardians reciprocated by rolling a 3d Both-Down with a rookie TG, leaving the door open a crack for the 'Sons - but a tripped dodge said Nuffle thought the game should end as a tie.

Not a bad game, all in all, except for the Perm on the new replacement Ulf, which seems to be the bane of this young Norse roster.”