R’damnit seems to feel at home in indoor division 3 as they have managed to secure their position once more last sunday in Wageningen after coming second in the first competition day. The knives were sharpened again this sunday for indoor competition day 2 in Wageningen. R’damnit played their first game against the organizing team; WAF. On the first competition day in Ijmuiden WAF proved to be a tough opponent, forcing R’damnit into a 8-8 draw. Both teams consisted of many of the same players that played on the first completion day so everyone was expecting a close game. R’damnit started strong and managed to take the lead after a few points, never letting WAF back into the game. We managed to win 13-7 which was quite a surprising start for us.
On the R’damnit side two players had their first indoor experience; Bogdan Stamoran and Paul Tesar.
Spirits were high after the first match and whispers of moving up a division could be heard throughout the team. Unfortunately those dreams were harshly crushed in our next match against UFO. A team which we had beaten on competition day 1. UFO had managed to bring some more skilled players and R’damnit was making a lot of unnecessary mistakes. UFO managed to win 10 – 6.
In watching the other teams play it had become clear that Flying High, a team from Tilburg that had come up from the 4th division was dominating their first two games with great long passes and very fast play and positioning. They would be our next opponent. Although R’damnit did not play badly we were just no match for the fast paced play we were up against. Flying high managed to beat us 14 – 8. The optimism about our chances to move up had now suddenly shifted to fear of possibly relegating.
A final match against UTKA would determine if they would go to division 4 or R’damnit would relegate. It was clear from the start neither team wanted to get beaten as the game started off with a lot of physical contact from both sides, although just a few fouls were called. The teams were showing signs of exhaustion and players started dropping like flies. Two Rotterdam players had to exit prematurely and one UTKA player went out early because of light injuries. In the end Rotterdam took a commanding lead and finished out the game winning 10-3! Winning 2 and losing 2 has earned us the right to start competition day 3 in the 3rd division once more. We will be joined by WAF and UFO again as UTKA will move to the 4th division and Flying High will move on to the 2nd division.
Results Day 2 (3rd Division):
R’damnit – WAF 13 – 7
R’damnit – UFO 2 6 – 10
R’damnit – Flying High 8 – 14
R’damnit – UTKA 10 – 3
Final score:
1) Flying High 12/12
2) UFO 2 7/12
3) R’damnit 6/12 (+3)
4) WAF 4/12
5) UTKA 0/12