Vipers and Crushers Draw

The Tlaxtlan Vipers and The Kislev Crushers fought it out in the snow for a 1-1 Draw last night.

Kislev Stadium was, unsurprisingly, knee-deep in snow throughout the match courtesy of a persistent Blizzard that lasted the whole game - bad news for the cold-blooded Lizards! The Vipers, missing a couple of players due to injury, used their inducement money to hire a mercenary Saurus to help beef up their line.

The Lizard elected to receive and as the ball was kicked, a Kislev supporter hurled a chunk of ice at Ixtli-Atl, stunning the Kroxigor before the game had even begun. But more bad news was to follow - having waited a long time for a Skink skilled in the art of picking up the ball - the Vipers were disappointed with the results when Eztli failed to grab hold of the ball and instead knocked towards the opposition! Boris Goldgatherer, the unbelievably agile Crushers Catcher, quickly scooped up the ball while Magnus the Pious cleared a path with a block to Quotol that inflicted a lethal injury on the hapless Skink that defied all attempts by the Vipers Apothecary to remedy. Boris zig-zagged across the field - surviving four Blitzes, all of which failed to knock him over (despite using all their re-rolls, the Vipers just couldn't bring him down). But where the Lizards failed - the fickle hand of Nuffle succeeded - and Boris failed the seemingly simplest of dodges, poking his own eye out in the process (the Apothecary soon put that right) The Vipers grabbed the loose ball and dashed down field - but the half ended with them still well short of the End Zone.

The second half began with no respite from the Blizzard conditions. The ball was quickly passed to Boris, who survived another Blitz, and this time made good his dodge and ran into the End Zone for a TD. The Vipers received the next kick-off - and, yes, it was still snowing - deep in their own half. Mextlu dashed up field, hugging the left hand side line - and using his superb side-stepping skills to keep the ball in bounds when the Crushers defence knocked him down. Digging himself out of a snow drift, Mextlu was able to regather the ball and carried it all the way for a TD.

With the game nearing its end, there was still time for one more TD play by the Crushers. With the Vipers, down to just 9 players and setting up deep in defence, the Crushers where able to flood most of their team down field. The Lizards covered as many of the potential receivers as they could - prioritising the Catchers, especially Boris who again remained on his feet when Blitzed, and any players within range of the line. This, however, left Sigmar Heldenhammer in the clear and within (icy) sprinting distance of the line. The pass was delivered but Heldenhammer lost sight of the ball in a flurry of snow - ending the match in a draw.

The mercenary Saurus - who did little except cause several turn-overs with his inept blocking - was also awarded the Vipers MVP. Demonstrating once and for all that the whole system is nothing but a complete farce. But the good news is that for the first time in a while the Vipers will take to field next week with a full squad of Saurus!

Thanks to Adam for the game - I think the Vipers were very lucky to come out of that one with a draw.

Dave

(aka Axebreaker)