Tag night 2 2014, Thurs, May 22nd. Rain and wind started and set up camp at Hamilton Park from 6pm. Despite the weather, atmosphere at the pitches was still good as teams played their hearts out! In the top, Intermediate League, Guten Tag take top spot for the moment, beating Legless Lizards in a close game, 13-8 but Strandvestites in second, beating a strong Yippee Try Yay, 16-9, will have something to say about that, nipping closely at their heels. Misfits take a close win over The Generals 6-5 to slip into 3rd place and Thunderstruckers, much to their surprise, beat # Tag, last years champions, 14-6 to see them settle into 4th.
As the drowning of the pitches continued, tagging commenced. The conferences grading nicely shaping up for exciting group stages, and once grading happens after week 3, where all 24 teams will be grouped into the Premiership, Championship, Division 1 and Conference, depending on where they place in their current group. In the Conference grading 1, Cara Crusaders in first, swept over No Woman, No Try ( Great name, by the way guys! ) 15-5 and Swagger Taggers, sealing second spot, took victory over Tag-quila ( Haha good one. I wonder if this had anything to do with the Small population of Spanish on the team!) 16-7. In grading 2, the Hornets enjoy their view from the top, beating the Other Guys 13-7 and the Troopers take second, beating Fairly Lively 15-11. In the third grading, the Show Ponies win over Tagvie (an Abbvie team. Very clever guys.), 12-2 and they stand tall at top spot. Scrumbags beat Tagmania 7-5, seizing second position. In the fourth group, The Expert Taggers, staying true to their name, beating the Majors 21-9 and the second spot is taken by the Abbvie All Blacks, who have a lot to live up to with that name, beating A Bit Of Blue, 9-8. Group 5 saw Here 4 Beer consolidate their top spot by winning over Win or Lose, We Booze, 12-5 and Ciddlers Freaks take a comprehensive victory over newcomers to tag, Can’t Tag This, 38-4. In the final group, G’wan Our Crowd seal a win over Jammy Dodgers, 17-2 and a top spot. The second spot is inhabited by Gym Class Heroes, sailing through with a win over Volkstagen. It has to be said, after going through the teams, that the level of effort put in by taggers when it comes to team names is very high. Loving ‘No Woman, No Try’, Volkstagen, Tagvie, Scrumbags, Tag-quila and Yippee Try Yay. I’m particularly curious to see if the same level of creativity can be brought to the fancy dress, which is fast approaching, on Fri 6th June. This is always a great night, and great prizes for fancy dress winners. You need to walk the pitches on the Thurs night, but the fashion that is being displayed is seriously notable. New jerseys being donned by Swagger Taggers, looking slick in the black jersey, with a yellow trim. Ciddlers Freak got rid of the Mayo jerseys and have gone for a light blue jersey. A welcome change for those not from Mayo on the team! Misfits have swopped their flowers for smiley faces, with each member of the team sporting different smileys on their back. Tag-quila wear a very bold sea green colour, which I have to say, looks well. We will have to think about a prize for the best jersey and I will be walking the grounds next week, keeping an eye out!
The after party was a pub quiz, which was a great success. The pub was packed out and we had 22 teams competing and the Legless Lizards took home the win. It was a great show of support to have so many people there, especially with the weather the way it was. Well done all!! Also, a big thanks to Michael Mc Morrow, who played MC and to our sponsors, Voya and Nicholsons Pharmacy. See you all next week and let’s get our sun dance on for next week!
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