Excerpt from the SSS: Sartosa Grog-Swillers @ Rock the CAS-Box

 

4th Match:

Grog-Swillers fight Rock the CAS-Box at the Casualty Box

Written by Armando Blackquill

Avast mateys! Welcome to another episode in the saga of our suffering boys in teal. With the drubbing that they suffered against the Lil Creepers, it was clear that our plucky Ogres really need to step up and actually win some games, especially considering that we are getting to the middle of the conference stage of the league. Unfortunately, the next fixture would make them confront the Orcs of Rock the CAS-Box, and having faced Orcs before, this was always going to be a tough match for the Grog-Swillers.

Fortunately, Coach Coachem had some plans in this regard. Smashem had received a bit of extra training, and with the firm instruction of "You just move away from bad guys", hopefully he would be able to get in better positions and break some tackles thanks to just his immense strength. As well as that, the gnoblar that the Ogres had been using for target practice, one known as Stopsquirmin, had enough balls thrown at him that he became modestly good at actually catching them.

Rock the CAS-Box: Analysis

Rock the CAS-Box hail from the Southern Badlands, and draw their names from a mistranslation of the word "fortress" or "citadel" in the language of Araby, a place where they have often ended up when they were on one of their raiding parties. Eventually, like many other Orc teams, they decided that Nuffle's field provided a much more steady drip of victims compared to their raiding days, and thus the team was formed. The appropriately-named Casualty Box was once their main stronghold, quickly converted to a regulation pitch and put up with hap-hazardly constructed stands. Rock the CAS-Box still rock (if you'll excuse the pun) the red livery from their raiding days, which they claim is purely the blood from their enemies, although many doubt these claims (although not directly to their face).

In terms of their league performance, Rock the CAS-Box has been struggling, much like the Grog-Swillers. They had lost against Scrummy Mummies and Papa Pow, and drew against the Lil Creepers. Some of their players had received severe injuries (or worse) and they were coming into the Grog-Swiller's game with one missing Blitzer, with Norghok being forced to miss the match. Even with this key player missing, Rock the CAS-Box was likely to still be able to match the Grog-Swillers in terms of brute power, especially with Grugzad on the pitch, a player known for his tackling ability.

Match Analysis

The weather throughout the game was perfect: although the Southern Badlands can be scorching hot during summer, fortunately this time there were some clouds that ensured the temperatures wouldn't reach their peak.

Preparing for the match, Coach Coachem decided that some extra team training was required, and enlisted some assistant coaches from the crowd to that effect, although it is unclear how much they would actually do.

First Half

Referee having some words with the Orc player!

Rock the CAS-Box won the toss and elected to received first, and the Ogres stacked the line in anticipation of the kick off. Before the kick was even in the air, the goblin referee in attendance decided to have some words with one of the orc players, and a scuffle occurred. Somehow, the referee got the upper hand after a swift kick in the whats-its, and the CAS-Box player was left stunned right at the start of the drive. The kick was fairly deep, and as soon as it touched down, Grugzad immediately hawked for one of the gnoblars facing him, knocking him out cold as he barrelled towards him. Unfortunately for the orcs, they failed to pick up the ball as their players fumbled it to and fro, giving an opening for the Grog-Swillers. A gnoblar was quickly booted up the field, but knocked itself out on landing, while the Ogre set about their grim business, bashing Orcs left and right, and even leaving some of them stunned. Romm, the goblin player of the CAS-Box, finally moved up the field and a cage was formed, but Smashem used his strength to move away from the player marking him, and sent the goblin flying. 

It wasn't all roses for the Grog-Swillers, however, as one of the Ogres broke his ribs on a block, and was forced to the casualty bin, although the medications of Mendem allowed him to return to the pitch in the second half.

Stopping the Orc drive!

Still, CAS-Box were swift to pick up the ball once again, but the punches and fouls from the Grog-Swillers kept coming, with one tackle from Gougem Hyes knocking over Vihzrug the Traitor and seriously injuring him. The Orcs kept their offensive, with the Ogres right on their tails, smashing through the left outfield and sending several Gnoblars to the casualty bin, but with some brave tackling from the Gnoblars, the drive was stopped, and the whistle was blown for half time. 

The first match had been gruelling, with casualties on both side, but the Orcs had a Big Un' and lineorc knocked out, who unfortunately were able to come to their senses. On the side of the Grog-Swillers, several Gnoblars had been knocked out, and others badly hurt, some from the direct action of the Orcs, especially Grugzad that had methodically hunted down the Gnoblars one by one, and some from being thrown a bit too forcefully into the ground. Still, the Grog-Swillers would be able to field 11 players on the field, and with them receiving the ball in the second half, hopes were high for a possible win.

Second Half

The Ogres were in the driving seat for the second half, and deployed in  order to both smash the front line of the Orcs as well as screen and pick up the ball with the Gnoblars in the back. The kick itself was deep and the Gnoblars swarmed the ball and were able to pick it up and move up the field, while some of the orc linemen were pushed back. Grugzad moved up one of the sidelines, hoping to have a repeat performance of his Gnoblar-hunting performance of the first half, but this time Smashem was onto him, and broke apart from one of the Big Uns marking him to blitz the Orc blitzer, knocking him out cold. With the primary threat to the Gnoblars gone, the Grog-Swillers were in high spirits as they formed a protective screen around the ball carrier. This spirit, however, would not last long. Smashem, on the sideline, received a bone-cruncing block from one of the Big Uns, sending him to the floor and landing on his head, twisting his neck: the Ogre was dead before he had even stopped falling, and was unceremoniously carted off the field. 

The aftermath of the flying Gnoblar gambit!

Coachem was rightly furious at this turn of events, and with his offensive line seriously depleted, told Bootem to send the Gnoblar ball-carrier flying towards CAS-Box's end zone. Unfortunately, the Gnoblar was unable to stick the landing, and both the Gnoblar and the ball bounced around in the field and were quickly swarmed the ball. CAS-Box was able to pick up the ball, and they were back in the offensive, trying to drive up the ball, injuring several Gnoblars as they drove up the field: with their diminished numbers, and with the referee even sending off one of the Gnoblars that had been seen putting the boot in, the Grog-Swillers did not have the numbers to stop the drive and it was clear that the Orcs would score, although they wanted until the very last second of the half before entering the end-zone, with Bigniz scoring the touch-down. The only glimmer of hope for the Grog-Swiller was a block by Grindem sending Mutrid flying: a number of worrying sounds issued from the Orc, but with the attention of everyone else diverted to the touchdown, no one realised the Mutrid was actually dead until of his fellow players attempted to wake him up.

Post-Match Analysis

By the end of the first-half, the Grog-Swillers were in the driving seat and with a good chance of victory, but it is clear that the loss of Smashem severely tilted Coach Coachem, and at that point a series of mistakes and loss of most of their players on the field meant that the Ogres could prevent the Orcs from scoring, allowing the Grog-Swillers to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. This article will have to suffice as a commemoration of Smashem, who was taken away from us before his time.