“I squandered a great chance to go through to the main UI tournament as I displayed some terrible tactics in a game that simply should have been won. I had good dice, caused plenty of damage, but when it came down to the details, I wasn't paying attention, and threw away victory.

The worst mistake was making the one turn touchdown possible, meaning all Bytez0r had to do was keep his distance in the 2nd half for the 2-1. The second mistake was failure to really close down the ball in the 2nd half, to make the distance too easy to maintain. I banked on causing enough injury that I would be able to turn over the ball. For the only time in the game, the dice failed me, as I failed to cause injury in several gang fouls on his better players, and this gave Bytez0r all the space he needed to close out the half and score.

Whilst I might feel aggrieved at the failure in the 2nd half fouls, on balance it was no more than Bytez0r deserved after he hit unplayable dice for the first 7 turns of the game. As it was, my porous offensive line ambled over the line and the dark elves finished the first drive with only a handful of players on the field.

Happy in the knowledge that I was on the receiving end of good fortune and that it was a matter of time before I eliminated enough players that Bytez0r would not be able to compete, I switched off at this point. Instead of defending the one turn score, which was easy enough to do - and inexcusable since I still had no injuries and my apothecary available - I set up in a way that was about as helpful as it could be without being a total give-away. I failed to kick deep, inexcusable since I had a kicker. It was just an inept coaching display, embarrassing for somebody with hundreds of games under his belt. I did have the distraction of my girlfriend scowling at me as I chowed down on the dinner she'd just made, but that's pretty weak.

The second half was not quite as bad, but still not particularly good. I focused too much on Nobbla, then left him open, and he got removed. Then I didn't focus on the ball, and the dark elves sole dirty player made multiple fouls on the eye without punishment. When I did foul back, I only made stuns, and that gave Bytez0r all the room he needed to score the winner in comfort.

I should be annoyed at my performance this game, but in some ways I'm glad. I need time off and this was the kind of self inflicted kick in the nuts that will help me spend less time playing and more on reality.

Thanks for the good game Bytez0r. You played well. I didn't. That's just about the summation of that game.”