“The marquee match-up of the Great Albion Regional Division took place on Thursday, as the Barons of Blackwater hosted the Wood Elf team Parklife FC. With both squads 4-0-0 through four games, it seemed fair to say that this was a match between two future Conference teams, and the elves did not disappoint, turning in one of the most action-packed games of the season en route to a 6-3 Parklife victory.

One of the ongoing subplots for the season has been Parklife's fragile wardancers. Damon (+AG, tackle) and Graham (+ST, tackle) have been on the team since their Fringe Cup run last season, but were rarely able to share the pitch due to a series of MNG debacles. Fans saw a bit of what the two could do together in last week's match against cellar dwellers WILlpowered Skinks, but that was nothing compared to the dominant performance they put on this game. They repeatedly blitzed the thrower, retrieved the ball, blocked defenders out of their shoes, and came away from the game with a touchdown each. (The one low point: Damon narrowly avoided injury on Turn 1, as he tripped going for it and had to be recovered from a game-ending injury by the team's apothecary.)

But even with Damon and Graham's performances, man of the match honors have to go to catcher Battery In Your Leg, who scored a hat trick on his debut and added in a completion for good measure. Earning an agility bonus after the game, Battery looks like another star in waiting.

On the Barons' side, it's hard to fault star thrower Aearion Matanthar, who completed three passes and was named his team's MVP. Apart from a flub or two in the backfield, Matanthar was the quarterback every team needs, reliably getting the ball to his man and holding up well against the blitz. Wide receiver Hongos Mithnarthor was also a standout, completing two passes of his own and logging a TD. (He almost scored twice, but burly Parklife lineman Pressure on Julian knocked him into the reserve box late in the first half with a hard hit near the goal line.)

The teams were tied 2-2 at halftime, but Parklife received and quickly scored, using Damon, Graham and Julian to shield Battery as he ran down the sideline. The kick went deep, and the Wardancers rumbled into action, menacing Matanthar into a wobbly long pass that scattered around the field but eventually made its way to a High Elf catcher at midfield. Graham backtracked to blitz the ball away from the catcher, and rookie thrower Think Tank grabbed the ball and passed to Damon for the TD. 4-2.

On the next kickoff, the ball bounced all the way into the end zone. Matanthar grabbed it... and was leveled by a lightning blot from the stands. Before the stunned thrower could recover, Graham had blitzed his way down the field to score the decisive fifth TD. Each team added another score after the fact, but the game had been essentially decided.

Next up, Parklife looks to extend their all-time record to 10-0-0 when they face Garion's Lost Boys, a squad of vampires. Chavo's elves look to put the finishing touches on their promotion bid as they face Stark Family Robinson, a promising young high elf squad that has battled inexperience and injuries but looks like one for the future.”