“Chapter 10

Coach Robsson stormed into Da Hui's brand-new administration office, still carrying his Number One koa-wood board under his arm. This made actually getting into Ebeneezer's office somewhat difficult, and the effect of the slow and careful negotiation of the door, so as to avoid any damage to the board, made the entrance not quite as dramatic as he would have liked.
"What in the nine hells is going on?" he demanded. "There's a bunch of huge great lizards wallowing in the rock pools on our beach."
"Ah," Ebeneezer replied. "Forgot to tell you. Sorry."
"You knew they were there?"
"Yes."
"And you didn't sent the boys down to clear them out?"
"I told them it was okay for them to be there. They were a bit dried out after their journey."
Robsson felt like there was some vital piece of information he was missing. "Dried out? Journey?"
"Yes," Ebeneezer replied breezily. "They're called Alligator Space Invader. They're you're opponents for this afternoon's match."
"Oh." Robsson was still confused. "And you said they could wallow in our pools because, and I quote, 'they were a bit tired out after their journey'?"
"That's right."
"Even though having them tired and dehydrated would have given us a perfectly good advantage for the match?"
"Well I did think of that, but it didn't seem very sporting to make them play in that condition. It wouldn't really have been a fair match."
"So? This is Bloodbowl, not croquet. When has 'fair' ever come into it?"
"Anyway," Ebeneeszer said, ignoring the complaint. "I was having a friendly chat with their coach, Chivite. He seems like a nice chap."
".........." Robsson was lost for words. "Nice?" he managed at last. But that was all he had. He stormed out of the office and slammed the door. Then he came back in, collected his Number One koa-wood board and carefully navigated it through the doorway, propped it up against the wall outside, then came back and slammed the door once more.


* * *


Robsson hated to admit he was ever wrong, and he haded even more to admit that Ebeneezer was ever right, but the truth was that playing against a fully-hydrated and refreshed lizard team made for a much more exciting game that it would otherwise have done. Da Hui received the kick and went straight onto the offensive, knocking the lizard front line back, establishing a strong pocket and getting the ball comfortable into enemy territory. But the lizards fought back, their saurus blockers being just too strong and quick for the struggling zombies, and the little skinks too quick to pin down. The drive was stalling and both teams were clustered around the right side of the field. It was threatening to become a bloodbath and Robsson knew if his team didn't do anything soon, they were likely to come off worst.
Then something beautiful happened. Kornelius had been left alone, on the far side of the field and Silas the Unclean, sensing an opportunity, pulled back, ran around the centre and - despite the glaring sun shining directly into his face - threw a long pass to the lone wight who caught it and sprinted in for the score. The crowd cheered. Robsson cheered even louder.
Then Aligator Space Invader set up to receive, with a solid wall of blue muscle stretching right across the line of scrimmage. They looked awesome, and Robsson would have been just as excited as the next man to watch them do their thing if it hadn't been his team that were all that was standing in the way of the blue tide and their first score. Needless to say, they came out hitting, and all Da Hui could do in reply was slow them down by constantly getting in their way. Feccia was smashed straight to the medical tent, where, fortunately, Ebeneezer was able to revive him with his arcane magicks, and several of the others were soon knocked out as well. The team was struggling, but luckily Chivite decided to score quickly and even the score. This gave Da Hui a good ten minutes to try for another score before the half, but once again, the blue wall proved too much for the weaker undead and despite another pass from Silas and a run from Celandril, the whistle blew before they were able to reach the endzone.

The second half belonged to the lizards. Da Hui did what they could to slow the advance, but before long the skinks had the ball well within scoring distance and they had enough protection to allow them to control the flow of the play. Every time one of the undead players came close to the ball carrier, there was a saurus waiting to knock them over and get in the way. The match looked like it was about to fizzle out, but suddenly Berengariax broke away from her tussle with the kroxigor, ran straight for the ball-carrying skink, dodging around a saurus on the way, and managed to knock the ball free right at the last minute. The crowd cheered, sensing a sudden change in the fortunes of both teams. The ball bounced out of play, was thrown back in nearly back at midfield. Tobias the Outcast was close. A quick scoop up of the ball and a good solid run downfield for the score and the game was in the bag.

At this point, Tobias was knocked to the ground, another of the skinks picked up the loose ball and casually ran it in for the winning score, leaving Da Hui with just a single minute left on the clock. A score was still possible. Robsson had done it many times before, but always with his wood elves, who were so much faster than even the two werewolves. But even so, he was going to give it a go.

The kick was up, Aligator Space Invader blitzed, one of the saurus blockers rushing desperately forward to try and take out Tobias who had been the only player left at the back to field the ball. The saurus smashed into the ghoul, but by some miracle Tobias managed to stay on his feet. He dodged away from his attacker, picked up the ball and hurled it down to Berengariax who ran forward for all she was worth - which was quite a lot, Robsson had to admit. But it was not to be. The wolf paused in the face of the waiting wall of lizards and the final whistle blew with her still several yards from the endzone.

"Great game," Robsson said to Chevite as the two coaches shook hands after the match. "That was a lot of fun." He didn't mind the loss, he'd decided, because none of his players had been injured and he'd had a genuinely exciting afternoon. He did object to the meagre bag of winnings Ebeneezer had presented him with, and the fact that all the new fans they'd acquired after last week's game seemed to have wandered across to the lizards' side of the pitch, but these things happened from time to time. Besides, Da Hui could well do without a bunch of nurglings cheering them on.
"Great game indeed," Chivite said. "And great beach, too. You have some really nice rock pools down there. We may come back here some day."
"Well," Robsson replied. "You'll be welcome. But next time we won't give you such an easy time of it on the pitch. We'll be ready for you."
Chivite smiled. Robsson wasn't sure if it was a smile that said, yeah, I'd like that, or yeah, I'd like to see you try. But it didn't really matter either way. If there was going to be a rematch, Robsson honestly didn't mind whether Da Hui won or lost... just so long as they won!”