“Another passing-fest against LordPetru - and this time he came out way on top, although in my defence, I was breaking in a new thrower and he did manage 3 for 21 on his debut. He also gave me a couple of worrying turns when he couldn't pick-up the ball and I was so wishing for sure hands.

In many way this game was quite unremarkable. Neither of us had to do too much that wasn't in our comfort zone and - with one notable exception I'll mention in a minute - There were no truly dramatic and desperate plays that will go down in history. And in the end, the game sort of fizzled out. At 3-3 LordPetru had the chance for a late score, but his passing game finally let him down on the final turn with a failed 3+ for the score. My final turn could have been a game-winner, with an almost identical set-up to the one which won me my last game: I dodged and ran a catcher into the endzone, I cleared some space around the ball for a lineman to run in, scoop up the ball and it was 4+ for the TD. But not today. (Actually, the ball sailed all the way downfield, went out of bounds, was thrown back in and sailed all the way back to the square behind the passer!

But the notable exception? Thursdaynight Guitarclub scored his first ever touchdown. It only took him 516 games, but finally he's completed the triple of a TD, a pass and an interception. When the kick went out of bounds with five turns to go I figured I'd give it a go. Three nervous turns of double sprinting later and I was standing right next to the endzone, still with the ball and still with a fairly good protective pocket. But LordPetru had a leaping strip-baller, and after some careful placing of his other players, it would be a -2d block - which is fairly good odds when all you need is a push. Thankfully, he failed the leap, so we never got to see what would happen, and with great relief I walked it in on the following turn.

Needless to say, he also went home with the MVP.

Some other things for me to think about:

1 I've said before how rubbish I think Willow Rosebark is, and this game reinforced that view. He didn't get injured, but he did get knocked over a lot and didn't make a single block all game. A second apo and some Bloodweiser babes would have been a better investment.

2 Eldril Sidewinder was okay, but really he's only good for his pass block, and that's not much use against a safe thrower. In fact he did successfully intercept at one point, before safe throw took it away and again, I don't think he did anything else all game.

3 I need to learn how to foul. It used to be the case that I never fouled because I thought it was unsporting, but after my first two thousand games I finally broke myself of that belief. Now I don't foul because I hardly ever have enough players to be able to risk losing one on a spotted foul. Also, I never seem to be in a position where I can get enough assists to make it almost a certain armour break. But I've noticed how distracting it is when my opponent has a dirty player lurking somewhere behind the line of scrimmage. It makes me bunch up, it makes me nervous of sending a lone player off to do something daring, and it often takes up several turns of blitzing to try and get rid of him. So maybe I need to get one. I'll give it some thought.

4 I'm a bit sick of playing against high elves now.”