OrcaLoca Beat Amazones To Lead Race For Fourth

Amazone Prime 0

OrcaLoca 1

Srifac

OrcaLoca left it late to beat Amazone Prime 1-0 in a hard-fought contest and leapfrog them into fourth. The shut-out from the greenskins cemented their fierce defensive reputation with a league best of 2 TDs conceded in the first 6 games of the season - tied with Hashutites and Celestial Comedy.

Zara the Slayer could only watch on as the Orcs score late.

The peppering of skilled tacklers in the Orc lineup was the foundation to this victory, as it help neutralise the dodge advantage of the Lustrian ladies. The early exchanges set the tone with Braduk the black orc bullying the offensive drive in the first half and his spying eye tracked the movement of ball carrier Zerynthia Thrasa.

His red-eyed glare was nigh on impossible to shake off, and he was rewarded with the sack. With the two sides pummelling into each other, Okypous swept with ball in hand to wrong-foot the tough hide defenders, but could do little about the surprising speed of Varag's tackle nor the intensity of the hit that forced the ball off-field.

Braduk Arapacap set the tone of the match with this sack.

With the ball in neither team's possession, the sides resorted to a tit-for-tat contest that roared the crowd on! Zara the Slayer, making an appearance after a few weeks in the infirmary, returned in glorious fashion as she injured Gustaldo and made a nuisance of herself in the midfield ruck.

Zara's entertaining intervention, however, failed to spark the match into life as it petered out to a goalless stalemate at the stroke of half-time.

Varag teaches a lesson in surfing to the unaccustomed Lustrian ladies.

The two star performers of the first half, Brakuk Arapacap and Zara the Slayer, were instructed from the kick-off to compete and neutralise the respective key threat. It was a fascinating contest that neither could dominate - but it was the key to OrcaLoca's drive in preventing the big threat the ball carrier.

The Orcs sneaked down the left flank and ensured that the remaining Amazonians were cut off from the ball. It was a masterstroke in offensive design. Only Zara was in position to react to the sudden burst of pace but she too succumbed to the slippery surface, though her nimbleness allowed a second chance at the ball, Srifac had the strength in support to nudge Zara away and open up the path for Srifac to run in the winner.

Zara the Slayer living up to her name with another injury inducing power punch.

OrcaLoca's win sets up a frantic finish to the regular season campaign. Though the win guarantees opponents the Bognor Bograts (who the Orcs face next) and Celestial Comedy safe passage into the play-offs, the Race for Fourth has just hotted up a notch.

Amazone, though defeated, are not out of the hunt and will want to rediscover the early season form that had them leading the pack. It will not be easy though, as they square up to high-flying Pro Elves in the guise of Celestial Comedy.

Mango's Valuable Player: Braduk Arapacap's tackling prowess forced fumbles and kept the dangerous Zara in check. His lead blocking contribution blew a hole in the Lustrian defence to allow Srifac the simplest of tasks for the winner.