And the results ....
Boadicea vs Shadow
Both strong, experienced fighters, this set out looking to be a tough match. Sure enough, both began hitting hard, but the fight was even with both gradually weakinging their opponent but no sign of a breakthrough. Looked like it would end in another 'last blow gets it' match, but Boadicea had different plans and suddenly, with both birds at half health, she surged forward and rapidly smashed through Shadow's defences to take a convincing victory.
Sky vs Frosty
Ever unpredictable Frosty faced off against Sky, who needed a win to keep in touch with the league leaders. Evidently, Sky understood the situation - and tore off in a stream of attacks that had Frosty struggling right from the start. She fought back hard, and at one point seemed to be clawing her way back in to the match, but Sky was unstoppable and soon took a well-earned point.
Lethal Weapon vs Noir
Still trying to match fighting form to the exceptional statistics, Lethal has good position in the league but let some points go in past fights by a lack of 'killer instinct'. Noir is almost a twin to Shadow, who fought earlier, and despite always fighting well never seems to quite make her mark. Both statrted off fast in this match, trading hits at an even rate but a slight edge on force for Lethal began to take it's toll, Noir gradually slowing as the damage took it's toll, until finally Lethal clinched the fight.
Pinkie vs Henry
Two of the 'house birds', both new to the ring and filling in to let a couple of latecomers settle down for their matches, it's ever difficult to predict the results when the new fighters make an appearance. Henry tried hard, but from the off Pinkie was clearly in charge, despite a slight avantage in both skills and stats for Henry! In pretty short order Pinkie demolished her opponent for a spectacular first appearance.
Wimpy vs Dryad.
Fresh out of retraining from a close defeat last meeting, Wimpy took on an equally skilled, but slightly weaker, Dryad. Dryad, though, had a slight advantage in speed, and made the most of that to land a lot of smaller quicker hits that slowed and drained Wimpy. Poor Wimpy could not find an answer to the incessant chipping away, and quite quickly Dryad emerged the winner.
Aggy vs Dryad (yes, her again!)
Aggy returns after a visit in an earlier season, and highlights a problem - I need to get training and hatching more birds so we can have suitable opponents for all those 4xGM fighters out there! This time, the speed and strength advantages were not with Dryad though, and despite her being the closest match we had available, I doubted she'd fare well. As usual, I know nothing .... Again, Dryad tore in with a rapid blast of attacks that caught Aggy rather flat-footed, and despite a slight rally Aggy was always on the back foot, and soon Dryad took her second win of the night!
The evening's novelty match saw a slightly unusual skittering hopper (renamed A Giant Locust to try confuse the opposition) against a savage ridgeback with the completely suitable name Seriously Ugly. Neither trained since taming and bonding, the suspicion was there might be a slight edge for Locust from higher physical resist whilst Ugly could possibly hit harder than his opponent. Ugly seemed to have been taking notes from watching Dryad, and rushed in with a flurry of fast but light hits - and the tactic worked again, Ugly was confused by the onslaught and proved unable to find a way to fight back - so we had the rare sight of a skittering hopper winning a fight!
So, the current standings -
6 Points : Grimgerde, Boadicea, Lethal Weapon
5 Points : Siegrune, Sky
3 Points : Noir, Camo, Dryad
2 Points : White Coffee, Camo, Yin, Wimpy, MissMarple, Frosty
1 Point : Shadow, Dopey, TuurdWhacker (who I usually settle for calling 'Whacker' but she gets her full name on the scorecard ), Lazy, Newbie, Pinkie
Nine matches down, three to go before the end of the season, and still wide open with five clear contenders!
Next meeting, Monday 5th March, 8PM UK time at the O*T arena near Zento.
