The tournament held in Sidcup, South East London on Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 May 2006 consisted of 36 teams competing and a number of contenders battling it out for the top places. There were eight peer pools of 4 with 33-36 in a round robin pool. After that 1-4 play a semi and final and the other teams play off within groups 5-12, 13-20, 21-28 and 29-36. Leeds had a very large squad with 19 players on the Saturday and 20 on the Sunday. Saturday games Leeds were seeded third going into the tournament from the previous tour results. The first game was against one of our own club teams, Locomotive Leeds (seeded eighth). Leeds wanted to come out strong in order to prove their worth immediately, however Locomotive were fired up and took the early lead 4-1. Both teams had long runs of points but Leeds eventually settled into the game and took the half. The second half saw both teams playing man and zone defence but Leeds showed strong confidence with the disc and won the game 13-9.
 | | Matt Hodgson on offence |
The second game of the day saw Leeds facing the first seeds from South London. The South London team came out confident and took the early lead. However Leeds had the depth and experience which pushed them on to score a succession of points taking them to the half. Leeds then continued to score after the half with great man defence. Both teams scored their offensive points but the three point lead that we had made for ourselves proved unbeatable and the game ended 11-8. The last game of the day was against Bristol. This was a close game with Bristol taking the advantage early on, however after a time-out in the latter stages of the first half Leeds upped their defensive game. Leeds maintained their composure on offence against an effective Bristol zone and scored some vital upwind points. With long scores for the downwind points Leeds pushed on to win the game 11-7. Sunday games With three wins out of three Leeds were now seeded 1st and were to play against Rampant X (North London team) in the semi-final. After a long warm up Leeds entered the game very fired up, wanting a win against this team (something we had never achieved). This showed on the pitch as Leeds got the first three successive points with strong man defence shutting out their big players. The London team came back with some long downwind throws for scores but Leeds upped the intensity again and took the half quite confidently. Not wanting to undo all the hard work in the first half Leeds played patiently on offence with hard running and determination on defence. Leeds finished the game with a big performance, the final score 12-9. Leeds were through to the final and had achieved their first victory against the North London team. The final - Leeds v London So the final was Leeds versus the other half of the South London squad that they had played the day before. Unfortunately the weather [which had been pretty bad all weekend] turned particularly nasty with strong gusty winds and heavy rain. Although both teams turned the disc over numerous times in the treacherous conditions the London team proved more patient with their throwing and scored several upwind points taking an early lead of 5-1. With a timeout firing up the Leeds squad the offensive line put two more points on the board but the London team came out strong and maintained their lead to the half with the score at 8-3.
 | | Liz Edye jumps for the disc |
In the second half Leeds scored some great offensive points against a zone defence with quick movement and attacking of the disc from Joe McGrath and Ruth Crawford. On defence Leeds came out with gritted determination and strong man defence with some great point blocks from Phil Milburn-McNulty which were converted into points. Both teams traded out the game in the latter stages and it finished at 13-6 to London in front of a few sodden spectators. Disappointing for Leeds, but getting into their first final of the season was still an achievement. With the final tournament in a few weeks it will be interesting to see the London and Leeds teams battling it out for the overall tour winner. The non-worlds team, Locomotive Leeds eventually finished 10th after losing in a close game to a Scottish team. All photos by Chris White. | 
