CPPS Rd 3 is now in the books
Our first game of the day saw us matched up with fellow pro team London Attrition. We knew this game was going to be a challenge and started hot, building a 2-1 lead. However, Attrition were quick to counter and soon even take the lead with some fast play down the bag side. Down 2-3 with just one minute left we knew we had plenty of time to tie the game again, we just had to stay aggressive. This came from Spencer Tilbury who quickly managed to push to Attrition’s side through the middle and pick up a couple key kills, Mason Hinds was then able to launch off the chaos, bunkering the two back centre players and hanging the buzzer to tie the game with just 14 seconds to go. We finished our first prelim with a draw – not the desired result but certainly not a disaster.
Next up was Manchester Firm, a familiar face having already played 5 times this season. The game was very even with points being traded back and forth and all points being won from all sides of the field. After a gruelling start we again found ourselves down 2-3 and in need of a point with 1:58 to go. This time we found it from James Green pushing down the snake and blowing the game open for Ethan Levy to come through the middle and clean up the remaining bodies. With the score tied at 3-3 the final point was a stalemated leaving us 2 with draws from 2 games.
We needed some wins if we wanted to progress to the knockouts and compete for the win. We found these with two quick 4-0 wins against London Tigers and Wolverhampton Warped.
With 2 wins and 2 draws we were securely through to the knockouts as the no. 3 seed where we were again matched up with London Tigers quarters. After some early signs of life from Tigers the match became a repeat of our prelim game and we dispatched them 5-1 to put ourselves through semi-finals where Operation Sandbaggers were waiting for us.
Operation Sandbaggers are a familiar foe for us, having played them in the finals of both CPPS finals so far this season. Given this we knew the game was going to be a battle. After a tight couple points, we found our form and rolled off three points to close the game 5-2. A win against Sandbaggers put us through to the final where we were London Attrition were waiting for the prelims rematch.
This was our third finals in three events, and we knew we couldn’t be complacent against an Attrition team that had pushed us hard earlier in the day. The game started well for us and with a combination of strong break shooting and aggressive play down the bag side we were able to build a 3-1 lead with 1:54 to go. This time it was our turn to hold a lead – something we weren’t able to do successfully and for the second time this season we found ourselves playing in overtime to bring home the event. We decided to go for it, sending James Green to the snake off the break for the first time in the whole day. But what really blew the game open was a strong break shot from Ethan Levy to clear the bag side and a quick reaction to from Spencer Tilbury to immediately fly to the 50 off the back of that. With the snake and the 50 bag we quickly picked Attrition out of their spots and took the game.
A third consecutive CPPS win is a big achievement for us and put some distance between us and Operation Sandbaggers for the season title race. Now we just need a strong performance at rounds 4 & 5 to bring it home for the season.
A massive thank you as always goes out to all our sponsors for the support GI Sports, Planet Eclipse, Jersey Clinic, JT Paintball, Carbon Paintball. PaintballDE and Beyond – we wouldn’t be able to compete at the level we do without their support. See you all at the next one!