Smirnoff
03-08-2008, 12:29 PM
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v491/NERVSmirnoff/cod4/codRDimagecopy.png
So close, but yet so far away. That sums up the disappointing week the Devils had. In two months of competitive play we had not had a losing week until this past one. It wasn't that we played bad, we had chances to win, but little mistakes, lack of focus and 1 terrible server made the difference.
Tuesday March 4th. TWL Hardcore Sabotage
MoJo 3 - 4 DeV
The map was Pipeline, one we know well in Sabotage. But what we weren't used to was server lag! Dev was host team and chose to use their server and in the second half it proved a huge advantage for them.
The first half saw great stuff from the Red Devils. We lost one round that went deep into overtime, but it was 2-1 at the break in our favor. Then the craziness began.
On come Ranic and OutCold as subs and immediately at the start they had noticable latency issues as did others. Basically we played a man down in the second half because at any one time someone was either getting CI message or suffering from lag. No excuse though...MoJo did not perform well. We allowed them to control the higher elevation spots and did little to get them back. Silly little things we normall don't do and it cost us.
It was a good match intensity wise I suppose. It went to overtime but with the server factor and our inability to control chokepoints the match went to DeV as they held onto their 3rd spot on the ladder. This gave us our first loss on the ladder and a record of 5-1
Friday March 7th. TWL Hardcore HQ.
MoJo 480 - 585 W4R
This was our match to defend the #1 spot....again. The map was Backlot, a nice smallish map that required quick action and relentless attacking.
The pre match mood was unusually quiet for the team and that carried over to the first half of play. MoJo went down 145 - 0 at the start. They then rallied back to tie but turned right around and gave it all back and MoJo found themselves behind 195 - 355 at the half.
The second half started with the Red Devils on fire. Controlling the map and taking back the lead. From there it was a back and forth affair. Each team took the lead as the other came back to do the same. With 3 minutes left MoJo had a 60 point lead. It had all the signs of going down to the last HQ and thats exactly what happened.
MoJo had numbers on the laundry room HQ and was in good position to defend it, but the perimeter didn't get setup fast enough as W4R stormed through and took the HQ. They then held it well and that was the end of a really great match and a great comeback effort by the team. MoJo drops to second place on the ladder and to a record ov 7-2
Sunday March 9th. TWL Modified SnD
MoJo 11 - 0 Esc
This was a late Sunday night match but turned out to be the bright point of the week. Our new SnD team's first test run in competition turned out to be very successful.
I guess ESc had some loadscaleskinned error issues on the server but once it was all said and done, MoJo came away with a shutout victory on Convoy map. A SnD shutout!!??!! Not used to saying that in MoJoville. Great win guys.
In conclusion
Not a good week Devils, but nothing to really be down about. We did do things we aren't accustomed to doing in match play but we also had a server issue that was out of our control. Little mistakes become big ones as we progress and play better teams. At this level it takes more focus, dedication and practice to retain the high level of play we are used to playing.
Hopefully the two losses are a good wake up call. Let's not have a losing week again!! Time to move on, get our focus back and prepare to defend our positions and get going back up these ladders. Pull it together Devils..I know you are better than this and so do you!
So close, but yet so far away. That sums up the disappointing week the Devils had. In two months of competitive play we had not had a losing week until this past one. It wasn't that we played bad, we had chances to win, but little mistakes, lack of focus and 1 terrible server made the difference.
Tuesday March 4th. TWL Hardcore Sabotage
MoJo 3 - 4 DeV
The map was Pipeline, one we know well in Sabotage. But what we weren't used to was server lag! Dev was host team and chose to use their server and in the second half it proved a huge advantage for them.
The first half saw great stuff from the Red Devils. We lost one round that went deep into overtime, but it was 2-1 at the break in our favor. Then the craziness began.
On come Ranic and OutCold as subs and immediately at the start they had noticable latency issues as did others. Basically we played a man down in the second half because at any one time someone was either getting CI message or suffering from lag. No excuse though...MoJo did not perform well. We allowed them to control the higher elevation spots and did little to get them back. Silly little things we normall don't do and it cost us.
It was a good match intensity wise I suppose. It went to overtime but with the server factor and our inability to control chokepoints the match went to DeV as they held onto their 3rd spot on the ladder. This gave us our first loss on the ladder and a record of 5-1
Friday March 7th. TWL Hardcore HQ.
MoJo 480 - 585 W4R
This was our match to defend the #1 spot....again. The map was Backlot, a nice smallish map that required quick action and relentless attacking.
The pre match mood was unusually quiet for the team and that carried over to the first half of play. MoJo went down 145 - 0 at the start. They then rallied back to tie but turned right around and gave it all back and MoJo found themselves behind 195 - 355 at the half.
The second half started with the Red Devils on fire. Controlling the map and taking back the lead. From there it was a back and forth affair. Each team took the lead as the other came back to do the same. With 3 minutes left MoJo had a 60 point lead. It had all the signs of going down to the last HQ and thats exactly what happened.
MoJo had numbers on the laundry room HQ and was in good position to defend it, but the perimeter didn't get setup fast enough as W4R stormed through and took the HQ. They then held it well and that was the end of a really great match and a great comeback effort by the team. MoJo drops to second place on the ladder and to a record ov 7-2
Sunday March 9th. TWL Modified SnD
MoJo 11 - 0 Esc
This was a late Sunday night match but turned out to be the bright point of the week. Our new SnD team's first test run in competition turned out to be very successful.
I guess ESc had some loadscaleskinned error issues on the server but once it was all said and done, MoJo came away with a shutout victory on Convoy map. A SnD shutout!!??!! Not used to saying that in MoJoville. Great win guys.
In conclusion
Not a good week Devils, but nothing to really be down about. We did do things we aren't accustomed to doing in match play but we also had a server issue that was out of our control. Little mistakes become big ones as we progress and play better teams. At this level it takes more focus, dedication and practice to retain the high level of play we are used to playing.
Hopefully the two losses are a good wake up call. Let's not have a losing week again!! Time to move on, get our focus back and prepare to defend our positions and get going back up these ladders. Pull it together Devils..I know you are better than this and so do you!