"Sssssskaven... don't forget to wasssssh your clawsss after tackling. Don't want a ratty half-time sssssnack."
510k of inducements after the Stormer's growth buys Morg 'n' Thorg, and drugs for Scalpad. Neither of which are particularly enticing prospects to face. The rats win the toss, and elect to kick, setting up with a rather intimidating amount of muscle by way of rat-ogre and normal-ogre.
Evidently the fans hate both sides - as the ball is launched into the air, similarly weighty objects are launched at Garr and Quyamute, dazing them and stalling things before they even start. Mejj opens the play with a smack that puts Knidle out, and Modifable goes out soon after as Vorr gets stuck in. Weyy hands off to Novv after scooping it up, but he is quickly brought down by a charging Scalpad, as tricked out as most of the gutter runners in terms of skills and superfluous accessories. Deelutch tries to grab the ball, but the presence of Mejj makes that less than simple, and he goes down.
Without wasting time, Mejj shoves Scalpad out of the way, receiving the ball and handing off to Nirr, who runs it in without hassle, if not a little uncertainty. With the start of the next drive, the ball goes high, and the skinks rearrange somewhat, for some reason neglecting to touch the line of scrimmage, and consequently both Takk and Jarr are left hurting. Although Leetwo collects the ball, it bounces off the unaware snout of Pwyamute, and the ratty side are evidently having trouble getting warmed up.
Vorr adds to the mounting casualties by putting Quyamute out of the match, while Mejj all-but-kills Pwyamute in his airhead moment, but the apothecary keeps him alive, although his eye remains mangled enough to put him out for the following game. Seeing the chance, Weyy slips last again and snags the ball as a mob of skinks come to back him up, despite still being rather open.
Scalpad promptly surges forth and wrestles Weyy to the ground, but Leetwo gets taken out by a swipe from Ravv's tail, who promptly collects the ball. A few slick dodges from Scalpad shoves the skink towards the edge of the pitch with a sudden lunge, the bulkier, nimbler rat chasing down the lizard. Deelutch, Obscilut and Patchlk move to shut down the skink defensive, leaving Ravv on his lonesome. Nirr slips forth but shoves Scalpad, which although doesn't make things simple, at least gives Ravv the opening he needs to score.
The ball goes high at the start of the third drive, although Leetwo fails to make the catch. Once more the saurus scrimmage line goes down under the combined might of ogre and ratogre, although he recovers the ball and lobs a quick pass to Deelutch, who actually catches it. A quick shunt knocks Garr out of the way as the runner tears to the skink endzone, backed up by the ever-present Scalpad. Despite all their worming, however, Garr and Weyy can do little more than shove Deelutch, the avenue open for the runner to score after a quick dodge, boosted by illegal drugs.
Of course.
Gentle gusts of wind are apparent as the ball is kicked off once more, although the drive falters as Mejj falls flat on his stupid, clumsy face. Jarr eats a bout of unconsciusness from the wayward Rat Ogre, but elsewhere Weyy hoofs a quick pass to Novv down the wing, who bolts upfield. The defence can only land an awkward shove on Novv, but it proves to be fruitless, anyway, as time ticks away before the skink can reach the line, the score finishing up 2-1 to the blueskins as they troop off the pitch.
The second half starts with a blitz by the skinks - Mejj leaps forward and Garr follows close behind as the rest of the skinks close the gap left open. Jarr gets another rat-ogre delivered punch that knocks him out for the drive, while Leetwo proves to be iffy for the skaven side - although he collects the ball easy enough, the ball sails short and bounces into Scalpad's grip... which, although unexpected, is decent enough for the rat side... at least, it would be, if he could stay conscious under half a tonne of blue muscle bearing down on him. The ball scatters, but lands between a skaven and a rat-ogre, which is just a little problematic - Novv fails to make good, and just shoves the ball further away, and gets knocked out for his efforts.
Morg 'n' Thorg drops Mejj, leaving an opening for Leetwo to hurl the ball to Deelutch, who sprints far, far downfield in a play that is much, much more on-par with normal skaven play. It doesn't last long, as Weyy lands a shunt that knocks him out cold, scooping up the ball and looking around, trying to find where to send the ball. Sure enough, Broslash and his prehensile tail wants to make things difficult. Weyy still finds a way to slip out from under the heels of the oversized, mutant rat, and even manages to hurl a short pass to the awaiting Garr after a hefty sprint, who catches it, and manages to run the ball in without hassle or issue.
A surprisingly short kick, despite the stormer's cheering fans, leaves the ball sitting on the touchline, between ogre and rat-ogre. While Vorr gets stunned, Takk is less-lucky, and is carted off after a hefty swipe to put him down and out for the remainder of the match. With the way clear, it's trivial for Leetwo to pick up the ball, while a trifecta of runners and linerats hassle the skink defensive line. In response, the skinks converge, looking to shut down the major threat of Deelutch, but fail to do a whole lot. A second shove leaves him stunned, though, as Vorr leaps to his feet and brings himself and the ball-carrying Leetwo down.
The issue with that is, of course, Leetwo doesn't stay down, and recovers the ball once more... although he only manages to hold onto it for a scant few moments as Rexx wrests himself away from the rat defene and rips the ball from his claws, before driving him into the astrogranite. Sorr manages to slip in and out from under the feet of Morg 'n' Thorg to grab the ball, but Broslash almost cracks Nirr's skull open, and he'd be suffering if not for the apothecary. Sorr streaks to the touchline in the hope of getting shut down by Vorr, but the saurus in question fails to make it stick, and the skink gets a nice shove for his troubles. This time, though, Vorr lands the punch on Deelutch, leaving Sorr to score and the skins to win, 4-1.
MVPs of the match are Novv for his continued efforts to score, and Leetwo for his continued efforts to pass.
(The only reason I won were the four early-game casualties. Had the rats had numbers, they would have ruined me. No doubt about it.)