What a glorious day! It was steaming hot! Here Shuggie takes his shirt off (the shame of it!) trying to blind our Galaxy friend Mike and steal his Vodka Lemon. But Mike had protection from Nessie … But we got the Vodka all the same!

Kath and Lynda from Zanzibar 'queen' it up! Who'd put something like that on their heads?

Old familiar faces and the beer is just about starting to kick in here! Franz (far right) was kind enough to make sure we didn't stay thirsty for long.

The Cybersurfers (www.football-fan.de) had the coolest BBQ of the day. Check out their site - it's got tons of great pictures. Thanks to Volker and co for the free beverages!

Karsten from Bowlhunters was on hand to show his support!

Come on John (#12) - we waited years to cheddar you and you fall asleep!

Naked Galaxy fans from Bavaria. What is it with all these naked people these days!

NO MA'AM! Tim (bottom right) was kind to ply us with good Black Forest beer!

The obligatory shot of Claymores fans outside the Galactic Worms bus!

Back at Cybersurfers BBQ. It's all smiles now, but that was before we had to lift the Kilts (Galaxy fans included!)

These guys always upstage us every year with the coolest headgear!

Aaah the Vodka jelly. After being offered a few spoonfuls Preston took it upon himself to down the tray in one. Sadly half the tray ended up dribbling off his chin …

The best ribs in the World. Ever. Can't remember where we were at this time, but these babies were special. Many thanks to our providers. Shuggie drops 1 on the floor, and gets 3 more. That's what we call efficiency. Sadly we had to run to try and get on stage by 5pm …

Well we did make it on the stage for 5pm, which was an achievement as by this time the famous "Frankfurt Blackout" was in full force. All strange happenings were happening by now. This included Shuggie apparently hassling Andy Colvin for working in the office on Friday instead of being in Sachenhausen, meeting the German Scottish pipe that we met in Berlin last week and Preston inexplicably crushing a Purple Egg that some kind Galaxy fan had just given him while barking in delight. But greatest of all, was Shuggie's extraordinary rebuttal of a Menage A Trois with 2 attractive Galaxy girls in exchange for his White 95 Claymores Jersey! He may be a drunken clown - but he's a drunken clown with principals! What an idiot!

Shuggie supposedly took this picture. Quite how he got on the field and took it is another matter. Once again the "Blackout" prevails!

And then there was a game!

2 and 0 baby! Once again the Claymores found success in the Waldstadion on Saturday night knocking off the defending champs the Galaxy 17-14 in a nail-biter (we’re now 5-1 there). There was no repeat of the 1,000 yards offense in last year’s historic 42-35, as both sides defense dominated for most of the game - but Kevin Daft and Aaron Stecker just did enough for the 2^nd straight week to ensure that another strong effort from the HOUNDS didn’t go to waste.

Yet again however the Claymores started poorly, failing to get a 1^st down in the 1^st quarter. And the HOUNDS were on their back paws, early as QB Ted White led two promising drives for the Purple. However 2 great defensive plays stopped the Galaxy both times. First LB Matt Finkes picked off a White pass when WR Todd Floyd was "tattooed" by several defenders, including CB Kory Blackwell. Then S Marcus Ray put a vicious lick on WR Corey Thomas, breaking up a sure 3^rd down completion to WR Corey Thomas deep in ‘Mores territory, and almost knocking Blackwell out the game.

However the Claymores were hurting themselves with penalties all through the first half - none more so an illegal LB Brian Smith downfield on Jon Ballantyne’s last good punt of the night in the 2^nd quarter. His follow up kick was the first of a series of shanks and cost the Claymores 36 yards, giving the Galaxy the ball at the Claymores 33 yard line. Despite stopping White on 3^rd and 1, Smith was called for a personal foul and 2 plays later White hit WR Todd Floyd for a 6 yard score. 7-0 Galaxy.

At the end of the first half, Daft got things going hitting TE Ricky Brady for a 26 yard gain, on one of his many rollout passes. Then the Claymores gambled on 4^th and 3 from the Galaxy 18, catching a break when CB Kevin Brooks was called for pass interference on Sulecio Sanford in the end zone. Two Stecker runs lost yards, and a 3^rd down pass appeared incomplete except that a false start was called and the Claymores got another shot. Daft swung out a pass to Stecker at about the 12 which the Galaxy appeared to have well covered. But Steck, did the trick again, first making LB Shawn Banks grasp for air, and then scooted past 3 other would be tacklers for a spectacular touchdown. A Rob Hart extra point made it 7-7 - not bad for a Galaxy dominated first half.

The Claymores got the ball first in the 2^nd half, and started to get Steck untracked on the ground (he had zero yards rushing in the 1^st half) but the drive stalled and Rob Hart pulled this 41 yard field goal (moved back 5 yards after a delay of game). The Galaxy took advantage, mainly in part to an inexplicable PI call on Duane Hawthorne that cost the Claymores 35 yards. 4 plays later Scottish nemesis Mario Bailey made a great catch over Kory Blackwell for a 15 yard score to make it 14-7 Galaxy.

But the Claymores came right back. First Stecker burst free for 32 yards, and then Daft scrambled 16 yards to the Galaxy 15 yard line. After another good Stecker run, Daft took off again - this time on a rollout to his right. With the Galaxy defense slow to react, #13 squirted into the end zone with a great individual effort to tie the scores at 14.

Then the Claymores D, made the big play of the game. Standout LB Phil Glover read White’s eyes all the way to pick off a pass on the next Galaxy drive and return it to the 29 yard line. Although the Claymores could do nothing with the ball, Rob Hart slotted a 42-yard FG to give them their first lead at 17-14. Or was it 18-14? The inadequate officiating in this game reaching a new peak here, at first giving the "Edinburgh" Claymores a 4 pointer. It would stay that way for several minutes, until sense prevailed and the score was adjusted. But worse was still to come!

The Scottish defense dominated the 4^th quarter, twice forcing the Galaxy O to go 3 and out. By this time the HOUNDS were laying the wood on White as his passes were getting more jittery, and feet were getting more happy. The Claymores O took some time off the clock, aided by that rarest of gifts - a 5^th down! Yes the refs pulled another stunner, electing to give Daft 5 chances to make a first down - but the Scots were kind in declining this offer as Scott Couper couldn’t pull in a pass on "4^th and 25". So on "5^th and 25" Ballantyne punted the ball away with 2:33 left.

The Galaxy however looked no threat to go anywhere. They only got a 1^st down when DT Noel Scarlett jumped offsides, and were soon in trouble facing a 4^th and 2 with 1:00 remaining. White appeared to have a receiver break open, but CB Duane Hawthorne recovered in time and made a game winning INT to seal the 17-14 win. Celebrations in the stands kicked off as we suddenly found ourselves in sole possession of first place for the 1^st time since 1996!

WEEK 2 CHEDDARS

 LB Phil Glover - Another pretty awesome game from the standout LB who was all over the field (5 tackles, 1 assist, 1 INT, 1 pass defense). His INT set up the game winning FG.

 LB Matt Finkes - Solid outing, up the middle (5 tackles, 2 assists, 1 INT, 1 pass defense). Helped to completely shut down the Galaxy running game (47 yards rushing total - only 26 from RB's).

 S Marcus Ray and S Blane McElmurry - Completely took away the middle of the field from the usually dangerous Galaxy WR's. Each had 2 pass defenses. Held White to 108 yards passing with a long of 20 yards. Outstanding!

 CB Duane Hawthorne - Once again the opposition chose to stay away from #38, but when White tried to beat him in the 4^th quarter Duane made the game sealing INT.

 TE Ricky Brady - Brady got some good YAC (4 for 75 yards) after making short grabs, bowling over defenders and turning upfield. His 26 yard grab got the offense rolling.

 RB Aaron Stecker - Steck once again made his TD spectacular, eluding 4 defenders when he look dead and buried. Finally got loose in the rushing game (17 for 72 yards) after having zero yards at halftime. Was still the focal point of the passing attack despite close attention (6 catches for 19 yards 1TD)

 QB Kevin Daft - Solid if unspectacular day passing (15 of 24 for 132 yards and 1TD). Gets a cheddar for his scrambling ability (9 carries for 54 yards 1TD) and no turnovers.

Ok - we won, we felt good, but there was still something missing from the euphoria. Some cheddaring of course!

Our favourite Kevism (describing a sack) - "He just planted him like a tulip!"

Thomas Wessa tried to tell us he's been 'done' before but we ain't buying it!

Super Mario #5 tells us yet again its his last year - can we believe him this time? The Scottish secondary will be relieved, as he's been a Claymores killer since 95. But we'll still miss him of he goes!

Last but not least - the Coach and his stick! Our hearts were in our mouths when Jim went down on the sidelines during the game - but he was OK. The stick's been a good luck charm so far!

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