Really well done slow burn match which is as much a great illustration
of Steve Grey's underappreciated talents as it is a Haward showcase.
Grey isn't on the level of Cortez when it comes to grappling and matwork
so Haward is far more reserved in his approach here, but Grey's
strength lies in his expressive charisma and agility and ability to
develop his style to reflect the changing tone of a match, which in this
case sees the bout descened into a wriggly match with Haward drawing
the ire of Grey and the crowd for continuously going after Grey whilst
he's still technically on the mat and not on his feet. Both men pick a
limb to focus on, with Haward targeting the left arm & Grey weaking
the left leg of the more physically imposing Haward. The match had a
nice structure and theme with Grey's agility and mat prowess
continuously frustrating Haward in preventing him from grounding Grey
and securing a submission and there were a couple of really intricate
selling moments from Grey: the first coming about after a quick arm
wringer where he noticeably goes into the next lockup with only his
right arm and the second in the way in which he beautifully sells the
headlock sleeper exchange in the third fall which draws a convincing TKO
nearfall.
Thought both the first and second falls were done really well with a satisfying continuity arc. Haward nabs the first with a beautiful floatover into a rollup and in the second fall, Grey becomes noticeably more physical with a stiff forearm and employing Finlay esque precision and creativity in using the ropes to further weaken the leg of Haward and eventually draws Haward into attempting the same sequence that won him the opening fall, only for Grey to be able to sense it and counter into a pin of his own to level the match. The gradual build in teasing Grey's eventual surfboard was rather meticulously done and was something quite unexpected from a WOS bout and one particular fine touch was Ken Joyce as the ref noticeably protecting Haward's damaged knee when forcing a break in the surfboard.
Great match and definitely an illustration of how WOS worked these developing shift in emotion and tone matches very astutely.
Thought both the first and second falls were done really well with a satisfying continuity arc. Haward nabs the first with a beautiful floatover into a rollup and in the second fall, Grey becomes noticeably more physical with a stiff forearm and employing Finlay esque precision and creativity in using the ropes to further weaken the leg of Haward and eventually draws Haward into attempting the same sequence that won him the opening fall, only for Grey to be able to sense it and counter into a pin of his own to level the match. The gradual build in teasing Grey's eventual surfboard was rather meticulously done and was something quite unexpected from a WOS bout and one particular fine touch was Ken Joyce as the ref noticeably protecting Haward's damaged knee when forcing a break in the surfboard.
Great match and definitely an illustration of how WOS worked these developing shift in emotion and tone matches very astutely.
No comments:
Post a Comment