Why am I so bad at online multiplayer?

[Bobby D]

So the other day I played against some guy in 1v1 realistic dogfight matches (because this was the ONLY MATCH available online at the time). I managed to score 0 kills on him while I was shot down at least 6 times in both matches. We were both flying Spit IXs and every time we engaged I tried to maneuver behind him but no matter what I did I always ended up with him on my tail rather than the other way around.

I guess that playing with more people would give me more of a chance to take people down, but it seems that the time when I was playing, the bulk of the community must have been asleep or at work because it was just me and that guy online.