Round 2 – April 17th – VS West Coast Saints at Langley
A change of Vancouver weather signalled round two. It was a slightly windy, but more importantly, sunny Saturday at Langley. The opening match was contested by the Eagles and Bayhawks, with the Eagles coming up on top for the 2nd week running.
The Cougars played the Saints in what turned out to be a hard fought affair, much like an arm wrestle. The Cougars started well and kept the pressure on, this turned out to be the difference with the Cougars winning by 14 points. See below for the match report and goal kickers. Next round is the anticipated top of the table clash (rumoured to be bigger than game 5 of the playoffs against the Blackhawks), Cougars VS Eagles.
Game Report
Pre Game
Everything was not peachy pre-game for the Cougars. Unfortunately for the group some of the boys decided to pull out without notifying the coaching staff (others were just piss weak, like Simo with the man flu). Although the rest of the crew were looking forward to clocking lots of minutes and getting some run in the legs. The coaches decided to drop the wings (thanks to Wardy from the saints) before the game, so the teams could have a bench. We were lucky enough to have 2 young CI’s fill in from the Bayhawks, Matt and Obi, who had to play full games. Krazy lead the boys through the warm-ups and got the boys pumped before the bounce.
1st Quarter
Once again the Cougs raced out of the gate, with Ian “Mr Ed” kicking the first goal. Pressure on the ball carrier and the willingness to run were staples of the Cougars game in the first 10. The first goal was quickly followed up by some great team play, a quick handball backwards to a running Brod and the second goal was sealed. At this point the Saints stated to flex their Muscle (Joycey, not included as were pretty sure there is no muscle under his shirt) and their big men piled on 2 goals. The Cougars were tiring quickly and the defence was under a lot of pressure. Macca was doing a great job on Joyboy, and BC was marshalling the defence at CHB. The boys came in a little shell shocked at the end of the first. They were ahead by one point going into the wind. The coaches discussed developing a wall out of our forward line and giving our forwards some space. Brod also marshalled the onballers to go man on man. Ryan (mini me) was fighting hard, but out of his height and weight range against the Saints ruck (Ryan aka Andre the Giant)
2nd Quarter
The midfielders really set the standard for the team, taking away most of the center clearances, thanks to some smart thinking by Brod, man-on-man, but not flat footed. The first goal by Hop, was nothing less that brilliance and speed. He picked up a fumbling ball in our forward line (and much like Daniel Sedin on game 2 of the playoffs) darted left, right, then smashed the goal home. Krazy was everywhere, wings, pockets, using the space like some sort of… space master (a house mover? Sorry didn’t have one for that). Ian was playing like Reiwoldt and kicked his 2nd goal, while making some great tackles and pack marks. Matt (from the Bayhawks) popped into space for an uncontested mark, and kicked his 1st of two. Halfway through the quarter we lost ‘the General’ BC to an ankle injury, he was out for the game. The Saints did push at times, but were held to 1 goal and 3 points. Joycey was finding space and popped up to kick the only goal for the saints .This was due once again to the hard work of our back line, Teddy fought ‘like a tiger’, and Coops read the ball like a man who’d played for 50 years (just look at him..he may have!). Declan played magnificently, with one commenting, “I’d never seen him read the ball so well”. Retired – Grillzy came on in the last 10 to help with the ruck and give Ryan “mini me” a well deserved break. The cougars came in at half time 12 PTs up, and the coaching staff was very pleased. The wall and defensive midfield were working well. Focused was pushed to the forward flanks playing defensive wing roll and plugging the holes in the Saints forward line.
3rd Quarter
Again the boys were first to the contest. Gav who was roaming everywhere forward of the center kicked the first goal, using his strength and body to advantage. TD was played everywhere settled into a great floating roll opposite coops. Those two blocked most attacking pushes from the saints. Matt from the Bayhawks kicked his second goal. Grillzy busted through the center to kick the 3rd, looking nay a year over 18. New CI Mike won a few hard ball gets and cleared the ball a number of times with great foot work. The saints were pushing all quarter, with bushman Mike, Karl, Lockie and Vards dominating at stages. Krazy was leading the team by example, smashing open packs, and winning the ball with shear ferocity. Rocket and Macca were tackling like ANIMALS, and kept the pressure up all day. We lost Ryan and Jimmy half way the quarter, and were left with one on the bench. Once the coaching staff only had positives to say about the attack on the football.
4th Quarter
The Coug’s started the quarter 22pts up. But straight off the bat the Saints attacked. Ash was asked to move onto Mike to curbed his influence, and cancelled him out with hard running and contesting. The saints kicked the first 2 and were pushing back hard. Hoppy ‘I have all the time in the world’ kicked his 2nd major to steady the ship. Grilzy made a 150mtr lead and was rewarded from a kickout in our backline. Ian who was trying to mark everything, decided to collect a contested stat against Gav, and failed, but the saints quickly got on the loose ball to push forward. Brod was still running and finding space, and kicking long to Gav, and Ian. It was a testament to all of the defensive 6 that saints could only put on 3 more points for the quarter, despite valiant efforts from all their players.
The boys were very happy with such a hard win and consistent effort. The coaching staff could not even pick the best players, as everyone on the team preformed their job, went in hard, and worked for each other. It was a great win founded on grit and determination….Well played boys
Goal Scores:2 goals to Ian, Hopp, and Matt (BH), 1 to Brod, Gav and Grillzy
Best: The whole Team!