Round 3 – April 30th – VS Burnaby Eagles at Langley
Game Report
The opening game was a battle between 3rd and 4th (or last and 2nd last – don’t worry guys we all make the finals). The Saints and Bayhawks battled throughout the half, coming in almost even. But the Saints ran out winners by 7 goals with a great second half effort. We don’t normally mention opposition players, but one man/beast took the game by the Scruff of the neck to kick 7. His face book profile later read “Probably should have kicked 11 on the weekend. I’m just that good. Oh well. Another Coleman in the bag this year I reckon. No fullback in the league can stop me.”, we bow down to his brilliance. Thank you Joyboy for showing us the way! After the curtain raiser, the battle of the undefeated was to begin.
Pre Game
There was a Queensland-esque downpour before the first game, with water on the ground. By the time the 2nd match was ready to begin, the conditions were as good as a Greek Bath house (soft and sunny….also a lot of semi nude men). Ash donned the captain role for the first time this year and led the boys in the warm-ups. The skills were looking great, helped by the fact that Rocket brought his dog, and clearly everyone was out to impress the pup. The focus was on team structures, as the boys were in for a treat against a very tall side. It was almost like a bunch of Hobbits vs Dark Elves (for all of you who are not nerds, Hobbits are small, and dark elves are tall – Sorry).
1st Quarter
The Cougars started remarkably, with the tall man Gav winning the ball against 2, no 3 Eagles. He then gave the quick hands to a running Jesus (of the tri coloured beard family) who kicked a miracle (pun intended) 60 meter goal. The Cougars kept the pressure on and pushed forward again. The man who had the most to prove (he wanted to dedicate the goal to his lovely dog!), Rocket, popped up as usual to kick the second. Ryan at this point won his one and only ruck tap for the day. The Eagles placed a 6ft 7” ruckman in and they started to control the center. They pushed back with a goal, and the Cougars went in 6 pts ahead.
2nd Quarter
The Eagles led by Adam (loves a yip) kicked the first of the period. The Cougars were looking under the pump. Gav was moved onto the Eagles CHF (who tried out for the dogs) and played in front of him to cut impact. Some would even say his performance was Gandalf-esque (2nd Lord of the Rings Reference!). Macca busted open a pack and took a contested mark to help rebound the ball and start the cougars push. Smitty (C/I) was alone in the pocket and kicked his first for the year. Hamish (‘I love my new fiancé’) Archibald, was doing the opposite of resting in the forward line as he lead from the square like a pro, and kicked the Cougs 2nd goal of the quarter. The Eagles showed a lot of fight, and kicked another goal to push ahead by a point. The quarter was finished out with a massive super tight angled goal from Dazza (I want my baby! – hopefully congrats by now), one of the best we’ve seen all year. The Cougars went in up by 3 at the half. Our fearless President had to leave at the half (probably to walk in the field or something), and was much missed as he was using his body and run to advantage all day.
3rd Quarter
The premiership quarter was a tough one for the Cougs. The Eagles started using their height to advantage. It was as pressured as 15 mins to closing time at the Roxy with no lady friend, and a number of times the ball was placed high, much to the advantage of the Eagles. Brod and Mitch were fighting like hounds through the midfield. At one point Mitch even put their coach into some bottles, which resulted in some school boy pushing! I’m pretty sure Kelly even tried to land a kiss. TD pushed forward at one stage to clock the only Cougars major of the quarter. The backline led by BC, Teddy, Coops and Dirty only conceded 2 despite constant pressure from the Eagles. Marcin did particularly well against 2 talls to consistently bring the ball to the ground. The Cougs went in down by 5.
4th Quarter
The boys new it would be a battle (much like the one at Helms Deep…BOOM I made 3 references to L.O.T.R.) with the Eagles on the run. To their merit the Eagles came out hard, and played structures well. They kicked the first 3 of the quarter, to almost push the game out of reach (unless you were 6ft 7” with a crazy reach like their giant ruckman). But the Cougars much to the pleasure (not sexual you sick boys) of the leadership team, fought hard, and started winning the 50/50 contests. The Neuman kept his ru—uun—ing (hopefully thats how Dj’s would remix it www.theneumusic.com ) up all day, and Jimmy was hard in and under (like a good Irish boy). Matt was dominating with long leads which resulted in a fantastic set shot goal. But unfortunately the boys could not overcome the gap and went down 44 to 63.
The Eagles look to be the team to beat this year, with speed, hardness and height. I’m sure all of the teams are looking forward to the challenge.
Goal Scores: All one goal: Jesus, Rocket, Smitty, Archy, Darren, TD, Matt
Best: Mitch, Brod, Arch, Gav, Rocket, and who could forget Rockets dog, Mr. Lunch (no shit that’s his real name…awesome)!
Thank again to Angie for dealing with all the soft boys and Priya for taking the scores (and handling a hyperactive dog) . Also thanks as always to Grillzy for umpiring, and a special shout out to Macca for boundary umpiring both games for the first time. Good job handling a bunch of prepubescent men!