The family and I visited Sydney last weekend to watch the first day of the International Cup at the home of the new AFL side Greater Western Sydney. It was a perfect day for football. No breeze to speak of and the sun shining brightly. The oval surface was like carpet not the type I have been used to for the last few years in the US. It was great to catch up with all the Eagles players – Brando, Jake, Karen, Judith and Eileen, and Denis was over as an assistant coach. Another familiar face in the US Revo side was RJ. He brought his family to Sydney and Melbourne for the fortnight from Alice Springs. It wasn’t a good start for the US side who had the flag back to front when the sides lined up for the national anthem. Good to see the 3 years we spent in the US paid off when we reminded a couple of the players they had the flag around the wrong way.

The first game the US played was against Canada. Jake was in amongst the action as always providing good clearances. Brando was rock solid across half back as always and RJ provided a target up forward. Whilst the US did not play as well as they had hoped they came away with a 3 point win, 2.3.(15) to Canada 2.0.(12). In the second game the US came up against the Peace side (Isreal/Palistine) coached by hall of fame Hawthorn legend Robert “Dipper” DiPierdomenico. In what can only be described as one way traffic, the US smashed them by a whopping 80 points. A shellacking in any man’s language. Final score USA 12.8. (80) to Peace 0.0. (0). Once again all the Eagles players did the club proud with RJ slotting through a goal and setting up a couple of others. As you can tell by the score, Brando was once again closing down any attacks across half back and Jake was always in the thick of the action. Of note for the US was the time it took for them to score a goal in the second half – 10 seconds. Pretty to watch guys. The US had great support from the sidelines from the US Freedom Players and former Eagle Shane Frearson. All in all it was a great day of football for the US.

Judging by the way the US cleaned up Japan on the Monday 17.12. (114) to 0.1.(1), it appears they have come to Australia with the holy grail in site. If they continue to play this well they will certainly have a shot at the title. They have a tough game ahead as they face an in form South African side as a curtain raiser to the Sydney/St Kilda game on Saturday. Good luck to the US side, in particular to the Eagles players and coaches. Until next time.

More info can be found on the events page.

http://womensfooty.com/news/2011-05/eastern-women%E2%80%99s-teams-take-field-nyc

Or Watch the game in its entirety here:

http://womensfooty.com/videos/womens-eafl-apr-30-2011

The Bohgans kept the momentum into the second quarter to kick three goals to zero.  The midfield quartet of Petronella, Strange, Kamauff, and Bailey got first use of the footy and streamed forward to kick the goals.  New recruit, Simon Jones along with fullback Seth Blanchard gave the Bohgans some great dash off the backline as Baltimore switched play with class.  Andy “Country” Lindsey fought hard for the Eagles in the middle and laid some tough tackles to stem the tide.  However, Baltimore continued their dominance in the third quarter with five unanswered goals.  The Boghans forward line was electric with Eileen Geoghegan kicking perhaps the goal of the year from the pocket on her left foot. Baltimore/Arlington went to the final break with a decisive 11.4 (70) to 2.5 (17) advantage.

In the last quarter, DC/NVA team showed some great spirit with youngsters Vince Barrett and Ryan showing good signs.  First game player, Jared Bailey kicked a goal and a behind and showed off a classic “Don’t argue” fend off. For the Boghans, newcomer Chris Jacobs, after kicking a goal in the third quarter, went to the backline and did an excellent job on Kevin Stanley.  Overall, the new recruits never looked out of place and appear to have bright futures. Eileen kicked her second goal of the game to end the scoring as Baltimore/Arlington came away victorious 12.6 (78) to DC/NVA 3.8 (26).

Special thanks to Denis and Simon for umpiring and Steven Carty and Greggy Borat for keeping score and time.  We’ll be back next week at West Potomac at 9 am for our next Metro games.

Scores: Q1 BAL 3.1. (19) to DC 2.3. (15), Q2 BAL 6.2 (38) to DC 2.4 (16), Q3 BAL 11.4. (70) to DC 2.5 (17), Q4 BAL 12.6 (78) to DC 3.8 (26)

Goalkickers:

BAL/ARL: Thompson (3), Geoghegan, Skaggs, Strange (2), Jason Bailey, Chris, Petronella (1)

DC/NVA: Freeman, Jared Bailey, Stanley (1)

Best Players:

BAL/ARL: Blanchard, Geoghegan, Jones, Kamauff, Strange

DC/NVA: Freeman, Jared, Lindsey, Stanley

The Eagles are an affiliated club on of the USAFL (501(c)3 non-profit organization) and run local competitions in the Washington/Baltimore area and field representative men’sand women’s teams that compete regionally and nationally. Web:http://www.eaglesfooty.com and http://www.satmorningfooty.com. Contact Chris Adamsat 703-217-3625 or christopherpadams@gmail.com.

Time: 9am to 12pm (kids: 9am to 10.30am, adults: 10.30am to 12pm)

When: Saturday March 19, 2011

Where: VA Highlands Park (1600 S Hayes St, Arlington VA 22202)

What: Free clinics and games for all ages. NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY!

7-11 Slurpee and Big Bite hotdog: Free coupons to the first 50 kids to sign up at www.satmorningfooty.com!

Applicants will need to provide evidence of their experience in Australian football in all aspects, from development of juniors & novices to game plans and structures of an established senior team.

Expressions of interest should be emailed to president@eaglesfooty.com by Midnight, Saturday, Jan 22.

The Baltimore Washington Eagles Australian Football Club is an amatuer club. This is a non remunerated position.