In a great day for footy, the
Baltimore
Washington Eagles (8th in our poll)[*1] defeated the
North
Carolina Tigers (9th in our poll)[*2] by just 2 points at Thompson Park in Raleigh North
Carolina. While the weather reports were threatening rain for game time,
the rain held off and the temperatures stayed in the upper 60s. According
to the
preseason
WFN Poll there was little between these two teams going in to the match and
the score line suggest there was little between them at the end.
The teams were fairly even out of the gate with the Eagles having more shots on
goal but the Tigers leading at the change by a few points. The quarter
time scores were 1.5 to 2.3. The Eagles had the best of the second quarter
but went into the long break with a just a one goal lead. The Eagles had
three goals to take their score to 4.6 while the Tigers added one more major to
give them 3.6. The young Tigers side fought back hard in the third quarter
scoring 2 goals. As the game went on the Eagles showed evidence of their
more limited preparation. In the
latter part of the third quarter it looked like fatigue would overcome the
Eagles. Many were having to stretch their legs and shake off cramps.
However, the Eagles finished the third holding a one goal lead. The
Eagles finished the third quarter 6.11 and the Tigers were 5.11. The
Eagles came out early in the last and scored two quick goals. As they had
done all day, the Tigers fought back and there was just a solitary
point between the two teams with a couple of minutes remaining. Finally,
the Eagles more experienced line up was able to hang on and end with a two point
victory. The final scores were the Eagles 9.14.68 to the Tigers
9.12.66. Best for the Tigers were Will Harvey on the wing and Rob
Sayre-McCord who took care of Eagles' key forwards. Best for the Eagles
were Dwayne Marshall who kicked 2 of the Eagles 9 goals, Greg Borchardt who had
one major and Shane Fearson.
First year Head Coach for the Tigers, Jason Heathcote, was very happy with the
effort although he would have obviously preferred to end with the W. He
had ten guys making their USFooty debut and was particularly impressed with
Jordon Lee and Zach Tart. "Jordon played very well with only two months of
footy under his belt." According to Heathcote, the Tigers have a lot of
room for improvement. In particular, "we have to work on setting up our
attacks out of defense." Eagles Head
Coach, Matt Bishop, was pretty excited about the win. "I am quite happy
with the effort. I am sure everyone in the team realizes this is a great
start and is something to build on."
With only 2 points separating the two teams in Raleigh, everyone is looking
forward to the return game in DC on June 9. According to umpire Seth
McElvaney, "With the Eagles coming off their
Division 2 Championship, they are looking to break into Division 1 this year.
The Tigers with new blood and a new coach are looking to retain their Division 1
position and improve on their 2006 performance. It should be great
season. I just wish all these teams were closer together so we could have
these games more often!"
It is not clear how this result is going to effect the
World
Footy News Top 10 poll[*3] . Maybe the
more interesting question is whether voters are taking notice of the
Atlanta
Kookaburras[*4] . In early going,
Kookaburras lead
the USFooty points table with
two wins and are looking for the third against
Florida[*5]
on Saturday. The two leading
goal
kickers[*6] are Atlanta's Justin Diamond and
James Batten, each with 5 goals. Atlanta's Damian Sheehan is leading the
MVP
race[*7] with 6 votes. For more
detailed stats and box scores go to
USFooty
News[*8] .