Ireland rallied to come from behind against a strong, fit Great Britain team in a thrilling semi final match that went down to the wire. The momentum was with Great Britain at three quarter time but the Irish girls came out swinging in the fourth, kicking two goals and managing to keep Great Britain scoreless.
Both teams began the game in a defensive lineup by starting with an extra player behind the ball. The beginning of the match looked like Ireland were the team to beat, with an excellent start from #12 Carol Breen, who’s lighting pace was a handful for the Swans to deal with.
The Fiji Vonu team earned an 86-point victory over the European Crusaders at Western Oval in Round 4 of the IC Cup Women’s Division. Playing a fast and aggressive brand of footy, the Vonu were able to shake off a relatively slow start and blow the game wide open, finishing with a dominant performance in a 12.15.87 to 0.1.1 win.
The Vonu started off the IC with two close losses to Great Britain and Canada, but they came into the match against the Crusaders with great momentum after a shutout win over Pakistan in Round 3. The Crusaders had yet to even score a point in their first IC after some rough sledding against the USA, PNG, and Ireland.
We welcome Michael Blades making his match report debut for WFN.
Nauru push through to beat hard fought Canada in a thrilling game.
These polar opposite teams battled furiously throughout the whole match, with both teams having strong spells in all quarters.
At the 8:45am bounce, Canada started strong, applying early forward pressure. There was a clear height advantage in favour of the Canadians which was not capitalized upon throughout the match.
After a disappointing loss to Japan on the previous Saturday, the German Eagles were too strong and too tall for a determined China Dragons outfit at Royal Park on Tuesday, winning their Div 2 semis final and booking a spot in Friday's final against Croatia. Whilst the Dragons were quick out of the blocks and pushed hard in the first term, the Eagles pushed ahead with the breeze after the first break, setting up a lead which the Chinese were ultimately unable to reel back in, the Eagles winning by 28 points.
NZ and Ire went into today’s clash undefeated. PNG who had won against South Africa were watching on anxiously, knowing if Ireland were to lose, they would likely be playing in the Grand Final at the MCG. If Ireland were to win then these two teams would likely replay for the 'Cup.
Rain that had been promised today did not eventuate but the breeze was blowing to the city end (2-3 goal breeze). The Irish captain David McElhone won the toss and kicked with it.
The USA Revolution came into Tuesday’s clash with France with a 2-1 record and were in need of a big win following a disappointing 37-point loss to Papua New Guinea in Round 3. Meanwhile, France was also looking to get in gear following rough defeats at the hands of Fiji, Ireland, and Nauru.
It was a mild day for footy at McAlister Oval, and the Revos came charging out of the gate right away, with ruckman Donald Lee dominating the hitouts and the Revos’ engine room working in sync to feed the ball outside. Ryan Gartright and Clyde Simpson were influential with several classy disposals, while Jeff Kraemer and Michael Linehan made the most of their time by applying pressure and attacking the footy.
The Great Britain Bulldogs held off a spirited Fijian defence to take the win in their final round match yesterday. Whilst the Fijians were solid across halfback and through the midfield all day, they were unable to consistently find targets up forward, whilst the Bulldogs capitalised on their chances to accumulate a decent lead at each change.
With many onlookers rating both the Bulldogs and Fiji Tribe as big improvers from the IC14, Friday will see both sides go into their playoffs for 5th and 7th as probable favourites.
A breezy day greeted the sides at the McAlister Oval in Melbourne’s Royal Park this Tuesday as Canada’s Northern Lights were taking on the USA’s Freedom in the first semi-final on the women’s side of IC17.
The Canadian women had won their pool, but had beaten Fiji by just one point in their opening match of the tournament. “The girls got a great lesson in the importance of conversion,” said Northern Lights head coach, Jason Arnold. “Games of footy are not wom by clearances and more inside 50s. You need to covert these opportunities.” He went on to say, “The exciting part is, this group is still learning to play together and, as they gel, their best footy is ahead and will make them tough to beat.”
Canada bounced back after the narrow victory to blast Pakistan by 31 goals and then, to take down Great Britain by 31 points.
The Croatia Knights this afternoon crushed the Japan Samurai to gain entry into the Division two Grand Final. The Samurai were beat on on the scoreboard but not their spirit. The team kept to their game plan despite the blustery conditions and the relentless Croatian pressure which made options difficult to pick. Croatia now meets Germany in the Grand Final of Division Two.
2017 International Cup Round #4. Royal Park. Men’s Division 1 P.N.G. Mosquitos Vs R.S.A. Lions
Wednesday 15th August. 10.30am
The PNG Mosquitos continued their good form to win and win well over the RSA Lions. The scoreline might imply an "easy" win with the result a predictable win to the Mosquitos but they still had to work hard against a determined South African side that was intent on being competitive.
Both teams were surprise first-round losers which looked likely to preclude them from the Grand Final but the Mosquitos have learnt from that experience and improved markedly whilst the Lions have struggled against the Revolution and have only just beaten the Fiji Tribe.
It was a match between the winless Sri Lanka Lions and the Pakistan Shaheens who could only manage one win from their first three matches. It was a cold cloudy wintry day at the Royal Park - Western Oval in Melbourne, but fortunately there was no heavy rain just a bit of light drizzle.
On paper this match looked like it would be a win to the Shaheens, but they were unable to put a halt to the Lions' pressure. According to the ladder it looked like the match would be a close encounter and the match lived up to it for most of the game, with only a goal and half separating both teams at each break except at the final siren.
Ireland rallied to come from behind against a strong, fit Great Britain team in a thrilling semi final match that went down to the wire. The momentum was with Great Britain at three quarter time but the Irish girls came out swinging in the fourth, kicking two goals and managing to keep Great Britain scoreless.
We welcome Michael Blades making his match report debut for WFN.
After a disappointing loss to Japan on the previous Saturday, the German Eagles were too strong and too tall for a determined China Dragons outfit at Royal Park on Tuesday, winning their Div 2 semis final and booking a spot in Friday's final against Croatia. Whilst the Dragons were quick out of the blocks and pushed hard in the first term, the Eagles pushed ahead with the breeze after the first break, setting up a lead which the Chinese were ultimately unable to reel back in, the Eagles winning by 28 points.
NZ and Ire went into today’s clash undefeated. PNG who had won against South Africa were watching on anxiously, knowing if Ireland were to lose, they would likely be playing in the Grand Final at the MCG. If Ireland were to win then these two teams would likely replay for the 'Cup.
The USA Revolution came into Tuesday’s clash with France with a 2-1 record and were in need of a big win following a disappointing 37-point loss to Papua New Guinea in Round 3. Meanwhile, France was also looking to get in gear following rough defeats at the hands of Fiji, Ireland, and Nauru.
(Supplementary reporting by Troy Thompson)
The Croatia Knights this afternoon crushed the Japan Samurai to gain entry into the Division two Grand Final. The Samurai were beat on on the scoreboard but not their spirit. The team kept to their game plan despite the blustery conditions and the relentless Croatian pressure which made options difficult to pick. Croatia now meets Germany in the Grand Final of Division Two.
2017 International Cup Round #4. Royal Park. Men’s Division 1 P.N.G. Mosquitos Vs R.S.A. Lions
It was a match between the winless Sri Lanka Lions and the Pakistan Shaheens who could only manage one win from their first three matches. It was a cold cloudy wintry day at the Royal Park - Western Oval in Melbourne, but fortunately there was no heavy rain just a bit of light drizzle.
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