Port Malmö Vanquishes North Copenhagen

North Copenhagen was once a mighty outfit but on this day their lack of depth and game experience gave Port Malmö all the room they needed to absolutely dominate.. The Barracudas came with only ten men so Jonas and Dani did the boys a solid and put the boots on for the Danes. Good on ya fellas, thanks to you the game was permitted to continue with 12-a-side. Special mention to the young fella from Bladins International School who also played for NC in his first DAFL appearance.

Malmö lost the toss and was headed in to the wind but that appeared to only strengthen their resolve. This writer picked it at a six to eight goal breeze but in the first quarter the wind seemed to have the opposite effect as Malmö bagged 6.9.45 to NC’s 0.1.1. Blondeau at his best up forward doing damage and the center-field giving away very few clearances. Any footy’s that made it in to NC’s forward line were promptly repelled by the likes of O’Reilly and, on one of his best performances of the season, Persson on the handy NC full-forward. Malmö went in at quarter time fully confident the game would be won, the only question was, which milestone would be conquered.

In the second quarter NC seemed to have any and all wind blown out of them as their attack crumbled with their confidence. Malmö had full control of the game and the scoreboard, or lack thereof, was completely one sided. Malmö increased the margin to 99 points by half time and kept NC scoreless in the second quarter. Malmö 14.16.100 – NC 0.1.1. Injuries: Ward.

Back in to the wind for the third quarter Malmö showed their depth and fitness as the center line cleared the ball and moved it across the half forward line with little opposition. This gave the forwards all the time they needed to shake their opponents and bag 10 goals in to the wind for the quarter. To their credit NC did manage to get the ball forward which resulted in a point. In, what looked like a game of keepsy-offsies Malmö drove the point home in a percentage boosting display, sending a clear message across the sound. Persson, Blondeau, and Bradford did the most damage on the scoreboard and Bradford had one of his best quarters of the season showing great composure with the footy. Malmö 24.22.166 – NC 0.2.2.

By the fourth quarter the goal had been set to beat NC by 200 points. Malmö just let the Cudas through on a couple of occasions allowing them to get some chalk on the scoreboard, or lack thereof. And with a shifty trip by NC Nicklasson was penalized with a free kick to the opposition right in front of goal that resulted in the first six-pointer to NC for the game, with less than five minutes left until full-time. From the side-line it was fantastic to see Nicklasson and Lundgren really getting some game-sense about them, and even getting a bit fancy with the footy on occasions.

But fair credit to The Cudas who never gave up, kept chasing that gazelle-esque Scotford as he weaved and shimmied, stuck their tackles, and never gave the umpire too much filth. But as the barman said to the scruffy dog at the pub, “thanks for coming”. Final score: Malmö 29.26.200 – NC 1.2.8