After 365 days without DAFL football Port Malmö were ready to host against a very strong Cudas outfit. With the coach arriving late, it was up to the senior players to get the boys warmed up (some might say this was a tactical move). The Maulers were starting with a couple of fresh faces, notably the Doc; George, and Sweden’s own Michael “Randy” Randall.
The Match
From the first ball up it was clear that this was going to be a real contest. Coops, playing his first DAFL game back for the Black and Blue, decided he was going to make an impression early. First contest of the game an attempt to fend off Coops ended in disaster with a popped out shoulder for the Cudas key midfielder. After a break in play Coops sent the Maulers forward and the game carried on. The Maulers were on the wrong side of the injury gods with versatile utility Donny being subbed out of the match with a dodgy back after only 10mins. Carrying the GAA has caught up with everyone’s favorite Dubliner, and it meant the boys were really up against it now, with a gun midfielder, defender, and attacking threat on the pine.
Wayward kicking from the Cudas, and an early goal for odds on goal kicking favorite Son of a Gun Sammy, meant the game was close at the end of the first.
1st quarter score:
Maulers: 1.2=8 Cudas: 2.5=17
The 2nd quarter started well with the midfield of Coops, Chris and Stretch being aided by veteran Toby, who decided April 30th was as good a day as any to put in his best match for years at the club. Toby created chance after chance for the Maulers and worked tirelessly at ground level. You might say Toby was the catalyst for the team, with fellow Swedes Randy, Henrik and Måns deciding that Aussies weren’t the only ones to play footy, stepping up their game and taking it to a very strong Cudas team.
At half time it was again close.
Maulers: 4.6=30 Cudas: 6.7=43
We don’t own a time machine so we will never quite know how the game would have gone if things had happened differently.
The Swedish healthcare system decided that enough Swedes had turned up for the Maulers and still hadn’t arrived to attend to our Danish comrade who had been sitting for over an hour now, in a great deal of pain. Halftime got extended to allow his teammates to put him in the car and get him some much needed relief at the hospital. Perhaps it was this 20minute break that distracted the Maulers. Perhaps it was a failure by their tardy coach to keep them focused. Who knows. Either way, something happened at half time, and the Cudas went Bang! The Maulers still contested, still fought, but could just not get on the scoreboard. Number 8 for the Cudas slotted goals from everywhere and marked everything that came near him. The Maulers lost another important player with Henrik getting concussed after laying a great tackle and winning himself a free kick.
3 quarter time:
Maulers: 4.6=30 Cudas: 12.10=82
The final quarter was a much better display from the boys, managing to score a few of their own and limit the output from the Copenhagen forwards. Another injury scare came when captain courageous had to come off with a scratch to the shin, however he braved it out and was able to get back in the game. The mids of Chris, Stretch, and Coops were huge, playing the entire game in the middle of the field and gave as good as they got to the constant flow of Copenhagen players rotating through the middle. Son of a Gun Sam, presented a lot more throughout the game and with every possession got better and better. Ben with a dicky knee still managed to lead well throughout the game and there will be a focus on the kicking to leads throughout the week as his hard work was not always rewarded. Andy gave us a lot of run from the back half and his last quarter in particular was a big reason we got back into the game. Considering the long list of new players and non Aussies, it was a great result by the boys. It shows we aren’t the walkovers of the league and there is a lot of potential coming through.
/Coach
Final Score
Maulers: 6.8=44 Cudas: 18.14=122
Full match details:
http://www.thefootyrecord.net/index.php?content1=match&m=4757
