The 2015 Axios Euro Cup took place on the weekend in Umag, Croatia. 12 men’s teams and 6 women’s teams battled it out in a 9-a-side tournament to take out the titles of the Axios AFL Europe Euro Cup Champions!
Four pools of three made up the men’s competition while two pools of three made up the women’s competition. Coming from all around Europe, the men’s competition was also graced by the Peace Team; a group of men from both Palestine and Israel fighting for Peace and talking through their love of Australian Rules Football.
The women’s competition had 6 teams, the highest amount of female teams to date and the competition was fierce. Two white washes, England beating Croatia 88-0 and Denmark beating France 50-1, enabled the England Vixens and the Denmark Valkyries to make it through to the final. The England Vixens, however, showed they were too strong for the Denmark Valkyries, finishing 54-6.
The men’s competition had a strong, top four finish with England, Ireland, Croatia and Denmark battling in out to make the final. Ireland and England faced off first; Ireland, being dubbed the quickest side of the day, couldn’t beat England’s skill set, which took them through to the final 23-9. The Croatian’s had dominated their pool coming into the final, as had Denmark, making for an interesting match; the Vikings came into the final stronger and finished off the Croatians 57-14. The men’s final had nails being bitten for the first half and an even score board took everyone into the second half, while we were fast loosing the Croatian sun. Denmark came out all guns blazing in the second half, keeping England to a solitary goal and taking home the gold after blowing the lead out to 21 points.
Team of the Tournament – Women’s
Elise Kristensen – NOR
Danni Salter – ENG
Kelsey Wiggers – CRO
Miriam van Thenan – DEN
Anna Ekdahl – SWE
Berengere Portal – FRA
Ana Barisic – CRO
Lea Cobham – ENG
Elise Thelliez – FRA
Coline Duquet – FRA
Katharina Rue – NOR
Anna Persson – SWE
Rania Ramandan – ENG
Chloe Hall – ENG
Maria Falkesgaard Jorgensen – DEN
BOG Final – Rania Ramadan (ENG)
Team manager: Matt – NOR
Coach: Ian Baxter – ENG
Team of the Tournament – Men’s
Martin Schittegg – AUS
Matthew Goodman – SCO
Kasper Hoegh Jensen – CRU
Ruben Streicher – GER
Eivind Mryvold – NO
Ethan Nehemia – PEA
Jort Kolman – NETH
Jeremy Sardin – FRA
David Lazanin – CRO
Dean Ryan – IRE
Chris Britton – ENG
Jens Djernes – DEN
Aksel Bang Jensen – DEN
Ross Denton – ENG
Yonatan Belik – PEA
BOG Final – Aksel Bang (DEN)
Team manager: Yonatan Belik – PEACE
Team coach: Morten Engsbye -DEN
