Match of the Round
Match of the Round 15/7/16
Round 2 CEAFL Review
This weeks ‘Match of the Round’ is going to review the 2nd round of the CEAFL which took place last week in Dobl near Graz, Austria.
Following a successful 1st round in Zagreb, Croatia the ladder looked like this:
- Zaprude Giants 15 Points
- Zagreb Dockers 12 Points
- Sesvete Double Blues 10 Points
- Zagreb Hawks 10 Points
- Styrian DUDogs 8 Points
- Eagles 6 Points
- VG Bombers 4 Points
With the round originally planned with 8 teams, the tournament was eventually run with 5 teams, comprising of the Styrian DownUnderDogs, Sesvete Double Blues and the VG Bombers with full squads, the Zaprude Giants with 7 players and a mixed team combining players from the Prague Dragons, Zagreb Hawks and Zagreb Dockers.
With the Giants only having 7 players they were entitled to an 18-point handicap each game. In addition, all games for the Giants along with the Semi Final were played as 7-a-side games.
The group stage included all 5 teams in the one group – every team played each other once. Only the last two games weren’t played due to a lack of numbers from the mixed side and an agreed draw between the Double Blues and Dogs.
The final standings from the group stage is as follows:
The final series was kicked off with the Dogs taking on the Bombers followed by the Double Blues locking horns with the Giants.
The first semi-final between Dogs and Bombers ended as a convincing victory for the Dogs as the VG Bombers had numerous injuries and despite a handicap were unable to get close to the Styrian side.
The second semi-final was an absolute thriller between the Giants and Double Blues which saw the Giants clinch victory in the dying minutes of the game.
The Grand Final was played as a 7-a-side game between the Styrian DownUnderDogs and Zaprude Giants. The Giants started with an 18-point handicap and lead by 1-point at halftime with the scores reading 19 to 18.
Even though the Dogs showed courage and almost drew even in the middle of the second half, it proved a lack of experience from the Dogs that led to an 8-point win from the Zaprude Giants.
Review of the teams:
Prague Dragons
The Dragons faced some late cancellations from various players, therefore only 4 guys made the long trip down from Prague. Nevertheless, together with players from the Zagreb Hawks and Dockers they teamed up and showed great passion and enthusiasm. With a full squad that will be on show at their home tournament, the Dragons will be another difficult opponent and raise the quality of the CEAFL competition.
VG Bombers
Founded earlier this year, the Bombers have already shown great courage and massive improvement from game to game. In their second group game, they even had the chance to knock off the more experienced and eventual winners, the Zaprude Giants, but failed to mark the final kick of the game which was only centimetres from goal, losing by 3-points. Their continual improvement is great for the CEAFL competition and they will on develop further in each tournament they play.
Sesvete Double Blues
In their second year of existence, the Double Blues from Sesvete are getting closer and closer to the more established clubs from Zagreb. The Double Blues were dominant throughout the group stages along with the first half of their semi-final against the Giants. They seemed to run out of gas in the second half with the Giants clinching victory in the dying minutes to win through to the final.
Styrian DownUnderDogs
The 1st round of the CEAFL in Zagreb saw the Dogs get their first win against a Croatian team in almost 5 years. With this success in their minds they started their home tournament with another win and managed to beat all the other opponents in the group stage. The Dogs won 5 games on their way to the Grand Final before a fast finishing Giants stopped them in a thrilling game.
Zaprude Giants
Winning 2 out of 2 tournament, the Giants emphasised their ambitions to win the CEAFL this year. If they combine their level of skills and experience again in the final round in Prague they will be hard beat and could claim the CEAFL title.
2016 CEAFL ladder after 2 of 3 rounds:
- Zaprude Giants 30 Points
- Styrian DUDogs 20 Points
- Sesvete Double Blues 20 Points
- VG Bombers 14 Points
- Zagreb Dockers 12 Points
- Zagreb Hawks 10 Points
- Prague Dragons 8 Points
- Eagles 6 Points
The Dogs would like to thank all the teams for attending the 2nd round of the CEAFL and providing such entertaining games of football. The whole CEAFL is now looking forward to the 3rd and final round of the 2016 CEAFL tournament on the 10th of September in Prague.
A huge thank you to Michael Jud, Martin Schittegg and Oliver Krajacic for compiling this amazing review of the 2nd round CEAFL tournament. We can’t wait to hear how the final round pans out.
