Fast-finishing Roos hold off first-timers, the West Lothian Eagles

Match report by Mikey Allan of the West Lothian Eagles:

Saturday 3rd December saw the West Lothian Eagles play their first match versus the Kingdom Kangaroos at South Queensferry Sports and Community Hub. The weather was good but a wet pitch made the ball very slippery. Coach Allan called for a hard at the ball game and both team certainly delivered.

The Eagles started the game well scoring three goals in a row with Vice-Captain, Nathan Stewart, scoring his first superb goal which was an overhead kick! By half time the score was 61 to 51 in favour of the Eagles but the Roos came back and scored a whopping six goals in the third quarter and the Eagles trailed by 15-points going into last term. The Roos scored another whopping six goals in the last quarter with Roos dinosaur, Sandy Bell, scoring two with the left peg proving to any doubters why he was recently the AFL Europe ‘Player of the Week’. A great day was had by all with the final score being 107 Eagles to 144 Roos.

Mark Flanagan was presented with the man of the match award (bottle of whiskey). Nathan Stewart was voted as best Eagle and was awarded the Eagles plate.

After the match, free catering was provided to all involved by Queensferry Sports and Community Hub where we raised £125 for Ashley Palmer who is currently recovering from a serious car accident. Special thanks to the Greater Glasgow Giants and Edinburgh Bloods for their support.

I personally would like to thank the West Coast Eagles – for their kind donation of the strips.
Allan Carson – the manager at Queensferry Sports and Community Hub for accommodating us and for providing free catering. The Kingdom Kangaroos – for giving us a contest. Julie Cruickshank photography – for the match and team photos. Jamie Gorman – who unfortunately couldn’t play due to injury for keeping the scores.

Many thanks to everyone at AFL Europe for the coverage of our first game.

AFL London women’s club join forces for winter session

London All-Stars coach, Mitch Skelly, put players from the South-East London Giants, Wimbledon Hawks and Wandsworth Demons through their paces at Clapham Common on Sunday afternoon in a pre-Christmas training session and scratch match.

It was great to see AFL London rivals work together in their off-season to keep their skills and fitness in check during the cold winter months. Hopefully we’ll see more sessions like this going into 2017 and beyond.

Bombers prove too strong for Hawks in CNFA

The Bordeaux Bombers were clinical in their weekend fixture against the Toulouse Hawks at their home ground. The Bombers lead from start to finish and didn’t give the Hawks a chance to work into the game. The outcome of this match was pivotal for both sides with the winner staying in touch with the finals contenders.

The Bombers refused to take their foot off the pedal and ran out 130 to 49 point winners in front of a vocal home crowd. Luckily for the Hawks they’ll have the chance to redeem themselves before going into the new year with a Toulouse derby match against the Blagnac Aviators.

Scottish Clansmen announce new team manager

Mikey Allan features twice in this weeks Around the Grounds. The West Lothian founder has been busy on the national team scene as well in 2016 and will be doing even more in years to come as AFL Scotland announce Mikey as the Clansmen’s Team Manager.

Mikey was part of the Scottish team which travelled to Lisbon earlier this year and he’ll no doubt be pivotal in rise of Scottish football in the years to come. Congratulations on the appointment Mikey.

Aussie Rules lights up Zagreb Christmas fair

Great work by the Croatian Knights and Queens who presented Aussie Rules as a part of the Christmas Fair in Zagreb, Croatia. The recent Euro Cup Champions and 3^rd Place winners presented our great game as part of a presentation on the different traditions from around the world.

Amazing work getting the Sherrin up on the main stage and showing everyone the greatest game on earth.