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Around the Grounds

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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 3rd Place winners presented our great game as part of a presentation on the different traditions from around the world.

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

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Match of the Round

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West Lothian Eagles vs Kingdom Kangaroos

The newly formed West Lothian Eagles will be taking to the field in their first ever competitive hit-out at the weekend against the Kingdom Kangaroos at South Queensferry Rugby Club.

The Eagles were founded in mid-2016 by Mikey Allan who’s worked tirelessly to grow the club from the ground up. With hard work and dedication, Allan and the rest of the Eagles flock will don their newly acquired kits which were kindly donated by AFL club, the West Coast Eagles, in a momentous day for the club.

As well as being the founder, Allan, will also have the added responsibility of being the head coach. He’ll be hoping the past 5 months of hard training will have his chargers doing the fundamentals well.

When asked about their inaugural fixture Allan said, “we’ll be hoping for a hard at the ball contest, the Eagles have trained very hard over the past 5 months and their skills have certainly come on well. Our team spirit is high.”

Allan went on to say, “we will be watching Roos sharp shooter, Jamie Gorman in the forward line and Mark Flanagan in the midfield. We can’t discount the influence of Roos dinosaur and Scottish international full-back, Sandy Bell.”

It’ll be a tough first match-up for the Eagles who come up against AFL Scotland regulars the Kingdom Kangaroos. The Roos had a tough year in the AFL Scotland league only winning 1 out of 6 matches to finish the season in 4th place. They’ll be looking to stamp their authority on newcomers, the Eagles, as they won’t want to be shown up by a team in their first game.

The match will bounce at 2pm with all involved hoping good weather greets the two sides in this historic day for the Eagles. Special mention must go to the Queensferry Community and Sports Hub for hosting the day and putting on some post-match food for the players.

Best of luck to both teams in this December match-up and congratulations in advance to Mikey Allan and the rest of the Eagles for coming so far in such a short period. Well done.

The inaugural West Lothian Eagles side:

Mikey Allan

Nathan Stewart

David Smith

Scott Brown

Dan Fairhurst

Jordan Stewart

Campbell Lewis

Kier Wotherspoon

Owen Lyster

Dario Smith

Jake Pointer

Ewan Witherspoon

Player of the Week

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Each week AFL Europe is profiling a European player and finding out how they got into the great game of Aussie Rules and a bit about themselves. If you’d like a profile or know of someone who would, then email ben.durance@afleurope.org to receive a question sheet.

This week’s Player of the Week is the evergreen, Sandy Bell, from the Kingdom Kangaroos and Scottish Clansmen. The British Champion in kayaking took to the game of Aussie Rules 3 years ago and has made a name for himself as a tough and uncompromising defender. Have a look at the rest of Sandy’s profile below:

Name:

Sandy Bell

Club:

Kingdom Kangaroos

Nationality:

Scottish

What position do you play?

Fullback

AFL team you support:

North Melbourne

Favourite AFL player:

Dustin Fletcher

How did you find out about AFL?

I first discovered AFL in the early 80s on TV but didn’t realise the sport existed in Scotland until 4 years ago. A fellow kayaker dragged me along to Roo’s training and I loved every minute of it. I have now been playing for 3 great years

How long have you been playing for?

3 years

What is your memory of your first Aussie Rules game?

The coach played me up front in my first outing but that wasn’t for me. Luckily we lost a few backs during the game and I was shifted to defence…. absolutely loved it.

Best AFL moment?

The highlight of my Aussie Rules experience has to be playing in the Euro Cup finals in Lisbon for the Scottish Clansmen. Playing the Netherlands in Amsterdam was a great warm-up. Unfortunately, I may not be able to continue playing much longer. But I’ll try.

Any other interesting information, quirky stories or interesting things about yourself?

It may be time for me to concentrate on kayaking again as it’s a lot kinder on the body. It is 2 years since I became British Champion in the 6.5km event in Worcester. I hope to see you all in Toulouse next year for the Euro Cup.sb1

 

Around the Grounds

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6 of the best for Anderson sees Farum through to DAFL grand final

A 6-goal haul from DAFL League Best and Fairest, William Andersen, has helped the Farum Cats advance to the DAFL grand final. The Cats put the Port Malmo Maulers to the sword at the weekend with a convincing 146-point victory.

The win places Farum against Copenhagen and based on their previous hit-out in late August they’ll go into the final as favourites. The Cats will be weary of the boys from Copenhagen as they are seasoned veterans when it comes to big games.

We’ll be keeping a close eye on this game!

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CNFA Facebook ladder sees Perpignan Tigers top the table

The CNFA has released their first table for their 2016/17 season with the Perpignan Tigers sitting on top of the ladder when it comes to Facebook fans. They are early 600 fans ahead of their closest rivals in the Toulouse Hawks.

Check out the full table below:

cnfaDAFL Awards Night Honour Roll

Following the last round of the DAFL regular season two weekends ago the clubs and committees met for the annual Awards Night to celebrate the achievements of those who went above and beyond in season 2016. The Farum Cats picked up 2 awards in what was an even spread of trophies amongst the teams.

The full honour roll is below:

  • Best and Fairest
    • William Hedenskog Anderson (Farum Cats)
  • Leading Goal Kicker
    • Ben Polmear (Port Malmo)
  • Most Improved
    • Christopher Als Lindberg (Copenhagen FC)
  • Best First Year Player
    • Harrison Johnson (Farum Cats)
  • Best Umpire
    • Sebastian Walker Staalkjaer
  • President’s Award
    • Maria Falkesgaard Jorgensen (Odense Lionesses)

Vixens and Sharks walk away with the Tyne Tee Cup

It was a huge day of football in the North of England with the battle for the Tyne Tee Cup being hotly contested between 3 men’s and 3 women’s teams.

The Glasgow Sharks, Kingdom Kangaroos, Wandsworth Demons, England Vixens and home-side, the Tyne Tee Tigers locked horns over the two divisions in what was a great day for Aussie Rules at the new home of the Tigers, Gosforth Sports Park.

The battle for the silverware came down to the Glasgow Sharks and Tyne Tee Tigers in the men’s competition. In what was a tight affair, it was the Sharks who took the chocolates with a 24-point victory. The final score reading 75-51.

The England Vixens continued their impressive 2016 season when they easily accounted for the Wandsworth Demons. It was a far improved performance by the Demons in the final but unfortunately they were unable to register a goal going down 52-1.

The Sharks finished their 2016 campaign with a SARFL flag and tournament victory in what has been an incredibly successful year. For the Vixens it was another great tournament but for them the real test comes in just over 2 weeks’ time when they look to take out the 2016 Euro Cup in Lisbon.

Congratulations to all teams who participated at the weekend. Hopefully we see the Tyne Tees Cup grow as a regular fixture on the footy calendar. Well done to the Tigers committee for all their hard work in making sure the tournament was a huge success.

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Dockers through to SAFF grand final

In their fifth season in the SAFF competition the Norrtalje Dockers have won through to their first ever grand final. The Dockers had a hard-fought preliminary final win against the Arsta Swans with the winner advancing to take on reigning premiers, the Sodermalm Blues, in the ‘big dance’.

The match was an absolute thriller with the Dockers up by a single kick at three quarter time. The Dockers held onto the ascendancy and won through to the grand final where they face a monumental task of knocking off the powerhouse of Swedish football, the Sodermalm Blues.

Good luck to the Blues and Dockers in this Saturday’s decider.

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Dragonslayers getting primed for Euro Cup

The England Dragonslayers got their 9-a-side campaign off to a winning start as they demolished AFL Central North England premiers, the Manchester Mozzies at Burnage Rugby Cub.

The Dragonslayers piled on the pressure all day and never took the foot off the gas. They amassed an astonishing 54 points in the final term despite already having a convincing lead. The final scorecard reading 174 to 28.

The boys in red and white will be looking to go one better at this year’s Euro Cup in Lisbon after they were runners-up in Umag.

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