St. Petersburg Cats claim Unity Day Cup

On a freezing day of November 4th three Russian teams played the final tournament of 2016 – Unity Day Cup – on the Moscow State University pitch. It was a home ground for two capital city teams – “Slavyane” & “Lazy Koalas”, and the third one came from Saint-Petersburg – “St.Petersburg Cats”. It was a snowy day with -2°C on the thermometer, but the competitors were ready for such unpleasant weather.

In the opening minutes of the first game (Slavyane vs Cats) the home team got a quick 7 points, scoring a goal and a behind. The Cats, however, found strength to fight back and dominated the rest of the match, scoring a goal every 3-4 minutes and playing a decent defensive game. After two periods of 15 minutes the final score was 66 to 9 in favour of St. Petersburg squad.

The second game of the tournament was played between Koalas and Slavyane. Both teams were playing hard, but luck was against Slavyane this day, they conceded several goals, and Koalas calmly finished the match with the score of 72 to 13. The last game was a part of long-lasting rivalry between two cities; Moscow and St. Petersburg. There were three cups previously in 2016: Koalas celebrated the victory in April, Cats got their revenge in May, and Koalas were stronger in September tournament. But during this cold day the luck was on the side of guest team. The Cats started the game with four goals and a couple of behinds, then Koalas narrowed the gap to 10 points. But shortly after the team from St. Petersburg maintained the control on each part of the pitch, locking up everything in defence, dominating in the middle, delivering quick passes and converting them into points. The final score was 54 to 26 in favour of the Cats, and they were declared the winners of Unity Day Cup. The 2016 season of Australian football in Russia is over, but teams continue to conduct training’s on a regular basis, constantly improving their skills and preparing for a next season.

Thanks to Alex Andryushin for the review of the Unity Day Cup

CNFA Wrap

The ALFA Lions will enter the rest of the CNFA season a real sense of confidence after convincingly beating CNFA powerhouses the Paris Cockerels. The conditions were tough with heavy rain pouring throughout the game. The Lions held their composure and ended up with a resounding victory with the final scores 85 to 11.

In the other match in the CNFA over the weekend, the Paris Cockatoos made amends for their big brothers after they snatched victory from the Bordeaux Bombers in the final minutes in the Capital. The final score in the match was 90 to 79.

Great work to all sides who played over the weekend. The CNFA season is shaping up to be a nail-biter.

Clapham Cubs

The Clapham Cubs held their November training session on Sunday in the beautiful sunshine at Clapham Common. The session was attended by several juniors and was well run by the coaches in what is fast becoming a real presence on the Common.

The Cubs are on the lookout for any potential sponsors as they look to purchase their first ever playing kit. If you’d like more information on the Cubs, please email claphamcubs@gmail.com

Port Malmo winter training

The Port Malmo Football Club have got their winter training up and running for another year. If you’re in the area and wish to join in for the session they run on Tuesday evenings from 6:20-8:30pm at the Latinskola Sports Hall.

If you want any more information feel free to email coach@portmalmo.com for more details

GB Bulldogs name their Preliminary Squad

The Great Britain Bulldogs have named their preliminary squad for the International Cup in Melbourne next year. Head Coach, Dean Thomas, named the 52-man squad after a solid International season for the GB side who claimed the European Championships in August.

The boys will be doing all they can over the off-season to get their name onto the final squad list to take part in IC17 in Melbourne. Congratulations to those who have made it this far.

Check out the full press release on the AFL England page:

www.aflengland.org