The Toronto Dingos took the show on the road this past weekend to square off against the Ottawa Swans in the annual mid-season footy trip of legend. While notorious for its post-match events, the Ottawa trip had some early surprises in store for the Dingos, who barely managed the Rideau Carlton Raceway with a victory thanks to a 3rd-quarter drumming by the home squad. The Swans - who've already knocked off the High Park Demons this season - gave the Red and Black all they could handle this past weekend, and will no doubt continue to be a tough matchup for the rest of the league.
The match started off well for the Dingos, who picked up right where they left off the week prior with a strong commitment to the footy and perfect execution in the backline. The starting mid-fielders of Malcolm Brady, Shaun McKay and Justin Robertson went toe-to-toe with a tough lineup of Swannies, who's coordination and timing in their ball-ups would come to haunt the Dingos later in the game. But for the first half, the skills advantage favoured the Red and Black, as the club hemmed the home squad in their own backline and popped in a couple goals admist a flurry of early chances. The second quarter played out much like the first, as a strong back- and mid-field lineup rebounded the Swans time and again thanks to key marks and hard running. Some key marks from fullback Dave Wells and rookie Kristian Frantzen helped solidfy the Dingo backline, and some great creative play from Craig Stewart and rovers Max Parish and Camilo Serpa pushed the Dingo goal count to 5.
Though the season is still young, the third quarter proved to be the low point in 2013 for the Red and Black, who potted two more early goals to and then promptly fell asleep at the switch. Down 4 majors, the Swans came alive in the back-half of the third quarter, putting on an inspiring show of speed and execution out of the mid-field. Time and again, the Swannies would win a tap, make a quick hand-pass out the back, and boot it long to the hot-spot in front of the Dingo goals. The home squad quickly piled up 4 straight goals to match the Dingos at 7, who were caught completely off guard and had no answers to the Swans attack. The siren mercifully went with the Dingos still up 3 points, but a major lift was needed in the fourth if the Red and Black wanted to come out with 4 points.
Yet again, off the first tap the Swannies had a quick kick deep and a mark at the Dingo half-back line, as the Swans pushed for that crucial first goal. Luckily, an errant kick to the pocket gave the Dingo backline some breathing room, and a crucial mark by Kristian followed by a kick out to the wing had the Dingos off and running. The two teams battled hard for that pivotal first goal, the home team knowing the match was theirs to win, but eventually that first goal came off the boot of Stewy to the elation of the Dingo squad, and the Red and Black slowly pulled away once more. A great switch of play by Stewy off a set shot to the wide open Mal clinched it for the Dingos, who potted three goals in the final quarter while holding the Swans to just one, taking the match 10.8-68 to 8.6-54.
Match details can be found here, though unforunately there are no match photos as of yet.
FINAL SCORE:
DINGOS 10.8-68
SWANS 8.6-54
DINGO GOALS: Stewy 6, Mal, D-Mac, Matty, Max
DINGO BOG: Kristian
The Dingos square off against the Toronto Rebels next this coming Friday, a team that has had a strong start to 2013 but came up short last week against the Broadview Hawks.
Last Modified on 20/06/2013 04:47