Round 2 of the AFL Ontario Mens season saw the Ottawa Swans taking on the Broadview Hawks at the Rideau Carleton Raceway on Saturday May 30th.
Played under atrocious conditions, it turned a tough assignment against the reigning premiers into an even tougher one. The Hawks won the toss and chose to kick with the "breeze", finishing the 1st term with 6 goals. Pleasingly, the Swans kicked 2 classy goals of their own.
Unfortunately, the conditions turned against the Swans in the 2nd term as the wind dropped off only to be replaced with rain, lightning and thunder. Nevertheless, the Swans did manage to get the ball into their forward line 8 times, only to return a total of 2 points. The Hawks continued to dominate the clearances and added a further 3 goals of their own to leave the Swans trailing at half time.
The Swans' aim was to win the 3rd term, and to the player's credit, they managed to outscore the Hawks 3 goals to 1. On an otherwise difficult day, this is a significant achievement given both the conditions and the quality of the opposition - who to their credit kept their intensity high throughout the game.
The 4th term was an even affair, and thus, the Hawks ended up beating the Swans by a healthy margin in a game that'll be treated as a learning opportunity for the Swans moving forward.
Every Swans player worked hard all day and put their bodies on the line against a very physical side. The Swans backline toughed it out all day and full credit again to Ronan Shaughnessy who backed up last week's game with another great effort. Alex Huard was also a stand out across halfback with some very nice work. Trevor Jamieson worked tirelessly on a tough opponent and the experience of that match up will prove invaluable. No doubt everyone enjoyed seeing Joel Crimmins back in the side with his typical dash and flare.
The midfield worked tirelessly with Jordan Harcombe rucking an entire game for a 2nd week running after an injury to Morgan Whyte early on. Nathan Strom's match-up again Connor Dullard was a tough battle, and Ben Trew, Bogdan Rotaru, Todd Rogers and Matthew Powell all had solid games in the engine room on rotation.
Up forward it was always going to be a tough day, but Daniel Robinson again proved that even 70% fit he is a dangerous player. Greg Bridges chipped in as another scoring forward. Finally, a call out also must go to our rookies in "Pony", "Rosey" and "Pappy" who all did very well in turn rotating of the bench.
Round 3 for the Swans will match them up against the High Park Demons at the Rideau Carleton Raceway at 1:30pm on Saturday June 6.
After the boys played on Saturday it was the ladies turn to start their season on Sunday May 31st. This year, however instead of traveling west towards Toronto the women went east to play their first games in the AFL Quebec league. As previously reported, two new Ottawa teams were created to partake in the expanding women division in Montreal.
First up were the Rideau Shamrocks taking on the NDG Giants square. The Shamrocks are captained this year by Nathalie Presseau and coached by Chris “Rookie” Lockhart. At half time it was too close to call, it seemed that both teams were finding it difficult to find the goals. The Shamrocks went into the third with a one point lead. The Shamrocks furthered their lead with a goal in the third. The defensive line, anchored with strong play from Kelly Cambridge was able to keep the Giants off the scoreboard in the ever important third quarter. A goal apiece in the forth saw the Shamrocks win their first game. The final score was Shamrocks 4.6.30 vs. Giants 3.1.19.
Next up were the Carleton Warriors taking on the Plateau Eagles. It was clear from the start that the Warriors wanted to have both Ottawa teams come out on top in their inaugural games. Captain Cat Geci led the team to an impressive half time lead. The Warriors were up by 23 points going into the third, Holly “Pirate” Costanza responsible for two of those goals. The Eagles were not going to let a disappointing score in the first half keep them from asserting themselves in the latter part of the game. The Warriors had to stay accountable and not let up, as the Eagles applied some pressure. In the end the Carleton Warriors were able to make it a pair of wins for the Ottawa teams in Round 1. Warriors 7.11.53 vs. Eagles 4.5.29
AFL Quebec presents awards after each round for both the men and women divisions, the “2XU Player of the Round” and the “TA Pies Spirit Award” (player that shows great sportsmanship and love of the game). While special mention should be given to Rideau Shamrock, Kelly “MK” Robinson who was runner up for the Spirit Award, it was Warrior Vivian Nguyen who was presented as the Player of the Round.
The Shamrocks and the Warriors will join forces this weekend and play as the Lady Swans against the Montreal Angels (combined Eagles and Giants teams). Ball up at 11:30 am, prior to the men’s match at the RCR. This will be the first home game for the ladies this year and the first time women will play on the full sized oval.
Last Modified on 05/06/2015 12:52