EVENT: EAFL 2006 Regular Season Round 3
DATE: June 17, 2006
LOCATION: HoHoKus NJ. (New York Magpies Home)
RESULT: North Carolina Tigers 3.10.(28) lost to the New York Magpies 16.21.(117)

SUMMARY:

The Tigers traveled north to the suburbs of New York City last weekend, and incurred their first loss for season 2006 to a fleet footed New York Magpies side. It was the first Tigers road trip of the year and despite taking a strong side, clearly the traveling and game prep showed the Tigers weaknesses over the four quarters. The Magpies running out 89 point winners at their new home field, and the fans getting to watch a hard fought contest in great weather at a nice ground.

The Magpies won the toss and elected to kick to the southern end, and opened their account with a nice running goal from the opening bounce. The Tigers responded with several behinds and then a solid goal kicked by Jason Heathcote. The running players from both sides were having a mammoth struggle around the ground, and with some aggressive play resulted in the scoreboard ticking over, with 11 scoring shots occurring, and the Magpies went in to the first break with a 13 point lead. The Tigers rested with heads up and had shown they could compete with the Magpies in one quarter – but there was still three to go.

Quarter time: Magpies 3.4.(22), Tigers 1.3.(9)

The Tigers came out of the huddle and attacked relentlessly for the first 5 minutes, only to see several shots go astray and registering the first three scores of the quarter as behinds, and crept back to a 10 point margin. The tide then switched to the Magpies as their running players, led by Walt Lin took control and took their free-flowing game into overdrive and piled on 7 goals in the remaining 15 minutes. Shell-shocked the Tigers left the field at the long interval with a game that seemed within reach only minutes ago, now having been switched to contest that was going to require a long chase back in the second half.

Half Time: Magpies 10.8.(68), Tigers 1.6.(12)

With a blunt half time review from the Tigers Coach, and some soul searching by teams leadership group, the second half began again with the Tigers scoring first and then missing another shot. At the same time, the Tigers backline, led by some inspirational marks from Mick Coysh, and a determined Tigers Captain Shawn Doorhy, kept pushing the Magpies to errors. Ruckman Brian “Zims” Zimorowicz began to assert himself in the ruck and marking around the ground, but the quarter became a struggle of the back lines and the final break saw NY with a 74 point break.

Three-Quarter Time: 12.14.(86), Tigers 1.8.(14)

The final quarter saw both sides engage in some fast moving, and high quality football. The sides played shot for shot as both teams had some unlucky misses. The Tigers goaled first through Heathcote and with Zimorowicz clearly in charge in the air, the Tigers battled out the game and finished with a nice mark and running goal to Wes McCallister. The game was fought out to the end, with Tigers newcomer Paul Duncan creating some nice options on the wings that enabled the Tigers to apply pressure on the Magpies defense , and with some solid work from Hess, Carter and Beyersdorf, the Tigers backline also held strong, forcing several Magpies errors. Final margin was 89 points, over half of which occurred just in the second quarter.

FINAL: Magpies 16.21.(117), Tigers 3.10.(28)

“We cannot let running sides take control without a contest, and that’s what cost the game” said Tigers Coach Adam Coleman after the game. The Tigers featured several first season players in the match, and all of them did well against some very strong opponents. “We gave it away in the second, and that left us with a lead that was very difficult to work back” he added. However, the Tigers should be very happy with the form of their three key talls – Coysh, Heathcote and Zimorowicz, all of whom took the majority of time in the air from NY.

North Carolina face the Boston Demons in Raleigh on August the 5th, and the Club is looking to have a large crowd in attendance for what should be a fantastic game. For more info, go to www.nctigers.com

Tigers Best: Coysh, Heathcote, Zimorowicz.

GOALS:
Tigers: Heathcote (2), McCallister.
Magpies: Lin (3), Crighton (2), Polulach (2), Dixon (2), Schulze, Vanasek, Meehan, Thompson, Murray, Buxton, Smith.

Injuries: NC: Coysh– Shoulder. McCallister – Hand. Both Ok.