2009 - Round 6

Round 6 Match Report

Chandler, Arizona – It was a cloudless day with a brisk wind; the sort of day where animals can sense something in the air that has them on edge. The last game of the round was to take place between the Tombstone Marshals and the Kingsnakes and it was to be a battle where only one warrior team would emerge with the points. Only one team would taste the spoils of victory. Who would that team be? The reigning 2008 AZAFL champions, the Marshals were winless on the season but as usual their team commitment showed as they managed to field a full squad for the game. In contrast the Kingsnakes were on the verge of a forfeit missing their ASU players who were enjoying a lovely getaway in Las Vegas, Jon Martinez on the injured list and captain Chad Martin laid up in bed with a fever that would likely kill ten mortal men. To start the game the Kingsnakes only had 5 of their own players and much to the dismay of the Marshals, the Kingsnakes beefed up their roster by picking up 6 spare players included the gunslingers Daniel Rogan and Jared "Sneaky" Jones.

The Kingsnakes have been the hottest team over the past few weeks and they started off strong scoring a goal within the first 30 seconds of the game. Kieran "Fitzy" Fitzpatrick coming off a 5-goal haul in his last game got the first major for the team. Tombstone recovered quickly and managed to move the ball around the field like a well oiled machine. Adam Smark decided to tease the Kingsnakes by kicking 5 behinds in the first quarter. "I didn’t want to get too much of a lead early on so I figured I would kick behinds to keep the game close" said Smark. Jimmy "The Super Dog" Scanlan kicked the only goal of the quarter to give Tombstone a 12-8 lead at the first break.

At the start of the second, Tombstone again looked strong and were winning most of the Ruck contests. This might have something to do with the fact that their ruck Wyatt "Cowboy" Glaze is 6’6" tall and Jared Jones at 5’8" was rucking for the Kingsnakes. The tallest man on the field for the Kingsnakes was Laki "El Presidente" Kondylas who at 6’3" and 250 pounds would have been the obvious choice to ruck but he was behaving like a 14 year old schoolboy at his first school dance and was too intimidated to make it out on the dance floor leaving the rucking duties to his much smaller and lighter team mates (side note: Jones won many rucks despite the size differential). Fitzy got his second goal of the quarter and newcomer Jamie Neill added one but they were matched by Jimmy Scanlan who kicked 2 for Tombstone. Although he was playing more in the backline, Scanlan was making some good runs forward and had his best game of the season. Arguably the best player of the half was Tombstone’s Joe "Crusher" Butler who thwarted numerous balls kicked long to Fitzy. It was a tough job to mark one of the most dangerous players in the league but Crusher did it well and at the end of the game Fitzy must have felt sore all over from the tough defense applied by Crusher who will be in the running for Rookie of the Year. At the half the game was still close with Tombstone leading 27-21.

The start of the third would be the period that determined the match and the Kingsnakes fought hard. Matt "Evil" Sovereign scored his first goal of the match and Jamie Neil got his second. Sovereign worked hard all day but was finding little support on the field. John "Nitro" Scott started playing tough and showed that all of his supplements must work as he out-muscled his much younger opponents. Chris "Pun" Gamach continued to improve in his first full season of footy. For Tombstone Smark had enough of kicking behinds and was running like an African Rhino pulling a caravan and scored two goals and team Captain Darren Toohey scored his first. The Marshals could have scored more if it weren’t for the vision issues occurring with the goal umpire who called several goals behinds. It is rumored that Sweets Martinez who last week got 15 stitches in his eye during the game was unable to focus on the attempts at goal and his limited sight seemed to affect his decision in giving behinds to what should have been Tombstone goals. Despite that distraction Tombstone played on and Robbie "Scrubs" Luto and Joe "Guitar Hero" Swierpuski used their skills and speed to keep the ball away from their defenders and help take a commanding Tombstone a 49-34 lead into the fourth.

In the fourth quarter it was time to put the nail in the coffin and that is what the mighty Tombstone Marshals did. David "Donger" Pack made several good leads and his mark in the 4th netted him a goal. Scanlan scored a career best 4th goal in the match and Troy "Daddy" Anderson played his usual 100% effort game. Brett "seamus" Boyd was a handy player both in the front and back pockets. The happiest player for the Marshals was Rob "Swinger" Dollar who despite only having two hours of sleep due to various nocturnal activities won his first game of footy in his past 13 games. The Kingsnakes were held scoreless for the quarter as Tombstone squeezed the life out of them. It was a moral boosting win for Tombstone with the final score of 8-18-64 to 5-4-34. "It was a great win for the boys today" said team captain Darren Toohey. He added "We needed this after 3 straight losses and the shellacking could have been worse if we didn’t kick 18 behinds!" The Kingsnakes will have to re-group as after the upcoming bye they will be facing the league leading Devils.

Best for the Marshals were Scanlan, Butler, Toohey, Smark, Anderson & Dollar. Best for the Kingsnakes were Fitzpatrick, Sovereign, & Scott.

GAME NOTE: The club would like to thank Steve Rogan who drove all the way up from Tucson to umpire. Steve has put a lot of miles on his car to help out the club so feel free to buy him a beer after the next game (but not Daniel as he is not 21. Please give all of Daniel’s beers to Steve).

MR. WATTY UPDATE: As you might have guessed Mr. Watty Jack (as usual) did not play this week but went up to Las Vegas to commit multiple sins with his fellow Aussie college mates. We are hoping that he becomes more responsible and learns that hard work, school, and footy should come before wine, women, and song. On a positive note he is a very polite and nice young man so you must have taught him some good manners growing up.

Final Score - Marshals 8.18 (66) d. Kingsnakes 5.4 (34)

Goals - Marshals: J. Scanlan (4), A. Smark (2), D. Pack, D. Toohey

Goals - Kingsnakes: K. Fitzpatrick (2), J. Neill (2), M. Sovereign

Best - Marshals: Scanlan, Butler, Toohey, Smark, Anderson, Dollar Kingsnakes: Fitzpatrick, Sovereign, Scott

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