Microsoft word - pafl_2006_round_9.doc

PAFL Round 8 – Match Report
Saturday, June 24, 2006
Bluey (Sandy) and Brett Marshall
What a weekend! They say it’s written in the stars, but at PAFL it’s all about the clouds -and for this
Fiesta weekend the cumulonimbus ruled. As many of us still lay in bed in the early afternoon
wondering what Vaughany had done to us the night before, and why Stoney is obsessive/compulsive
on the cocktail front, the heavens opened and the thunder rumbled and the rain “persisted” down. But
the Gods (if you believe in that stuff) smiled, the sun appeared and the players and spectators in
various stages of hungoverness staggered to the Polo Club to see if the Dingoes could return to the
winning side of the ledger after four losses on the trot. They did, and they did so in some style.
How they lined up ….
Dingoes:
Eurekas:
Robert Powell, John Weston, Peter Stone, Justin Puiu, Andrew Cope, Peter Emmett, Derek James Young, Chris Meyers, Phil Davis, Mark Ackary, Steve Arthur, Phil Bill, Peter Solomon Umpire: Bluey (Sandy) Lawrence
From the ball up …. It was good to see Jacko back from his international rugby duties, and we welcomed down Pete Solomon for his first game, who somewhat surprisingly, given his condition less than 12 hours previously, was the first player to arrive at the hallowed turf and began regaling us with his antidote for alcoholic poisoning which, if I recall correctly, involved a huge breakfast followed by a swim! Numbers were sufficient for seven per side, but it was clear on paper that whilst the Eurekas had some tall (and wide in the case of Fat Cat) timber, the Dingoes may have the edge in the legs department. And so it proved to be. Big John Weston and Jacko did battle in the ruck all day, but Robbie and James had most use of the ball when it hit the deck. Copey was trying manfully to cover for the absence of Winner. The Eurekas were also affected by the fact that Swiss Phil was unwell and could not continue for the Eurekas. (This has to be the greatest of all ironies because he was probably the only player on the ground that wouldn’t have turned the crystals purple if he were to be invited to “blow into the bag”!). It was obvious that the Eurekas were desperate when Dezza had to go on the ball and his number 14 was probably equivalent to the number of hours sleep he’d had in the last week because of the World Cup activities. The first quarter was tight with the effects of the previous evening more obvious on the Dingoes side with Stoney still a bit wobbly on his usually crisp ballerina-like pirouettes and Snowy refusing to remove his sunglasses until his eyes stopped bleeding. A masterful tactical move by the Dingoes had Robbie stationed in the backline and pushing forward from there. In one comical episode Fat Cat (because he’d seen it on the telly) thought he would follow Robbie down the ground. This took him into the Dingoes forward line, by which time he was blowing harder than Bill Clinton on Viagra and he decided that he would not return to the other end. He lay some time in a prone position requiring the umpire to seriously consider stopping the game because of the sizeable impediment to the flow of the game he represented. But the second quarter was one-way traffic for the Dingoes with James Young feeling he must bounce the ball three times before nailing the six-pointers. The Dingoes slammed on five goals for the quarter with the only blemish coming from Phil Davis who managed a point (and an indecipherable French word). The third quarter was a gritty tussle marred by the rain which greeted the players, but at least it meant that Snowy had to take his sunnies off! The Dingoes just could not convert their opportunities, and Dezza managed to sneak one through for the Eurekas. The Eurekas are the first to goal in the last quarter and a glimmer of hope appears from behind the “mass of water or ice particles visible in the sky” (couldn’t say clouds again). But then comes the highlight of the last quarter with a long bomb on the run from Mike Macaraig (OK, so maybe he was in the goal square) but this was Mike’s first goal in the “big time” and it brought the crowd to its feet.
Game over.
Having had the true athlete’s preparation for the match, Stoney was on fire for the Dingos bagging four
goals and James also chipped in with four majors running at will into the scoring zone. Pete Emmet
battled hard as always and Pete Solomon played within himself, given his tough training session
midweek. Phil Davis had an interesting day, being required to change into the Dingo strip because of
the other Phil’s difficulties. This led to some disorientation, firstly as to which way he was kicking and
secondly why these guys in the gold jerseys, who he thought were his mates, were trying to decapitate
him (I thought the Yanks got Zaqawi?).
Final Score ….
Dingoes: 2.2 (14) 7.3 (45) 7.6 (48) 9.7 (61)
Eurekas: 2.1 (13) 2.1 (13) 3.1 (19) 4.2 (26)
The Goal Kickers ….
Dingoes: P. Stone 4, J. Young 4, M. Macaraig 1
Eurekas: S. Arthur 2, D. Ackary 2
2006 PAFL Premiership Table
Premiership
Dingoes :
Eurekas :

Source: http://www.pafl.com.ph/downloads/PAFL%20Match%20Report%20-%20Round%209%202006.pdf