Jacks Fall to ‘Roos in Away Game

The Columbus Jackaroos (4-1) traveled south on June 16 to face the Nashville Kangaroos (6-1) in a pivotal MAAFL game.  In what turned out to be a heated contest the Nashville Kangaroos defeated the Columbus Jackaroos 13.14.92 to 8.6.54 in order to move to 7-1 on the season and hand the Jacks their second loss of the year.

Despite missing defender Chet Ridenour the Jackaroos brought a very strong team down to Nashville.  However, the Kangaroos jumped all over Columbus right from first bounce, scoring two goals almost immediately (one of which I can claim full responsibility, unfortunately).  Despite my failings the Columbus defense, led by team captain Evan Gardiner, settled down and quickly got into the flow of the game.  On the back of strong performances from David Wilson and Phil Sisia the Columbus midfield then started to force play toward their offensive half where Rob Ward, newly returned from injury, played a solid game.  By the time the horn sounded to end the first quarter the Jackaroos had clawed back to within five.  (NSH 3.7.25   CLB 3.2.20)

The second quarter proved costly for the Jackaroos, as Nashville was able to build their lead to twenty-five going into halftime.  (NSH 7.10.52   CLB 4.3.27)  Despite trailing, Columbus had some positives to build on for the last forty minutes.  In particular two things were very clear going into the half: Will “Batman” Dudley (the Columbus ruckman) was running around hitting Nashville players really hard, and Shawn Furlong was thwarting a lot of Nashville attacks.

Columbus took it to Nashville when the second half began, pulling within two goals halfway through the third quarter.  The Columbus forwards were thriving off of great play from the Columbus midfield.  Andrew “Boner” Jordan, quite obviously fueled by the beer he was drinking during quarter breaks, was having one of his best games up in the forward line.  The Columbus players were really starting to believe a road win could be had, but the two goal difference was as close as Nashville would let the Jacks get.  The Kangaroos responded with two quick goals to pad their lead. By the end of the third quarter, Columbus had only cut into their halftime deficit by one.  (NSH 10.10.70    CLB 7.4.46)

The Kangaroos proved to have too deep and too skilled of an interchange for Columbus to handle.  Nashville substituted several veterans into the game to start the fourth quarter.  These fresh players were able to pin the ball into Columbus’s defensive zone for a large portion of the quarter, which ended up putting the game away.  The Kangaroos would go on to win by thirty-eight.  Despite defeat, Columbus had played one of the best road games in the club’s history and could only congratulate Nashville on a game well played.  Shawn Furlong, a rookie, won best on ground for four quarters of stellar footy in which he played both center half-back and full-back.  As an aside, Columbus didn’t go home completely empty-handed.  The Jackaroos earned a victory over the Kangaroos by dominating the boat race at Jed’s to prove that we can still drink like the best of ‘em.

Final score: (NSH 13.14.92    CLB 8.6.54)

Columbus Best on Ground:
Shawn Furlong, David Wilson, Will “Batman” Dudley, Andrew “Boner” Jordan, Peter Taylor, Phil Sisia

Nashville Best on Ground:
Jake Ridings, Joel Morley, Ben Vaatstra, Nate Caldwell, Preston Jezek.