BLAST FROM THE PAST - #9

The first USAFA National Tournament was held in Santa Cruz over the ANZAC Day Weekend. Three teams from the newly formed California Australian Football League attended and ensured the tournament was a success. The following match report let’s us all in on the action.

The next National Tournament will be held in Kansas City on the weekend on May 30th. Hope to see you there.

'Roos Victorious In First ANZAC Cup!

The Santa Cruz Roos were comfortable winners in the inaugural ANZAC Day Cup held at the Aptos Polo Fields last Saturday. The tournament was held between the 'Roos, Los Angeles Crows and San Diego Lions with a round-robin set of preliminary rounds and deciding final between the top two teams.

The first match of the day saw the local team take on the young Lions from San Diego. What started out as a tough match with both teams struggling to score in the first quarter slowly turned the 'Roos way as many of the Santa Cruz team got it's first taste

of real Australian Rules football. Goals started to come the way of the 'Roos with increasingly regularity as their confidence in themselves and each other lifted with each minute of playing time. In the end, the scoreline showed an 83 point victory to Santa Cruz.

After a short break, the second match, between Santa Cruz and Los Angeles began. The Crows are a much bigger and more physical team than San Diego and the intensity of the match soon showed the 'Roos that this game was going to be far tougher than their previous one. Despite the small ground and fine conditions, the match turned into a torrid struggle with Los Angeles taking the lead early and holding it for the entire game. At the final siren, the Crows were victors by a narrow margin of 27 point to 25. Although brought back to earth by the loss, morale was high in the 'Roos camp, especially given the way they had finished the match with momentum on their side. It seemed as though the final would be between LA and Santa Cruz, so there was still an opportunity to reverse the decision.

The final match of the round-robin series saw the clash of the Southern Californian teams; Los Angeles and San Diego. The game started with San Diego running and desperate for the ball, fresh from a break between its previous preliminary match. The first quarter was close with the Lions unable to convert good efforts in the midfield and defense into a result on the scoreboard. However, as the match wore on, the superior skills and strength of the Crows wore the young Lions down. The final score, Los Angeles 63 points to San Diego 8.

The final match of the tournament was between the undefeated Los Angeles Crows and the Santa Cruz 'Roos. As with the first clash of these two sides, scores were few and far between early in the first quarter, although that's were the similar between these two matches ended.

For the remainder of the game, the fresher and faster 'Roos, aided by a considerable bench of interchange players and a break before the final game, were more desperate for the ball and running faster and in larger numbers than their Southern California opponents. A couple of quick goals buoyed the confidence of the local team which did not let the pressure drop for the remainder of the match. The scoreboard reflected the change in momentum of the two teams as the 'Roos ended up winning by the hefty margin of 81 points to 9.

Many thanks to the Los Angeles and San Diego teams for making the trip up north for the tournament. Hopefully, this fixture will become as regular and traditional as the AFL ANZAC Day game between Essendon and Collingwood. Thanks also to everyone who volunteered their time to help with the running of the tournament. A final thanks to everyone who just turned up to support the teams and the game in its attempt to take off in the United States. Cliched though the phrase may be, it cannot be argued that the day was "good for football".

-
(970)