This was the game of redemption. This was the game of pride. This was the game to ease the pain. The American Revolution had not achieved their collective goals at this Cup and the drop from third in 2005 to the play-off for seventh and eighth in 2008 was not the plan that was drawn up. After tough losses to South Africa and Nauru the Revo’s needed to win this match and win it well. It was a matter of redemption and pride.
The pain was eased early with Danny Hanson scoring the first goal of the match. Quick ball movement by the Revo’s led to the ball bouncing around the goal square and Hanson used a soccer kick to score. Within minutes Kelly Nelson scored and the US was up by two goals after just five minutes.
The US was playing in front and were getting their head over the ball. This is what Coach Oliver had asked for the last two weeks.
Dustin Jones spears the ball into Justin Valley who scores. Dustin spears it in again and this time he connects with Lakomy who converts. Valley scores a second as he runs into an open goal. This is what the Revo’s were after – a dominant first quarter that put the game out of reach of the Japanese before it had even begun. The Revo’s lead 5-4-34 to 0-2-2.
Coach Oliver told the players at the quarter to be ready for more rotations and to focus on marking the ball. The Japanese were not pushovers and were putting the Revo’s under pressure. Meanwhile Manager Matt Jagger was one of the busiest men on the field giving the Japanese Manager the interchange information for every player swap. We never worked out why the Japanese asked for it – but it gave Jagger something to do!
The second quarter starts with a Kelly Hanson score after a lovely delivery of the pill by World Team player Chris “Candy” Candelaria. Candy was the sole US player to make the World team – a great achievement. Candy was BOG in losing efforts against SA and Nauru and greatly deserves the accolades.
Japan scored halfway through the quarter to get on the board. Ryan Marx responds for the USA with a nice long kick from a set shot. The US lead at the half 7-5-47 to 1-3-9.
The US retreated to the rooms for the major break and I turned my attention to the playoff for third between South Africa and Ireland. It was a close match with Ireland just in front. The International Cup has a Nationals feel this year with three fields in action at the same time and Grilla doing the main commentary.
The third started with Dustin Jones handpassing to Andrew Lamont who scores on the run. The US pressure was causing Japanese errors all over the field. Mickey Kleinhenz scores for the US after a Japanese turnover.
The Japanese score their second with a fast-break goal. The Japanese were flooding the back line and the US overcommitted which lead to a Japanese man advantage when they finally got the ball.
Dustin Jones quickly replies for the US with a goal of his own. After giving multiple assists it was deserving that he got one of his own. Luke Nemeth completes the scoring in the third with a left foot shot on the run. The US lead 11-9-75 to 2-3-15.
Robert Oliver’s third quarter speech was very simple; “run the tournament out. Only 17 minutes left”
Japan is shell shocked and anything they try does not work out. They look like we did against South Africa.
Danny Hanson starts the scoring for the US in the last period. A strong mark followed by an excellent kick to finish. Candy causes a turnover and makes the most of it with a quick pick up and goal on the run. Marx finishes the Cup for the US with a leading mark and goal. A straight shot from 40 meters out on a 30 degree angle.
A commanding win for the US 14-12-96 to 2-4-16.
The US finishes the Cup with a 3 and 2 record and a seventh place ranking.
The 16 teams had split into four tiers. The top two teams, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea were a class above the rest. The second tier include Ireland, South Africa, Nauru, Canada and the US. While we finished this Cup at the bottom of the second tier any of these five teams could beat each other on any given day.
The third tier is lead by Japan. They upset Samoa in a great win in the round robin games to make the eight but were shown to be outclassed by both North American teams; Canada and the USA. Other teams in this tier include Samoa and Great Britain and Denmark.
The fourth and final tier is the developing nations that are in their first Cup; China, India, Sweden, Finland and the Peace Team.
In other results Canada were beaten by Nauru for the fifth spot. South Africa won in controversial fashion with a kick after the siren to win by a point. The South African player was a good 55 meters out when the Irish player was called for stepping over the mark. The South Africans got a reprieve and the player scored for the win. Ireland were the better team and can talk forever about the one that got away. The one consolation for the Revo’s was that the two teams that beat them, South Africa and Nauru, won their placing playoff games.
The only game left was the final, New Zealand and PNG. PNG had made the final in every Cup but had never won and NZ are the defending champions. PNG were the crowd favorites. The NZ Falcons lead at the half but PNG chipped away all second half and finally hit the front half-way through the last quarter. The Mosquitoes were awful in front of goal and had twice as many scoring shots as the Falcons. PNG were up by a couple for the last three minutes and stopped the Falcons from pushing forward. PNG had a mark on the outer wing when the siren sounded. The bench erupted. The PNG forward took his shot at an impossible angle; the banana kick went through the tall uprights and was immediately mobbed by his team mates. It was a great conclusion to the third edition of the Cup. Three Cups; three different winners – it seemed so appropriate.
The Revo’s sat back and enjoyed the Hawthorn win over the Western Bulldogs in the final at the MCG and will enjoy their remaining time in Melbourne without the responsibility of playing – at least until Nationals.
- Paul O'Keeffe
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