Anzac Tournament Results

Wow! What a fantastic weekend of football! It was a feast of honorable
competition and aggressive battles that did the ANZAC legacy proud.
Seven teams fronted for the 2000 ANZAC Cup on April 29th and 30th - Seattle, Denver, Phoenix, San
Diego, Los Angeles, Orange County and Santa Cruz.

The preliminary rounds were held in brilliant sunshine at the Aptos Polo
Fields in Aptos.
In the first round, Seattle won a fantastic, fast-paced battle with Denver,
Phoenix held out a combined Los Angeles/Orange County team, and Santa Cruz
pulled away in the second half to defeat San Diego.

This meant that after the first round, Phoenix, Seattle and Santa Cruz were
still in contention for ANZAC Cup final spots. Santa Cruz, having only a brief
break before entering the fray against Phoenix, came out with all guns firing
- some superb work by the crew in the center meant the forwards were given
plenty of opportunities. The twin towers of Big Waz and Little John hustled, and took
the big marks to dominate the first half. A strong second half saw Santa Cruz
win through to the ANZAC Cup final.

Although they were out of contention for the ANZAC Cup final, Denver still had
plenty to prove against San Diego. They came out strong and, in a very
physical contest, were able to pull away for a solid win.

Phoenix's defeat meant Seattle was in a strong position to claim the second
berth in the final. Resting a few of their players, they were able to hold out
the Los Angeles/Orange County combined team to record a solid victory.

The ANZAC Cup final would be a repeat of last year - Seattle vs. Santa Cruz.

However, both teams were to meet sooner than that.... at the ANZAC Cup Dinner
on Saturday night. All teams were represented, and it was a great chance to
get together, share the battle stories, meet on friendly ground and reinforce the
strength of the camaraderie that underpins Australian Rules in the US.

The Finals were played on Sunday at Cooper Park in Mountain View. Once again,
we got a fine dose of California sun and some great football.

After a tardy start, the LA/Orange County team suited up against San Diego. It
was a nice open game, with numerous highlights. Chris Steigler made some great
plays, "Ring-in" Jimmy delivered class kicking and marking, Orange County's
ruckman was dominant and Eric kicked the goal of the day. Good one!

The play-off for third and fourth was characterized by hard work around the
ball and some excellent plays. Phoenix fought hard throughout the game but
Denver played great power football to claim third place in the tournament.
Bewdy!

Now for the final...


The inside word in the Santa Cruz camp was - be ready for a huge battle. Over
the weekend, the Seattle boys had already proved they were still one of the
best teams in the country.

Santa Cruz ended up pulling away to a comfortable victory over Seattle in a
great game of footy.

There were some stand-out performances over the weekend - Lance Van Loon from
Seattle was tournament MVP, with Ben Harling from Denver and Sean D'Arcy from
Santa Cruz as runners-up. Big Waz dominated the
tournament with eighteen goals

So, the mighty Roos are the ANZAC Cup winners for 2000 and the ANZAC Cup
continues to grow as a tournament.

The Roos would like to thank all of the teams who participated - we look
forward to having you back next year! Also, special thanks to the umpires who
delivered the goods over the entire weekend, the people who goal umpired,
boundary umpired, manned the food and drink stand and helped us pull this all
together.

Roogards,

Bruce

edited by Matt Muller of Seattle

- Bruce Durrell & Matt Muller
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