A more typical, sometimes cloudy, sometimes sunny London spring day was on offer on Saturday for AFL London footy fans.
With teams coming off the mid-season break the question was if anybody would play like the spring day they were being greeted with or if they would be able to find some consistency early heading into the second half of the season.
The Premiership
Putney Magpies 16.12.108 df North London Lions 8.6.54
Putney hosted the North London Lions and their annual Ladies day on Saturday, meaning they were able to attract a healthy crowd of 150. The game will definitely have a bearing on the top four at the end of the regular season.
The final score line may make the match seem like it was a blowout throughout the day; it was anything but. Both teams seemed determined to fight for the ball all day and put on a show for the crowd with hard fought footy the name of the game for the first half. It wasn’t until the third quarter when the Lions managed to kick three quick goals to get away to the first decent lead of the day.
Putney however, weren’t about to lie down and accept their fate and, led by some standout performances from Joel Moloney and Andrew Laws, were able to stop the flow of goals from North London.
Going into the last quarter, the Magpies knew they had to hit back and hit back hard. Something they did to devastating effect by kicking eight unanswered goals, setting up a margin of victory that is as much a testament to the class in the Magpies squad as it is a misleading representation of the footy on offer. This will be a tough loss for a proud Lions outfit to take but could prove to be a massive boost for Putney.
West London Wildcats 27.15.177 df Wimbledon Hawks 3.0.18
West London continued their dominance of the Premiership so far, with this game played out at Motspur Park. The Hawks were powerless to stop a Wildcats outfit that are continuing to look like the favourites for the flag in 2014.
Despite the scoreline, the Hawks could take some positives from this match. Ruckman Luke Skews won the majority of his contests and even managed to run a few people down despite standing two metres tall. Matthew James kicked his first goal for the side on debut while Sean Walton displayed good overall skills, especially when going for a contested mark.
Unfortunately for the Hawks, the Wildcats class shone through though and, led by Brad Collins up front and Ben O’Brien in the midfield, the boys from West London were able to stamp their authority on this game and never let up.
Wandsworth Demons 18.5.113 df London Swans 9.5.59
Wandsworth travelled to Shoreditch to face the London Swans.
The Swannies have pushed their opposition hard in every game they have played so far this year and can consider themselves unlucky to be in the position they are in. From the outset it was apparent that the Swans wanted the four points badly and the Demons were shaken up by the physical play of their opponents and their hard working midfield duo of Ben McConnell and Al Wood. Daniel Pizzolato of Wandsworth was taken to hospital with a broken jaw after an unfortunate collision as the Swans raced out to a three goal lead at quarter time.
The Demons fought back hard in the second term to ensure that teams went into the main break level on points and knowing that the third quarter would be vital. It was in the third quarter that the Demons reminded everyone why they shouldn’t be ruled out of this competition just yet, kicking seven unanswered goals and effectively ending the match as a contest.
Even though Chris Angus managed to finish with six goals while Steve MacGuire managed to kick a cracking goal from outside fifty for the Swans, they ended up losing by a margin that will sting.
Conference division
Regents Park Lions 16.7.103 df Hammersmith Magpies 14.4.88
Clapham Demons 7.7.49 df London Swans 6.6.42
In the Conference, a goal for goal thriller was played out between the Lions and the Magpies, with the Lions only able to pull away at the very end.
The Swans were again excellent through the middle of the park against the Demons and, despite a goal from Tristan Thormann flying not only through the big sticks but also through the driver’s side window of a passing truck, went down by 7 thanks a tactical change by the Dees in the third that allowed them to build a four goal lead.
Social division
Fulham Magpies 7.5.47 df Bounds Green Lions 6.7.43
South East London Giants 13.6.84 df South London Demons 4.6.30
Reading Roos df Balham Hawks
Ealing Emus df Reading Roos
The final games to report on are those in the Social division
The ‘Pies were able to put out a full squad against the Lions and were duly rewarded with a valuable four points.
Reading again had to worry about a threadbare squad for a double header against the Hawks and the Emus but were able to get four points out of eight available on the day thanks to some excellent forward play from the Huxtable brothers.
While at Peckham Rye Common the top of the table clash saw Nick Whitfield of the Giants (image below) and Ed Tong (top image) of the Demons play their last games for their respective clubs. The Giants managed to continue their unbeaten run in 2014 thanks to good use of the footy across the field and an inspirational final bow from their departing midfield general.
AFL London in Season 2014 is proudly supported by Sanza Teaching. The Season continues from this point until the Grand Finals are played on the first weekend of August. To find out more or get involved visit www.afllondon.com
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