AXV: Round 5 Match Report

[BB67th]

Bangladesh Bears 1877 def. UAE Tigers 1815

Late Changes
Bears: Alipate Carlile replaced Paul Duffield, Rob Murphy had no replacement
Tigers: Stephen Hill replaced Shaun McKernan

Best
Bears: N.Riewoldt, Walker, Cross, Petterd, S.Mitchell, Fyfe, Boyd
Tigers: Hartlett, Douglas, C.Pearce, D.Martin, Knights

A late change and a donut wasn't enough for the Tigers to knock off the Bears with experienced head Nick Riewoldt putting in a huge game of 214 to get his side over the line. He dominated picking up 27 touches up the ground and chipping in with a few goals. The rest of the midfield also stood up to make sure the loss of Murphy was compensated for. This lack of team depth is going to be worrying in the coming weeks though.
If this game was at home, the Tigers would have won, but that's just the luck of the draw. Hartlett played another very good game and would have to be putting his hand up for a VC spot next week. Knights also looks like he ma have turned a new leaf being at a new club.

Manila Folders 2063 def. Laos Elephants 1607

No late changes

Best
Manila: Zorko, Swan, Goddard, Bewick, McLean
Laos: Barlow, S.Selwood, Boak

A fairly easy win for Manila here with their second consecutive 2000+ score. Laos failed to get any of the big scores they needed to be any chance of winning this one and a fairly cruisy win for the Folders. Dayne Zorko looks like he may have broke the shackles and could be headed for a good patch of form.

Sri Lanka Strikers 1728 def. by Taiwan Dolphins 1928

Late Changes
Strikers: None
Dolphins: Jason Winderlich and Alwyn Davey replaced Matt Rosa and Matt Kreuzer

Best
Strikers: Sidebottom, Jack, Simpson
Dolphins: Ablett, Winderlich, Zaharakis McGlynn

One word. Ablett. Gaz again proved why he is the best player in the competition, with a huge game for Taiwan, securing an important away win. Jason Winderlich also made a very impressive comeback after injuries, and hopefully he can stay in teh side for the rest of the season and put a string of good games together.
For the Strikers, the leadership group really stood up with Sidebottom and Jack both managing 150+, but it wasn't enough with a few low scores around the board.

KL Crocodiles 1551 def. by Vietnam Vipers 1652

No late changes

Best
KL: Taylor, Parker, Bellchambers
Vietnam: Leuenberger, Palmer, Reid

A first win for the Vipers in stunning fashion over the favored Crocs. Some very low scores from Savage, Davis, Caddy and Saad meant they couldn't even get over Vietnam. It was an extremely disappointing day for them.
Vietnam supporters, meanwhile, must be realising that it isn't all so bad with captain LeCras and vice captain Grigg doing enough to get an away win for the club.

Bangkok Crabs 1376 def. by Hong Kong Dongs 1780

Late changes
Bangkok: Brent Macaffer replaced Tom Hawkins
Dongs: None

Best
Bangkok: O'Meara Griffin, Motlop
Dongs: Stanton, Montagna, Hayes, Cornes, J.Brown, Kelly

A performance from the Crabs that can only be described as insipid and all round disappointing. With skipper Hawkins out as a late change, Prestia was left to captain with no deputy named to back him up. The only resistance came from young guns O'Meara and Motlop, there might be a few heads on the chopping block this week.
Meanwhile for the Dongs, it was a solid game, nothing special, but they didn't need to be against this side. Jon Brown, James Kelly and Kane Cornes all showed what they are capable of with vintage football performances.

Tibet Llamas 1751 def. by Mongolian Lambs 1820

Late Changes
Tibet: Elliot Yeo replaced Jasper Pittard
Lambs: None

Best
Tibet: Gaff, Wingard, Otten, Z.Smith, Vickery
Lambs: S.Johnson, M.Murphy, Dixon, O'Keefe, McVeigh

Tibet were competitive here and put up a good fight at home. Mongolia were too good in the end, but there were definitely some encouraging signs coming out of the Llamas camp this week. Good games for Gaff and Wingard especially are looking to show that these young midfielders can step up to become some of the best onballers in the competition.
But superstar Steve Johnson made sure that the Lambs were always going to win this one. The miracle man was showing off with his skills again, while Charlie Dixon continued his impressive form to start the season with a big 6 goal haul up forward.

Kathmandu Eskimos 1594 def. by PNG Head Hunters 1822

Late changes
Eskimos: None
PNG: Lindsay Thomas replaced S.Naismith

Best
Eskimos: Hibberd, Rioli, Jones
PNG: A.Swallow, Heppell, Burgoyne, DeBoar, Garlett, Rockliff, Ward

Kathmandu put in a poor performance and PNG was very good in their professionalism away from home. There were plenty of strong games for the HeadHunters through their young players and they looked very good in their ball transition.
For the Eskimos there weren't too many players that stood up, but Liam Jones played his first ever decent game of football. He went for the ball but still blew up after playing a half of football. Losing Rioli for 2 months is going to hurt hard.

Australian Ales 1812 def. Turkish Gazelles 1529

Late changes
Ales: None
Gazelles: Daniel Kerr and Tom Young replaced Brad Sewell and Paul Chapman

Best
Ales: J.P.Kennedy, Shuey, Wells, Mayes, Masten
Gazelles: Watson, Shaw, Cox

As was the pattern this week, another comfortable win here, this time for the Ales at home against the Gazelles. Captain Kennedy really impressed on ANZAC Day, and must have been close to winning the medal. Sam Mayes looked great in his third game as well.
For the Gazelles, a couple of late changes didn't help, and only a few experienced players in Watson, Shaw and Cox showed any fight in a game where they would have expected to do a lot better than they did. They will be looking for a lot more from their young brigade next week.

Jaeger O'Meara (Bangkok) this week's rising star with a cool 157.

Round 5 Team of the week:
Coach: BB67th (Manila)
Captain: N.Riewoldt (Bangladesh)
D: C.Dixon (Mongolia), H.Taylor (Kuala Lumpur), H.Shaw (Turkey), B.Goddard (Manila)
M: S.Sidebottom (Sri Lanka), D.Zaharakis (Taiwan), G.Ablett (Taiwan), S.Selwood (Laos)
R: T.Bellchambers (Kuala Lumpur)
F: N.Riewoldt (Bangladesh), S.Johnson (Mongolia), D.Zorko (Manila), D.Smith (Tibet)
U: T.Rockliff (PNG), H.Hartlett (UAE)



Next Week

Round # 6 3rd May 2013

ELEPHANTS v BEARS
DOLPHINS v TIGERS
VIPERS v FOLDERS
DONGS v STRIKERS
LAMBS v CROCODILES
HEAD HUNTERS v CRABS
GAZELLES v LLAMAS
ALES v ESKIMOS

[Jroo]

Awesome work BB! I liked it  ;D

[KoopKicka]

Awesome work BB!

Yeah not a great performance by my boys, but with the injuries and suspensions next week vs the Ales isnt gonna get any better. Might need to start showing them footage of round 2 at training. ;D

[Toga]

Nice one BB, looks good yet again. :)

Mongolia now has 3 wins on the trot, with an undermanned KL this week before taking on the big guns Manila in a fortnight... Can we keep up our streak and upset our top-dog rivals? :o

[Ricochet]

Very nice BB. Terrible week from KL  :-[

[Colliwobblers]

Carn the VIPERS  ;D

[Ricochet]

flower I hope Bennell and Hurley are back this week or I'm 5 starters down

[Adamant]

Nice write up BB, but highly disagree with your comment on the Bears' lack of depth. The only reason we had the donut on the weekend was because I was away and didn't have internet access to the team lists last Thursday.

If you looked at our side, you'll see that I didn't get to name Beau Waters (despite him playing) and left Bob Murphy on the field. Tuck and Jake King were also left as emergencies as I couldn't see that they were rested/injured. Our score should've been a lot higher. :P