World Footy News

The following story is courtesy of Dan Eddy from the Ontario AFL.

Toronto, Ontario, October 4th – In one of the greatest Grand Final’s in the 20-year history of the Ontario Australian Football League, the Etobicoke Kangaroos have taken out their first Premiership in stunning fashion by defeating the Toronto Eagles by just one point. The victory stopped a run of two consecutive Conacher Cups for the mighty Eagles team.

The day began with an exhibition match between a metro team and a team from outside of Toronto, with the metro squad too strong in the end to the tune of 97 points. That was then followed by a junior match with students from Red Willow public school in Brampton. This was a success as the kids soaked up the chance to learn the skills of the game on a League oval in front of a big crowd.

With a junior program in the works for next season, we may see these kids playing in the OAFL before too long. It was then time for the big match, and after opening speeches from representatives from League sponsors Crown Point (Martin Walter) and the Trillium Foundation (Vincent Conville), as well as the Canadian National Anthem, the game got under way.

Like they have done most of the season, Toronto jumped out of the blocks and kicked 4 goals before Etobicoke knew what hit them. It wasn’t just the forwards firing for the Eagles though, as the defence kept the Roos to just one point at quarter time. For the rest of the first half the Roos were playing catch up, and despite kicking their first goal and holding the Eagles to only 1 themselves, the margin was still 25 points at the main break.

At half time, Broadview Hawks forward Danny Walker brought the crowd to their feet as he took out the Grand Final Sprint, and when the third quarter began both sides seemed to feed off the crowd’s enthusiasm as the game went to a new level.

There was a sense around the ground that if the Eagles could kick a couple of goals that the game would be out of reach, but the Etobicoke team thought otherwise as they matched it goal for goal throughout the quarter and actually out scored them 22 to 19 to trail by twenty two points at the final break.

Within minutes of the re-start, Eagles star Troy Marsh was issued a controversial yellow card after a heavy collision with an opponent which sent him from the field for the rest of the game. No one would have thought this would have such an effect on the game as it did and added drama to an already intriguing story line, and the Roos seized the momentum as they continually propelled the ball forward, only to see it come straight back out thanks to the mighty Eagles defenders.

It was obvious the Kangaroos were wearing their opponents down through their physical play, and finally they were able to string a couple of goals together, bringing the margin under two goals.

Now it was anyone’s game to win and Etobicoke refused to release the pressure they were applying. Ruckman Manny Matata (named in the IC08 World Team) threw himself at the contest time and time again and then it was left to playing-coach Emile Studham to become the hero.

After being beaten most of the day by Grand Final MVP Tasos Dimacakos, Studham was influential in the dying stages, kicking a crucial goal and then being the man with the ball in his hands 50 metres from goal with a minute to play, scores tied. His kicked sailed long and just cleared the behind line to register a point, giving the Roos their first lead of the day with less than a minute to play.

It was bedlam on the sidelines as every possession was heart-in-your-mouth sort of stuff for the over 600 strong supporters. The Eagles made one last ditch effort to score, bringing the ball from defence to their half forward line. But time was to be their enemy and the siren sounded and jubilation set in for all involved in the Etobicoke club. The dream of a three-peat was over for the Toronto Eagles.

This game will be forever remembered for the classic it was, and capped of a mightily successful season which included Canada’s National team, Northwind, achieving their greatest ever result at the International Cup in Melbourne. With the financial help of a number of League sponsors, the game continues to grow throughout Ontario and next season already looks promising for a number of clubs and the League as a whole.


Humber South - Toronto, Saturday 2pm October 4th 2008. Approximate crowd size was 700.

Official scores from the Grand Final are as follows:

	Toronto Eagles	Etobicoke Kangaroos
¼	4.2.26	0.1.1
½	5.3.33	1.2.8
¾	8.4.52	4.6.30
Final	8.5.53	7.12.54

Goalkickers
Toronto Eagles - Lachlan McDonald 2, Tarquin Netherway 2, Les Husar 1, Salvatore Capoferri 1, Frank Luisser 1, Andrew Garth 1
Etobicoke - Emile Studham 2, Christian Harbour 2, Colin Bigley 1, Dustin Allen 1, Mike Langer 1

Best Players
Toronto - Anastasios Dimacakos, Aaron Falcioni, George Dimacakos, Lachlan McDonald, Tarquin Netherway
Etobicoke - Murray Lovett, Adam Patterson, Matt Fuller, Kyle Bridson, Dustin Allen, Manny Matata


Early exhibition match 11am

Country 2.5.17
Metro 17.12.114

2008 OAFL Premiers - the Etobicoke Kangaroos