World Footy News

The Glasgow Sharks are the proud inhabitants of a brand new permanent footy ground in the city, one of the few in Europe. To celebrate, the ground's inaugral gameday saw the second annual Scottish Cup on March 25th, a three way tournament between the Sharks, fellow Scots the Edinburgh Bloods and the Dublin Demons - the Irish visitors proving the strongest outfit on the day.

This report courtesy of Eddie McAvinchey from the Scottish ARFL. There's also a match report on the ARFLI website.

The Glasgow Sharks hosted the pre-season Scottish Cup on 25 March at Glasgow’s new home of Aussie Rules. An incredible effort from the staff at the Parks Office at Victoria Park, Scotstoun, has seen the establishment of the first permanent Aussie Rules ground in the UK. The ground was finished late on Friday evening and saw its first competitive match the next day, as the Glasgow Sharks entertained their Edinburgh rivals and the visiting Dublin Demons.

Edinburgh saw off Dublin in the first of the round robin matches by a matter of only a few points in a tight contest. Scott Robins weighted in with two goals for the Edinburgh Bloods, and Clifford Richardson dominated for them in the ruck. But Dublin’s leading forward was marking strongly in the goal square and made the most of the chances which came his way, taking 3 goals. An eight point win for Edinburgh resulted from better distribution of the football and some good attacking play.

Glasgow then took to the field against the Edinburgh Bloods, hoping to reverse last October’s defeat in the Grand Final of the Scottish Australian Rules Football League. This time around Glasgow started brightly and had two early chances to convert goals, but tight Edinburgh defence resulted in behinds. Edinburgh then took the lead before Eddie McAvinchey marked the ball 30 metres from goal for Glasgow. His resulting goal drew the sides level. The Sharks then drew further in front when Andrew Dubjowski broke through the centre and clinched another goal for the Sharks. Glasgow held the lead by 3 points going into the second half and extended it further when Patrick Levi scored a remarkable goal from the tightest of angles, making the most of his free kick after being fouled in the goal square. However, a classy Edinburgh side then stepped up a gear and three unanswered goals handed Glasgow an unlucky eight-point loss, the match ending Glasgow 3.1 (19) to Edinburgh 4.3 (27).

Glasgow then took the filed against a fast and athletic Dublin who led from the start. Two early goals from the Demons side were followed by three more before halftime, before Patrick Levi again goaled for the Sharks to give them some hope at halftime. However, in the second half the Irish showed why they’d been a close second in the Irish league last season and turned on a dazzling display, following up their first half display with 4 unanswered goals. Glasgow failed to take opportunities which fell their way and registered three behinds when the goals beckoned. The match ended Glasgow 1.5 (11) to Dublin 9.4 (56).

A tough and hard-fought final between Edinburgh and Dublin saw the Irishmen come out on top in the closest game of the day. Both sides were incredibly evenly matched throughout the game and the lead changed hands a number of times. Seamus Garrivan and Clifford Richardson both had good performances for Edinburgh in sharing ruck duties, while Julian Callaghan ran the well ball and ensured good Edinburgh distribution. Up front Scott Robins, getting a lot of attention from Dublin’s Declan Drummey, was a constant threat for Edinburgh. However, the Irish side battled throughout the game in every position and the medical attendants were kept busy with a number of heavy clashes as they committed themselves to everything. The superb leading and marking of Fraser, the Irish key forward, was the difference between the sides however and he took every chance which came his way. There was 7 points in it to Dublin with 5 minutes to go after their last goal, and that how is stayed at full time.

Our congratulations to Dublin for winning the competition and Glasgow’s thanks go to both them and Edinburgh for making their way to Glasgow for the competition.