World Footy News

The Dubai Heat have overcome tournament hosts, the Dubai Dingoes to claim the title in the first ever Dubai 9s competition. The Heat went through the day undefeated and took out the final in convincing style. Below are the results and a report on the event, courtesy of the Dingoes.

Matches started at 10 am, but for those involved in the set-up, the day began an hour earlier. The more than two months of planning accounts for little on the actual day; the teams are there and the fixture has been drawn up, but the day won't run smoothly unless the plans can be implemented effectively. A special thank you goes to Phil Temple who organised getting the behind posts made (the Rugby posts serving as the goal posts).

The games themselves all ran smoothly. Teams such as the Doha Kangaroos were impressive, having only landed in Dubai the day before, shaking off the jetlag and winning all of their qualifying matches.

In the middle of the day, the children from the Auskick program took over whilst the Seniors rested. A few of the Doha players were even nice enough to provide commentary of the game. The AFL donated some presents for the children, who got their faces painted in their favourite AFL club colours afterwards.

Following the break, the qualifying matches were concluded and after a moment of confusion (The Heat and the Kangaroos were undefeated, but three teams finished on two wins, and no-one seemed to know how to calculate percentage) it was declared that joining the top two clubs would be the Dubai Dingoes and the Airmiles Hawks.

The Dingoes upset the Kangaroos in their semi whilst the Heat breezed through their game against the Hawks. Preceding the final was a goal kicking competition, which was won by "Mick the Aussie" from the Dubai Celts, over the Dubai Dingoes' Nathan Seal.

The final didn't disappoint. The Heat got off to an early lead, and whilst Dubai didn't go soft, had only managed behinds by the main break. Special mention goes to Mick Atkin and his crowd-pleasing hip and shoulder on one of the Heat players, right in front of the main grandstand. In the end it was the Dubai Heat's game. The Dingoes could only manage one major, to the Heat's seven.

Congratulations go to the Dubai Dingoes and Aussie Rules International on the success of the event, and of course to the Dubai Heat for winning the inaugural Dubai Cup. They in turn wish to thank everyone who helped out on the day, especially 1980 Brownlow Medalist Kelvin Templeton, who presented the Winner and Runners-up trophies.

They also ask everyone to keep Chris Scanlon (Dubai Dingoes) in their thoughts, who suffered a multi broken collarbone in one of the club's early matches.

The next Dubai 9s competition is scheduled for February of 2007 - to coincide with the AFL's match in Dubai between Collingwood and Adelaide.

Results

Qualifiers

Satwa Swans 4.3.27 - Dubai Celts 6.4.40

Doha Kangaroos 4.7.31 - Airmiles Hawks 1.0.6

Dubai Heat 9.5.59 - Clann na hOman & Abu Dhabi United 1.1.7

Dubai Dinoges 4.4.28 - Doha Kangaroos 5.2.32

Airmiles Hawks 4.3.27 - Dubai Celts 1.3.9

Satwa Swans 1.4.10 - Dubai Dingoes 3.3.21

Doha Kangaroos 4.7.31 - Clann na hOman & Abu Dhabi United 2.3.15

Dubai Heat 9.5.59 - Satwa Swans 1.1.7

Dubai Heat 7.7.49 - Dubai Celts 1.1.7

Dubai Dingoes 3.7.25 - Airmiles Hawks 0.3.3

Satwa Swans 6.4.40 - Doha Kangaroos 7.6.48

Clann na hOman & Abu Dhabi United 0.6.6 - Dubai Celts 5.1.31

Dubai Heat 6.1.37 - Dubai Dingoes 2.5.17

Airmiles Hawks 6.7.43 - Clann na hOman & Abu Dhabi United 4.1.25

Semi Finals

Doha Kangaroos 4.5.29 - Dubai Dingoes 5.3.33

Dubai Heat 7.1.43 - Airmiles Hawks 2.1.13

Final

Dubai Heat 7.4.46 - Dubai Dingoes 1.2.8