World Footy News

On an absolutely beautiful day for footy, the Baltimore Washington Eagles (8) racked up their third win of the year defeating Eastern Australian Football League powerhouse the Boston Demons (6). It was a big day out for footy in Washington DC. The game was played at Carter Barron Park in bright sunshine and low humidity and a light breeze. Things kicked off with a free USFooty Kids clinic which was followed by a little league game and an Ausball game allowing both parents and kids to get a kick at the same time. After the preliminaries, the Eagles and the Bombers headed out for the ball up, while kids, parents, and supporters headed back to their fold up chairs and hamburgers from the grill.

While the Eagles got numbers to the ball and moved it with skill, they seemed to lack confidence and tended to over use the ball, particularly in the backline. The Demons jumped on each opportunity that the Eagles gave to them and scored a number of easy goals. But the Eagles stayed in touch with a couple of good passages, particularly through Garth Elliot on the forward flank. At the first change, the Demons had the lead 4.3.27 to 3.3.21. The Eagles came out in the second quarter with a bit more confidence after seeing that they could stay with Boston. However, Boston were getting to the ball and moving it easily in to the forward line giving them a nice lead at the big break. By half-time the Demons had slightly increased their lead to 7.6.48 to 5.8.38. Eagles Head Coach Matt Bishop had to get his charges to raise their heads and realize that despite losing the first half they were only down by 10 points. The Eagles came out in third quarter with a lot more confidence, turning the game around to take a handy lead into the final change. Chris Carroll and Garth Elliot got into the action with a number of goals and the Eagles were playing much stronger in defense. The Eagles added 3.6 to get a score of 8.14.62 to 8.7.55. The Demons were still playing with great skill but on the road and in their first game, including good games from Greg Narleski and Jon Martinez. In the end they didn't have the legs to stay with the Eagles who kicked away in the final quarter. The final scores were Baltimore Washington 13.19.97 to Boston 10.9.69.

While at times the Eagles over used the hand pass, they moved the ball up the wing well. Garth Elliot, Aaron Tyndall and Chris Carroll made good targets with Dwayne Marshall mopping in the pocket. The Eagles must have been disappointed with the inaccuracy of their kicking which allowed the more accurate Demons to stay in the game at the final change even though they didn't have as much of the ball. The final score line doesn't reflect the intensity of the game up to the final half the last quarter, when the Eagles were able to go away with the win and even kick a goal after the siren. Coach Bishop was obviously pleased with the win and looking forward to traveling up to New York on August 25 for the game that will most likely decide the EAFL Premiership. "We played well and I'm very happy. But we have certainly have a ways to go. We were mucking around with it and not moving the ball the way we can."

The other Top 10 vs Top 10 game of the weekend saw the New York Magpies (3) travel down to North Carolina to take on the Tigers (10). According to New York's Doug Lewis it was a tight game but the Magpies were able to run out with the victory 72 to 41.