World Footy News

The Baltimore Washington Eagles took out the Inaugural Faststream Florida Invitational at the brand new Broward Country Cricket complex in Lauderhill Florida. The Eagles took the tourney after a solid win against Florida, squeaking by the New York Magpies by 1 point and with what coach Denis Ryan described as a "purple patch" kicking 4 goals to beat the top ranked Denver Bulldogs. New York ruckman, Joel Keating, won the MVP of the Tournament, while New York's Joey Discepola won the fastest man competition and the BW Eagles Jay Leveseque won the longest kick (61 yards).

This was the first hit out of 2008 for three of the top four teams in USFooty and the hosts of the tournament the Florida Redbacks (teamed with the Fort Lauderdale Fighting Squids). The Eagles seem to be continuing to improve after an impressive 2007 season, although the 1 point victory over the Mapgies suggests that their return match up in Washington should be an interesting one. New York Head Coach Robert Oliver was very happy with his charges. The tourney was held at the new cricket oval and everyone was very impressed with the facilities. According to Ryan, "the field we played on was the best I've played on in the U.S." Being Florida, the weather was good although warm. The wind, the defenses and the cobwebs kept the scores lower than the field quality otherwise would have suggested.

The first game saw the Eagles taking on Florida. Florida had a lot of the ball in the first half, but came away with only 5 behinds. The Eagles came back hard in the second half to win the game 3.1 (19) to 0.7 (7). The Eagles' best were coach Matty Bishop and longest kick winner, Jay Laveseque. CJ and Phil Daffey were best for Florida.

The second game had the Bulldogs taking on the New York Magpies. The first half was very tight with the Bulldogs taking it by 2 points. The second half was very defensive, but the Pies were able to get ahead. Despite both teams missing some of their stars, Oliver was happy, "With both sides missing a good number of their starters the match was a great contest with the Pies winning by 7 points". New York took the game 2.3 (15) to 1.2 (8). Rich Mann was one of the best for the Bulldogs, while Chris Murray, Joel Keating and James Polulach were best for the Magpies.

The third game saw the Bulldogs back to take on Florida. The young Florida team were able to get off to a fast start with three goals in the first half. Ryan McGettigan and Alex Mirikian leading the way for Florida. Denver came back hard in the second half, but their kicking accuracy let them down. Florida took the win over the 2007 National Champions by 2 points, 4.2 (26) to 3.6 (24). A win this young team is likely to remember for a long time.

Overall a great debut for the new stadium and the competitiveness of the matches a good sign for football in the United States.