World Footy News

The Swedish Elks took on the Finland Icebreakers in front of a crowd of around 200 people at the Årsta field in Stockholm on the weekend, with the Elks running home comfortable winners by 86 pts, Sweden 14.12 (96) to Finland's 1.4 (10).

The game was the first 18-a-side hit-out for the Finns, who are currently running their first domestic season and preparing for their IC campaign. The Swedes on the other hand had a point to prove, after going down to the Danes a few weeks ago and anxious to show the AFL and the international footy world that they are the real deal.

This report courtesy of Swedish Elks' coach Cameron Crooks.

The Elks kicked with the wind in the first quarter and after a nervous first 5 min which saw neither team scoring, the Elks got their composure together with some explosive running through the packs by Hans Andersson to register the first goal of the game.

From there on the Elks did not look back, with Robin Nilsson, Joel Tjernlund and Janne Nilsson all kicking magnificent goals in a matter of minutes as the home side broke away with the Finns were unable to deal with the wind. Hans Andersson once more used his pace out of the center to record his 2nd goal of the match as the Elks went in at quarter time with 5 un-answered goals.

With the Swedish backman not even breaking a sweat in the first quarter it was now their turn to hold the tall Finnish forwards in the second, and that they did. Patrik Hyberg at center half back was the back bone of the defence with some great marks not allowing the Finnish forwards to touch the ball. Patrik Karlsson along side with Lars Hagberg and Kalle Nilsson stood their ground and ran the ball out of the backline with some great skill to allow the centre line to set up Swedish forward Tjernlund to kick a goal. Once again the stand out was Andersson with another 2 exciting goals to put the Elks up by 8 goals going into the long break.

The third saw a repeat of the first as the Finns were unable to get into the game. The Elks could have played hungry football, with everone trying to run down into the forward line to kick a goal, but they did not. With a point to prove to the AFL, the Elks sticked to the game plan to further increase the lead with another 5 goals for the quarter.

With skipper Andy Svensson having a spell on the sidelines Roger Nilsson filled the spot nicely getting a few handy possesions around the centre. Wingers Michael Nabb and 2 goals in the quarter from Joel Språng worked perfectly together setting up the wall at half forward. Full Forward, Christopher Fager, who lead hard all day and set a up few goals, was rewarded with a goal for him self in the middle of the term.

Having the game all but sewn up with a 14-goal lead the Elks had one more quarter together before they meet up in Australia and to show the poeple who doubted us that we are the real deal. With the wind getting stronger it was very difficult to even kick the ball 30 meters, but the running game by the Elks with some brilliant linking up handballing was very eye catching.

The quarter saw the Elks continue their dominance of the game with backman Lars Hagberg being pushed up into the forward line kicking an inspiring goal. After that, the Finnish boys finally got over their seasickness by having the ball in their forward line for most of the second half of the quarter and were rewarded by a goal, but it was too little too late as Sweden retained the Baltic Cup.

Full results, goal kickers and team lists at the Footy Record.