World Footy News

Written by Christina Licata

The New York Magpies sewed up the 2009 EAFL Premiership this Saturday August 29 by taking down the Boston Demons at home at Tibbetts Brook Park. In extremely muddy conditions reminiscent of June’s slosh-fest against Baltimore-Washington, the home team kept the visitors goalless. This is the Pies’ first top-of-the-ladder finish in the EAFL since 2005, ousting reigning champions for the past 2 years, the Baltimore-Washington Eagles.

The Pies dedicated the victory to club stalwart and former president Doug Lewis, who celebrated his 100th game on Saturday - no small achievement in a league that plays only about 10 games a year!

The match was played under extremely wet conditions, the ground had a fair covering of water. This was an extremely physical contest and resembled a rolling maul at different times. The first quarter saw no goals kicked only behinds.

The second quarter saw the magpies kick 2 goals and establish a break. Boston fought back in the third quarter and held the Magpies scoreless, but only managed 2 behinds.

Final quarter saw the Magpies kick 2 goals three behinds to 1 point. The magpies won a tough contest against there traditional rivals and so retain the ANZAC PLATE for 2009.

Doug Lewis played his 100th game for the Magpies in this match. Doug has been a great player for the Magpies over a long period of time. He is a greatly respected member of the club and the players certainly rose to the occasion to make sure we had a memorable win for him. His 100th was also one of his best, his steadiness in defense and clearing dashes off the backline were a highlight of the day. Congratulations Doug on a wonderful milestone.

Joel Daniher had another best on field performance and his ability "to be where the ball is" is a feature of his game. Ojas Desai’s role in the center was pivotal to the Magpie’s win, a tireless work ethic in extreme conditions. For the Demons, Joe Fantony was thrust into an on-ball roll in the first half and a tagging role later in the game and did a fantastic job according to his coach Scott Nicholas.

Demons Coach Nicholas was obviously disappointed with his team's inability to put a major on the board. "Very tough day for us. Very slippery and scrappy. We were certainly outplayed in the conditions."

New York 0.2 2.4 2.4 4.9 (33)

Boston 0.2 0.3 0.5 0.6 (6)

GOALKICKERS

New York: Shane Batty 1, Zac Keane 1, Ed McCormick 1, Stan Tenkovsky 1.

Boston: Nil.

BEST PLAYERS

New York: Joel Daniher, Doug Lewis, Ojas Desai, Andy Brennan, Dylan Bryant.

Boston: Joe Fantony, Paddy Tangney, Matt Garofolo, Michael Sheppard.

Article courtesy of www.usfootynews.com