World Footy News

In probably the last footy of the year for the British representative team, the Danish Vikings were repelled from our shores with far more success than many of our medieval ancestors. In the first match under new Head Coach Mark Pitura, the Bulldogs ground out a well-contested win, 76-63 over their European neighbours.

Along with the Irish Warriors, the Danish and British teams are probably the strongest teams playing the full version of the game in Europe and the efforts to put in place regular fixtures between the nations will really benefit the squads in their preparation for the International Cup in 2011.

During IC 2008, the two teams met in the play-off stage, with the Bulldogs holding off a resurgent Vikings team in the last quarter to take a narrow 7-point victory. With this in mind and with a large number of players earning their first cap for the national side, the Danes are a very good test for the new-look Bulldogs. With a great tradition of handball in Denmark, their game naturally lends itself to a fast-moving, swift transferral of play between players - it's essential to be prepared for this facing the prospect of teams such as the South Africans and current IC Champs Papua New Guinea.

Conditions for the match were not optimal, with a several-goal wind piling down to the scoring end. Regular Captain Jonny Boyle was missing his first international since 2002 and stand-in captain Tom Judson chose to play into the wind in the first quarter, looking to hold the Danes at bay in the early stages and press the advantage later in the game.

The Danes took a 10-point advantage into quarter time, with some good approach play into the forwards, but the Bulldogs were encouraged by a goal into the fierce headwind. Both teams were settling well and the footy was contested hard in all areas of the pitch, with the Danes running hard around the contest to release the ball-carrier and the Brits playing a trademark physical game to get the ball free and set loose the runner.

The 2nd quarter went the way of the home team, keeping the Vikings scoreless against the wind whilst reversing the lead going into half-time. The Bulldogs' midfield were working overtime to secure and release the ball through the wings and the Danes were unable to make any serious forays into the Bulldogs 50. Rob Harmeston, the Bulldogs' BoG on the left wing was finding space well and delivering some telling balls into the forward line.

Coach Pitura gave a clear message at half time - keep the battle going, aim for better accuracy delivering the ball and mark tight, with the Danes certain to come back with the wind. Indeed, the visitors put on 5 goals in the Premiership quarter, with the Bulldogs scratching out just 1 of their own, as marking frayed a little and the opportunities started to present themselves.

16 points down at 3/4 time and with the game starting to open up, the home side threw everything into the final period, against an equally determined Danish backline. Both teams were unlucky with some shots taken by the wind, but the Bulldogs were able to maintain consistent pressure, kicking 6:6 for the quarter, restricting the Vikings to 2:1 in limited breaks forward. Backmen David James, Sam Brunton and James Howard proved their worth time and again with strong play repulsing several attacks across the half-back line. At the other end, full forward Andy Whiteaker was scrapping hard in the air and on the ground to create opportunities in front of goal and his endeavour was rewarded with a 5-goal tally for the game.

The game was played with tremendous effort and sportsmanship and the close scoreline really reflected some great play by both teams in difficult conditions. Both teams will learn lessons from the experience and new players had a great first taste of the international scene. Coach Mark Pitura called it "A very gutsy and determined performance" and was pleased to get his International Coaching career off to a good start. As the post-match warm-down progressed, news reached us from Croatia that the England Dragonslayers, coached by new Bulldogs Assistant Coach Rob Fielder, had successfully defended their EU Cup crown against the Dutch - a great end to the season for British footy!

Great Britain	1.0	4.4	5.4	11.10 (76)
Denmark	2.4	2.4	7.8	9.9 (63)

GOALS
Great Britain: Andrew Whittaker 5, Ashley Swift 2, Adam Bennett 2, Christian Lloyd 1, Richie Lucas 1
Denmark: Nicolai Secher 3, Troels Ottesen 1, Bjarke Lauritzen 1, Christian Rose 1,Søren Lassen 1, Eliud Schmidt 1, Janus Mortensen 1

BEST:
Great Britain: Rob Harmeston, Sam Brunton, James Howard, David James, Andrew Whittaker, Adam Bennett
Denmark: Thore Lauritzen, Christian Rose, Eliud Schmidt, Bjarke Lauritzen, Nicolai Secher, Troels Ottesen, Mathias Biron, Søren Lassen

The Great Britain Bulldogs

Background: Martin Smith (Team Manager)
Back (left to right): Keith Farr, Rob Harmeston, Adam Bennett, Richard Lucas, Andrew Whiteaker, Gareth Sturge, "Little" Joe Cooper, Tom Case, Christian Maine, Dominic Mitchell, Mark Pitura (Head Coach)
Front: James Howard, James Stewart, Christian lloyd, Aiden Dillane, Liam Corbett, Sam Brunton, Tom Judson (C), Paul Barry, Tom Sobush, Ashley Swift, David James, Charlie O'Hagan

The Denmark Vikings

Back (left to right): Eliud Schmidt, Nathan Campion, Martin Haastrup, Jan Petersen, Søren Kiel, Simone Malone, Jonas Holstein, Jens Djernes, Søren Lassen, Troels Ottesen (C)
Front: Mathias Biron, Chris Campion, Morten Merhøj, Joachim Secher, Lorry Rose, Bjarke Lauritzen, Anos Mortensen, Thor Lauritzen, Morten Engsbye, Dumbo Jacobsen.