World Footy News

On a cool and windy day in Louisville, KY, the Cincinnati Dockers Australian Rules Football Club began their 14th season at the preseason John Harrell Memorial Cup Tournament this past Saturday. Between the A and B squads, the Dockers finished the tournament with a 1-3 record, playing against squads from Nashville and Columbus.

Cincinnati’s A squad started their tournament against the Nashville A squad. Cincinnati had plenty of shots on goal, but only managed 2 goals out of 7 scoring shots, while Nashville earned more scoring shots and were more accurate. The final score had the Nashville Kangaroos winning with 6 goals and 6 behinds for 42 points beating Cincinnati with 2 goals and 5 behinds for 17 points. The second game against the Columbus Jackaroos was much closer, thanks in large part to the Dockers defense. Columbus had 15 scoring shots to Cincinnati’s 8; however, the defensive pressure forced several inaccurate Columbus kicks. This was not enough, and Columbus came out 7-point winners. Columbus with 3 goals and 12 behinds for 30 points to Cincinnati with 3 goals and 5 behinds for 23 points.

On the other field, the Cincinnati B (B squad matches played in 9-a-side format- Ed) squad started things off in promising fashion against the Columbus B squad. The Dockers were able to prevent the Jackaroos from using the wind to their advantage in the first half, while using it to their advantage in the second to come out as victors. Cincinnati won with 7 goals and 7 behinds for 49 points to Columbus with 5 goals and 2 behinds for 32 points.

In the B squad’s second match, they challenged the B squad from Nashville. This was a tale of two halves. The Dockers started with the wind advantage, but were not able to get into the forward line often, and did not kick goals well, thus only taking a slight lead into halftime. In the second half, Nashville turned on the afterburners, scoring quickly and often. Nashville came out winners with 8 goals and 2 behinds for 50 points to Cincinnati’s 2 goals and 6 behinds for 18 points.

Even though there were more defeats than victories, this was an invaluable experience for the Dockers, who had many new players play their first games, as well as shaking off the rust from the offseason. Cincinnati will start their regular season next month on Saturday, June 5th, when the Dockers travel to Chicago, IL to take on the reigning champions of the Mid American Australian Football League (MAAFL), Chicago United.

For more information about the Dockers please visit their website at www.cincinnatidockers.com. To contact the Dockers, please send an e-mail to dockers@cincinnatidockers.com.

Note: The Cincinnati Dockers combine with the Louisville Kings for all 2010 MAAFL games.