World Footy News

The MAAFL crown was decided this weekend when Nashville Kangaroos met Chicago United in Nashville. The following report comes to us courtesy of Nashville's Alex Benjamin.

The crowd of 315 came together in the 92 degree (farenheit) heat to witness the first ever MAAFL Grand Final on the Kangaroos turf at Heartland Park in Donelson. Chicago came in at 3-2 record and 2-0 in the MAAFL, but their last match was 2 months ago against Milwaukee, in which they won 86-22. The Kangaroos came in at 6-2 and also 2-0 in the MAAFL after the 153-7 massacre against the Ohio Valley River Rats.

As the coin toss went this season, for the fifth time the Kangaroos lost the coin toss and Chicago elected to head to the river side of the field. The first score, however, came to the Kangaroos side of the ledger as Chris "Lawnman" Moerman kicked the opening goal at 4:25 into the quarter. After a massive collision going for the ball that involved Mischa Nemeth and Damien Serong going up for the ball against two United players, Ben Vaastra kicks his first of the contest with 11:15 to go to increase the lead to 13 at 2.1 to 0.0. After another behind, Chicago finally awakes in the second half of the opening quarter just as a passing shower comes through the grounds. Two goals by Brian Hoyt and a goal by Pat McHale brought the first lead of the day to the United at 3.0 (18) to 2.2 (14). In the final seconds of the first, a breakaway got the ball to Damien Serong nearing the goal square, but as he kicked for the goal, it hit the top of the post as the siren sounded. After the first quarter, the Kangaroos lead in marks 16-13, but trailed 3.0 (18) to 2.3 (15), their first quarter deficit in five games.

As the rain eased going into the second quarter, the Kangaroos turned up the heat in a show of absolute teamwork and efficiency as the Kangaroos took command by having the ball on the forward part of their side of the field for the first half of the second quarter. A goal by Serong (his first) coupled with 6 behinds brought the lead back to the Kangaroos at 3.9 (27) to 3.0 (18) with 9:30 left. Chicago's only score came at 7:05 left, a behind done by Paul Meyer, before the Kangaroos finished strong with two goals, one by Ben Vaastra (his second) and one by Serong (his second) to close out the scoring for the half. The second quarter marks had Nashville winning the battle again 18-8, bringing it at the half 34-21, in which the Kangaroos capitalized on 3 50 meter penalties. As far as the scoring, that went the Kangaroos way as well, going 3.7 (25) to 0.1 (1) to lead at the half 5.10 (40) to 3.1 (19).

With 40 minutes left to decide the Premiership, Coach Marty "Thommo" Thompson stressed on how important the Premiership Quarter, the third, was the biggest quarter in the last 8 years for the club and to leave it out all on the field. The team didn't disappoint as the team continued their tenacious defense and crisp marking. The first seven minutes had goals by Dee "Weeman" Vsetecka (his first), Luke "Brawny" Stockdale (his first) and an amazing goal by Ross Flemming (his first), coupled with three behinds, moved the lead out to a seven goal lead at 8.13 (61) to 3.1 (19) with 13:10 left. Finally, the United got on the board with their first goal in more than 29 minutes as Pedro Martinez kicked his first with exactly 12 minutes left to bring the gap back to 36. The Kangaroos responded with a goal less than 90 seconds later at 10:45 left by Stockdale (his second) and continued with another goal by Flemming (his second) to bring the lead back to 49 at 10.14 (74) to 4.1 (25) with 7:25 left. Chicago responded with two goals in the next four minutes, both by Rodriguez, as the gap closed back to 36 once again with just 3:15 to go. The Kangaroos responded back in the final minutes of the third quarter with two more goals, one each by Stockdale (his third) and Serong (his third) to end the scoring. As far as the scoring, the Kangaroos won it, going 7.4 (46) to 3.1 (19) in the quarter to lead at the final break 12.14 (86) to 6.2 (38).

At the final break, Coach Marty told them to bring the hammer down and win the title, even though the lead was 48 points, you can never count out the United. And the team continued to respond as they went on a scoring barrage in the final quarter as it became "The Chris Moerman Show". He kicked 4 goals (bring his total to 5) in the opening half of the final quarter, coupled with a behind to expand the lead to 16.15 (111) to 6.2 (38). The highlight goal of the day came near the end of the final quarter as Ben Vaastra kicked a low line bouncing kick that went between three Chicago defenders for his third goal of the day to seal the win and the Premiers for the Kangaroos with 4:10 left. A late rushed behind as the horn sounded by the United concluded the scoring as the United went goalless for the remaining 23 minutes of the game. The Kangaroos won the mark battle for the quarter 13-11 to win the game 63-41 and took the quarter scoring 5.4 (34) to 0.1 (1) to take home the Premiers for the first time in nine years and their third ever MAAFL title, winning 17.18 (120) to 6.3 (39).

The Kangaroos have two more Metro games remaining, the first being on Thursday, September 9th and the other on Saturday, September 18th, before heading to Louisville, KY for the 2010 USAFL Nationals, in which all likelihood the team will be in Division One for the first time in team history. The Nationals will take place the weekend of October 8-10.

Scoring by Quarter:

1st- Nashville 2.3 (15) Chicago 3.0 (18)
2nd- Nashville 5.10 (40) Chicago 3.1 (19)
3rd- Nashville 12.14 (86) Chicago 6.2 (38)
4th- Nashville 17.18 (120) Chicago 6.3 (39)

Goal Scorers: Kangaroos: Moerman 5, Vaastra 3, Serong 3, Stockdale 3, Flemming 2, Vsetecka 1
Chicago: Martinez 3, Hoyt 2, McHale 1

Umpires: Field: Steve Arnott and Grant White
Goal: Alex Benjamin and Toby Persson

Attendance: 315