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Bloods tame the Sharks in SARFL

  • Monday, April 18 2011 @ 04:09 am ACST
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The Scottish Australian Rules Football League saw the Edinburgh Bloods host 2011 Haggis Cup Champions the Glasgow Sharks this weekend, the first meeting of the year between Scotland's two oldest Australian rules football clubs.

On a sunny but blustery day in Edinburgh it was the Glasgow Sharks that drew first blood in this contest, taking a three goal lead kicking with the wind. This proved to be a wake up call for the Edinburgh Bloods and Travis Marshall pegged a goal back before the quarter time hooter.

The Bloods then had the wind advantage but fell further behind when the Sharks hero from last week's Haggis Cup, Adam Jack, slotted from just inside the scoring zone. This however marked the end of the scoring for the Sharks, who lost Jack to a dead leg and with his injury went their attacking momentum. Another injury to defender Andy Butler didn't help the Sharks cause and the Bloods capitalised by piling on the points.

By half-time the score was 42-27 and the Bloods were fully expecting the Sharks to come back at them given the effect the wind had on the first two quarters but the third quarter proved to be the turning point. It was probably the best quarter the Bloods have played since the famous comeback in the fourth quarter against the Aberdeen Dingoes in the 2009 Grand Final.

Slick hand passing and accurate kicks were married with hard tackes, great shepards and tireless running which proved to be an unstoppable combination. Shane Faulkner grabbed a double in this quarter, his pace in behind the Sharks defence causing all manner of problems.

In the final quarter the massacre continued with Shandon Harris-Hogan getting a double and a first goal for Damien Aubrey in his first-ever game of Aussie Rules, which is quite an achievement. The Bloods even managed to keep the scoreboard ticking over when they were down to eight men when they lost Todd Costello to a five minute sin-bin for the Bloods team repeatedly running into the umpire. A great start to the SARFL season for the defending Scottish Champions.

Final score: Edinburgh Bloods 14.14 (98) d Glasgow Sharks 4.3 (27)