World Footy News

The Norwegian Australian Rules football season came to a close earlier this month with the grand- final of the nation’s Kenguru Cup. This year, Oslo East proudly claimed the title back after the Ås Battlers won in 2013. But this season went down to the wire, not only on the big stage of the grand-final, but also in the final round of matches.

The final round of matches certainly provided the perfect excitement level. Going into the day, Oslo East were clear minor premiers, finishing three games ahead of the field. But the excitement would come in the battle between the Ås Battlers and Oslo West to see who would meet East in the grand- final. Mathematically, Oslo West could get there if they won both games on the day.

The Oslo derby remained hard fought as West tried valiantly to stay in the grand-final race, but they went down in the end by 19 points. Final score saw Oslo East 7 5 47 d Oslo West 3 10 28.
By now it was clear that the Ås Battlers had almost done enough to reach the grand-final, so the next match was about flexing muscle for both sides. Whoever won this match would probably take a strong psychological advantage into the grand-final. In a see-sawing and exciting game it was the Olso East team which outlasted the Battlers in a thriller, winning the match 4 6 30 to 4 4 28.

The last match of the round then saw the Battlers take on Oslo West, who could still reach the final with a big enough win. A 21 point or more win would see them get there on percentage. But the Battlers knew this and what transpired was the most exciting match of the season as the combatants played out a spine-tingling draw – the first ever in Kenguru Cup history. Final score locked at 5 4 34 apiece.

The stage was now set for the grand-final in Ekeberg, Oslo. The Oslo East team would take on the Ås (Hill) Battlers. The big day did not disappoint either. After an incredibly hard fought first half where the ball continued to travel from end to end through solid defence, the result was a goalless half of football. The game opened up in the second half with both sides finding the big sticks. But it took two goals late in the game from Robin Hunter, the last just three minutes from full time, for Oslo East to put away the Ås team. The final score saw Oslo East win the Kenguru Cup for 2014 – Oslo East 4 12 36 d Ås (Hill) Battlers 3 3 21.

After a fantastic finish to the AFL Norway season, and Oslo East now able to keep the bragging rights until the new 2015 season begins, attention turns to the Euro Cup for the Norwegian national team.

The Norway team will be looking to replicate or better their efforts in Edinburgh from 2012 when they took out the Euro Plate in their Euro Cup debut. After that there is the possibility of the team returning to Vilamoura in Portugal for the Algarve AFL 9’s tournament where they went down in the final to the Flying Dutchmen, and would be keen to make amends for that.

Certainly, the 2014 season in Norway will be remembered for one of the tightest finishes to a Kenguru Cup competition for some time.




Left: The victorious Oslo East team