World Footy News

Footy in Russia is no longer a one horse race. The domination of the Lazy Koalas (albeit a brief domination) has ended and Moscow is now being challenged as the Russian powerhouse of Australian Rules footy with the St Petersburg Cats winning their latest match.

The Cats were the home team this time around, having gone down to the Lazy Koalas in Moscow a few weeks ago. The lazy Koalas have been up and about as a club for a couple of seasons, but it is only this year where the St Petersburg cats have entered into a regular competition.

It is roughly 650 kilometres between the two Russian cities (very roughly the same distance from London to Edinburgh, a little more than Los Angeles to San Francisco and a little less than Melbourne to Adelaide). Due to the distance, regular tournaments are problematic, but becoming more frequent – and desired.

It marks the inaugural victory for the St Petersburg Cats, and their coach/founder, Slava Belov, was a proud man describing the day. He stated that “we played few in numbers but it gave us the opportunity to use open space and gave us the time for good decisions. Cats did play really well, [with a] fast running and passing game. Yaroslav Zabaydullaev is an MVP with great defending plays (covering spoiling, pressure, and touches on the goal line converting potential goals into behinds). The top goal kicker was Sergey Darovskih. For both of them it was only the second official match.”

The club’s wall page on their website issued this (edited) match description:

“The fans gathered in the stands of the small sports arena witnessed an intense match with a stubborn struggle on each section of the field. Starting segment [of the]match turned out to be quite equal, but then the hosts seized the initiative and managed to break away from the opponent by more than 20 points. [The Koalas] nevertheless, found the strength to fight back in the final quarter and reduced the gap to three points. But the ending of the meeting still existed for the Cats. After a few successful attacks, they confidently brought the match to a win with a score 92 to 75 At the end of the match top scorer was Sergei Darovskikh, and the title of most valuable player was Jaroslav Zabaydullaev [who] repeatedly rescued the team from [opposition hands] as the last defender. We thank the team Lazy Koalas for the visit and a friendly atmosphere during the match, and, of course, congratulations to Cats with the first victory!”

Quarter Time: Cats24 Koalas19
Half Time: Cats 45 Koalas 34
Three Quarter Time: Cats 77 Koalas 55
Final Score: Cats 92 d Koalas 75

It is great to see the game growing so well across two Russian cities. Congratulations to both teams and all of the people associated with the game in Russia over the years. Congratulations also to the St Petersburg Cats on their first win as a club.

Photo: Players from both the Lazy Koalas (left) and the St Petersburg Cats (right)