World Footy News

The St Petersburg Cats have added another trophy to their ever-growing cabinet by taking out this year’s first ever Baltic Cup to be played in Tallinn, Estonia. The event saw teams from Russia, Finland, Sweden and Poland compete for the honour of being the best Baltic team.

The Cats and the Russian Bears headed to Tallin to meet the Helsinki Heatseekers from Finland, Norrtälje Dockers from Sweden and the newly formed Polish Devils. In the end, after 10 round matches, it was the Cats team which took the title from the Dockers, benefitting from the tie-breaker clause which said that if two teams tied in top spot, the victor would be whichever team won from their earlier encounter.
Round Three saw the Cats down the Dockers, which meant they took out the tie-breaker after both teams recorded three wins apiece.

Scores:
R1 – St Petersburg Cats 29 d Polish Devils 24, Norrtälje Dockers 39 d Russian Bears 18
R2 – Helsinki Heatseekers 42 d St Petersburg Cats 28, Norrtälje Dockers 55 d Polish Devils 26
R3 – Helsinki Heatseekers 33 drew Russian Bears 33, St Petersburg Cats 31 d Norrtälje Dockers 14
R4 – Helsinki Heatseekers 54 d Polish Devils 15, St Petersburg Cats 39 d Russian Bears 27
R5 – Norrtälje Dockers 47 d Helsinki Heatseekers 32, Russian Bears 70 d Polish Devils 3

Table:
Cats 12 (win title based on R3 victory over Dockers)
Dockers 12
Heatseekers 10
Bears 6
Devils 0

Whilst there were no Estonian players taking the field for any team on the day, the biggest win for AFL Estonia was simply having such a special event played in the country for the first time. This is sure to boost interest in the game in Estonia and it is hoped that perhaps this could be the catalyst for a national team, likely based in Tallinn, for next year’s event or perhaps sooner.

Nevertheless, the Baltic Cup has been deemed a huge success for developed teams such as the Cats, Heatseekers and Dockers as well as being a reboot for the Russian Bears and the fledgling Polish Devils.