The recent signing of Israel Folou by AFL expansion team Greater Western Sydney has been a major topic of discussion lately.  Whilst most agree Folou is a gifted athlete opinions differ on whether his signing is just a marketing stunt and if he’ll struggle to make the transition to AFL, or whether he can make a big impact. Given the NY Magpies have many players who have not had much exposure to the game, Tim Watson and Andy Maher from SEN’s morning glory show decided to get coach Ormsby’s perspective on the issue. Click on the file to listen to the interview:

The New York Lady Magpies hosted the first women’s tournament of the 2010 season at on May 8. Three teams competed in the Big Apple for the first hit out of the year: the New York Lady Magpies, the Toronto Central Lady Blues, and the Reds, a fusion team comprised of players from Atlanta, Baltimore, Minnesota, Arizona, Milwaukee, and Denver.  The tournament was a great success with tough tackling and determination at the ball under the hot sun in Yonkers, NY.

In the first game of the day, the Lady Magpies faced the Reds fusion team.  There was no home field advantage in this match however.  The Lady Magpies played 2 players down against a Reds team comprised of mostly former US Freedom players.  The skill and experience of the Reds showed on the scoreboard with the Reds racking up 10 goals in the 1^st half.

BW Lady Eagles Judith Stein and Eileen Geoghegan dominated in the middle winning most of the footy despite Erin Polulach’s fierce job in the ruck.  Lady Pie rookie Rebecca Gallogly proved to be a natural kicking 2 goals in her first game ever.  Without Jane Moore at fullback, the Reds would’ve surely doubled their successes on goal.  The Reds had to fight hard in the middle due to the constant determination at the ball of Andrea Casillas who seemed to be present wherever the footy was.  With a squad comprised of half rookies and half vets, the Lady Pies walked away with their heads high despite the loss.

1st Half

NY 1.1.7

Reds 10.6.66

Final

NY. 2.1.13

Reds 16.13.109

Goalkickers: Rebecca Gallogly 2

Best NY: 1) Rebecca Gallogly 2) Jane Moore 3) Andrea Casillas

Injuries NY: Odette Smolicz (Fractured ribs)

In a more evenly matched game, the Lady Pies took on the visiting Lady Blues.  With the addition of the McHale sisters, NY seemed to crumb the footy all over the field denying the Blues of much action in the 1^st half.  Erin Polulach’s stellar performance in the ruck for the Pies ensured that the black and white won most of the taps.  However, the Blues possessed speed and agility in the middle often coming out of the center with the footy.

Jane Moore moved up the field to a more comfortable position at full forward and successfully scored 3 goals during the match.  New York dominated the uprights with 7 goalkickers total.  The Pies tiring in the second half opened up the doors for the Lady Blues to close the gap on the scoreboard and the Blues kept the pressure on the Lady Pies the entire 40 minutes.  With ferocious tackling and struggles for the ball on the ground, these 2 squads battled it out until the end with the home team coming out on top for their second win in Lady Magpie history.

First Half

NY 6.4.40

Blues 2.1.13

Final

NY 10.8.68

Blues 3.4.22

NY Goalkickers: Jane Moore 3, Erin Polulach 2, Bec Pearce, Andrea Casillas, Monica Robbins, Rebecca McHale, Christina Licata

Best NY: 1) Siobhan McHale 2) Rachel Sweeney 3) Monica Robbins

In the last match of the day, the Reds defeated the Blues in game that seemed dominated by the experience of the veterans of US Women’s Footy.  The Blues, down some women, enlisted the aid of Lady Magpies Jane Moore and Siobhan McHale on the field.  NY’s McHale was voted best for the Blues picking the ball up and being the only goalkicker for the Canadian side.

In the Marquee matchup on super Saturday in Austin, the final match saw the Magpies take on in form Dallas. It was the clear from the opening bounce that Dallas was going to provide New York with some tough competition. Brennan won his first coin toss as captain and choose to kick with the breeze. However NY again got off to a slow start as Dallas controlled the opening 10 minutes of the game. They were able to capitalize on this with a crucial goal against the wind that had the Magpies reeling. Again the Pies fought back and Hawkins was on the end of some solid work up the field to kick truly. Mitchell and Oui dominated the dangerous Dallas forwards and that enabled the Magpies to mount multiple scoring attacks. However, the Pies couldn’t capitalize and were only up by 2 points at the half.

The coach pleaded for 1 final effort from his players and New York came out strongly. But the wind was a major factor and Dallas used it to their advantage. After holding on for the first 10 minutes of the last half, the flood gates opened with 2 quick goals to Dallas which broke the hearts of the Pies. Dallas finished full of running and sealed the win with another goal moments from time. However, epitimizing the Magpies’ spirit, with only moments to go in the game, Ash Flavel courageously put his head over the ball and the incident resulted in a badly broken nose for Ash.

Whilst the Magpies tried hard Dallas looked to be the fitter team that wanted the win a little more. Magpies’ best on ground Sam Mitchell summed it up well saying, “It was a good reality check for us and gives us plenty to learn from. We know we have some work to do, but it’s a long season.”

Dallas                4.  4.  28

New York           1.  3.  9

Best: Mitchell, Georgiou, Gluck, Buckingham, Dawkins, Davis, Squires

Goals: Hawkins

Injuries: Flavel (Broken nose), Puvi (Finger)

In the first game of the tournament the Magpies faced the hosts, the Austin Crows. Skipper Andy Brennan lost his fifth consecutive coin toss for the year and the Crows elected to kick with the aid of the strong 3-4 goal wind. The Crows came out hard and had the better of the Pies in the first 10 minutes. They were first to the ball and tackled and hunted in packs. Even though the Magpies were given first use of the ball by Buckingham in the ruck, the Pies struggled to win the clearances. In his first game back from injury Ormsby looked out of touch.  If not for the strong defense of Norman, Davis and Mantzaris and the wasteful kicking of the Crows, the Magpies would have been down by a lot.

However, after a few changes were made the Pies got back into the contest. McMaster and Squires were pushed back; JD and Iza moved up onto the ball, and Gluck, Sani and Desai all started to have an Influence on the game.

Brennan took a strong mark and kicked a crucial goal against the wind to leave the Pies less than 2 kicks down at the break.

At halftime the coach’s message was to run the game out and use the wind. This seemed to work as the Magpies came out strongly and used the ball better. Dawkins and McMaster were on the end of some good work with both kicking truly. Walt Lin was playing a commanding game, but when a desperate act caused him to go down injured Mitchell capitalized with some “Mitchell Magic” and the Pies were out to a strong lead.

However, the Crows were not to be easily brushed aside and came back hard. Smiley toiled manfully in the ruck, and some big bumps by Wittmer and controlled aggression from Squires kept the Pies coming.

Hawkins put the icing on the cake with his first goal after Pauly G, Myles and Pistol all contributed strongly.  Oui, Walker and Flavel ensured the Crows were kept goalless in the second half.

Scores:

Half Time                   Full Time

Austin                2 . 5.  17                      2. 6. 18

New York           1 . 2.   8                       5. 5. 35

Goals: Brennan, McMaster, Dawkins, Mitchell, McLoughlin, Hawkins

Best: Brennan, Dawkins, Gluck, Wittmer, Davis, Hawkins, Lin

Injuries: Lin (Ankle)