Nationals – Division 1
Game 1 – New York Loses Game 1 in Dying Moments
Everyone knew that Calgary was going to be a tough contest coming into the tournament and Game 1 proved to be almost the match of the season. New York kicked against a strong wind in the first half, however the backline and midfield worked tirelessly to ensure the ball didn’t penetrate Calgary’s forward 50 too often. The forward line also exerted plenty of pressure and although New York had more of the ball in the first half, wayward kicking meant the Magpies lead was only 2 points at the major change.
The second half was again another enthralling contest, two of the top teams in North America playing hard, contested and unrelenting football with neither team giving an inch. The Magpies had a few chances to ice the game but Calgary’s run and carry from defense troubled the Magpies. The scores were tied with just a few minutes remaining, however, Calgary took their chances and ran over the top of the Magpies in the last few minutes, kicking what ended up being the match winning goal.
New York 2.5.17 def by Calgary 4.4.28
NY Best: Brennan, Taylor, Stone, Keating, Dixon
NY Goals: Brennan, Dixon
Game 2 – New York bounce back to OC
The OC Bombers have always been a tough match up and NY knew this would be no exception. However with NY needing a win to stay in the championship the coaching staff didn’t need to say much to players.The game was an arm wrestle from the first bounce, but New York worked their way into the game and the last 10 minutes of the first half was all New York allowing the Magpies to take a 2 goal lead into the major change.
The second half was much of the same and New York’s class rose to the top allowing them to run out comfortable winners and bounce back solidly with a win. After the game New York’s James McLoughlin said, “It was good to bounce back with a win, especially after the first game was a toss of the coin, so the boys showed what character there is in this group.”
New York 5.7.37 def Orange County 2.2.14
NY Best: McMaster, McLoughlin, Smith, Davis, Brennan
NY Goals: McLoughlin 2, Lin, Brennan, Keating
Game 3 – New York beat Golden Gate to Keep Hopes of Championship Alive
Needing to rely on other results to make it into the championship game, New York came out hard and dominated the first half. Unfortunately they couldn’t turn that game dominance into scoreboard pressure and with the windy conditions only went into the major change 1 goal up. The second half saw Golden Gate launch a number of counter attacks, however New York’s defense stood tall and only allowed 1 goal for the game which enabled NY to run out winners and finish with a 2-1 record, and waiting for the other results to see if they made the championship game.
New York 3.3.21 def Golden Gate 1.6.12
NY Best: Stone, Keating, Taylor, Spielman, Smith
NY Goals: McLoughlin, Taylor, Spielman
In the end the results didn’t fall in the Magpies favor and they were unable to defend their National Title. This loss has left the Magpies determined to get back to the top in 2012.
Nationals – Division 3
Game 1 – Undermanned New York gets run over by Atlanta
The New York Magpies second team (playing in Division 3 after winning Division 4 last year) were undermanned in their first game against Atlanta. They put in a brave effort and were down by only 3 points at half time. The Magpies were defiant, however, in the second half Atlanta had to much run and won by 5 goals.
Game 2 – New York Bounces back in a thriller over Kansas City
In their second game the Magpies received a boost with a few key players coming back into the team. In a tight game that saw the lead change 6 times in the second half, the Magpies stood tall and showed plenty of character to beat a strong Kansas City outfit.
Game 3 – New York powers past Columbus hoping to make the Grand Final
With their division title hopes still alive NY came out hard in their last round robin match. The Magpies dominated from the opening bounce but were wasteful in front of goal. Despite poor kicking, the Magpies easily accounted for Jackaroos winning by 7 goals.
Even though both teams didn’t make the Grand Finals, the club can still be very proud of the effort and results at Nationals. Finishing top 3 in the country and fielding 2 teams, along with winning the Eastern Conference made 2011 another successful year.
2012 SEASON
Not winning the 2011 National Championship has left the Magpies hungry for more success. Whilst 2011 saw some club legends retire from the club, the core group has been maintained and the players and club as a whole are looking forward to preseason training and getting back on the ground in a bid to climb back to the top of mountain.
Boston came out firing to honor the passing of one of their clubmen and got the jump on the Magpies who looked sluggish in their first game after the mid season break. The Magpies back six of Kyle, Caine, McMaster, Davis, Caldwell and Smith held firm under immense pressure and managed to repel most of Boston’s attacks.
In the second quarter the forwards started to find the ball with Bowen, Collins and Guarino all getting their hands on the Ball. Mitchell and Blandford also lifted providing plenty of crumbing power. The Magpies went into the half time break trailing by 3 goals.
The Magpies came out of the half time break trying to get back into the game but Boston had their tails up and continued to pressure the Magpies into mistakes. As a result the Magpies couldn’t get their running game going and the game continued to be played on Boston’s terms. McIntyre and Lin went down with shoulder injuries leaving the Magpies midfield depleted. Spiteri and Buxton moved into the middle and provided some run however the Magpies were still second to the ball and couldn’t close the gap on the scoreboard.
After a ferocious spray from the coaching staff at 3 quarter time the Magpies had 20 minutes to make amends for their first 3 quarters. Taylor, Murphy, Dixon and Smiley all responded by lifting their work rate and getting first hands on the ball. The move of McMaster to CHF resulted in him kicking what would have to be close to goal of the year. Lyndon and Thompson also continued to get their good run from defense and the Magpies booted 4 goals in an impressive quarter of hard running football to run out winners.
New York 11.8.74 defeated Boston 9.6.60
NY Goals: Bowen 5, McIntyre, McMaster, Blandford, Mitchell, Taylor
NY Best: Taylor, Bowen, Mitchell, Smith, Kyle
In the second game of the day the Magpies reserves team continued the theme, running over the top of the Boston reserves team. Flavel dominated in the ruck all game and Ormsby, Simson and Lyndon got plenty of the ball across the middle.
Walsh, Pezanko and Melo worked hard in defense and in the second half the forward line led by McMahon, Keeffe, Collins and Donner all got on top allowing NY to kick away to a solid win.
After the game acting captain Conor Walsh said “It was a great win by the boys today, Boston were on top early and I didn’t know if we could respond but the whole team lifted in the second half and it shows the great depth of the club.”
New York 5.2.32 defeated Boston 3.2.20
NY Goals: McMahon 2, Ormsby, Donner, Keeffe
NY Best: Flavel, Ormsby, Walsh, Pezanko, Keeffe
The Village Bohemians have capped a stunning 2011 NYCAFL season by taking out the premiership in a closely fought contest with the Suburban Tollmen (Trash) at Pier 40 in Manhattan. Also on the night the Times Square Tourists won the battle for third place and the first pick in the 2012 NYCAFL draft by defeating the Hudson River Rats and the Blue team beat the Red team in the final Recfooty game for 2011.
It was a hot and sunny start to the evening as the Times Square Tourists and the Hudson River Rats stepped out on the field for the third place playoff. The River Rats had the benefit of most of their squad being available while the Tourists needed to recruit a few ring-ins to fill out their team. Despite the heat the intensity of the game was high with the River Rats jumping out of the blocks early thanks to the strong work of midfielders Buxton, Rush, Loader and Ormsby. The River Rats were continually pressing forward to their target Bowen with only the strong defensive work of Tourist Ryan preventing a barrage of goals. Both teams worked hard throughout the half but the River Rats had the ascendancy at half time leading 4.1 25 to 2.0 12.
After the break the Tourists came out the stronger with Lin finding space and capping off his own good work with a couple of goals. Mitchell and Miller got busy and worked off the effective tap work of Smiley to put through goal after goal. The River Rats managed to pull back a couple of goals but the damage had already been done with the Tourists running out 17 point winners, 10.0 60 to 7.1 43. The win was the Tourists first for the season and secured them the first pick in the 2012 NYCAFL draft as well as some revenge for their close loss to the River Rats in the 2010 NYCAFL final.
The fourth Recfooty game saw a great turn-out from the Lady Pies resulting in a reduction in the number of male participants compared to the previous games. The first half was a relatively even contest with the Blue team jumping out to an early lead via a goal from Cartier before Staropoli pulled one back for the Red team. Another goal saw the Blue team take a 9 point lead into the break. The start of the second half was a back and forward contest with neither team able to score for the first five minutes as midfielders Licata, Barlaz, Donner and Gallogly and both teams defense saw plenty of the ball. Ultimately the Blue team scored first via McHale to take a 2 goal lead and although the teams traded goals from that point on the established lead was too much for the Red team to pull back. The final game was played in the same excellent spirit of the rest of the series and continued to introduce new Lady Pies to the great game of Australian Rules football.
The main game of the evening pitted the undefeated Boho’s against the Trash for the 2011 NYCAFL premiership. The game represented quite a turnaround for both teams who played each other in the third place playoff in 2010. With healthy squads to choose from both teams opted to tag key players from the outset with the Boho’s Kerr going to Smith and the Trash’s Walsh manning up on McIntyre. The first five minutes of the game was contested at a frenetic pace with both teams giving their one out forwards a few opportunities. The Trash broke the deadlock first via Spielman before the Boho’s hit back via Schultz. The remainder of the half saw the Boho’s with the greater number of opportunities but inaccurate kicking meant that the difference at halftime was only a couple of goals.
Both teams came out fired up in the second half with man on man footy the name of the game and several heavy contests drawing Ooh’s and Aah’s from the tens of spectators at Pier 40. Wayward kicking continued to impact the Boho’s while the Trash were generally making the most of their foray’s forward. Goals were at a premium and the Trash trailed by a straight kick and change going into the final 5 minutes of the game. A goal to Boho ruckman Buckingham gave his team some breathing space before Smith soccered one through for the Trash and maintained the goal margin. Ultimately the Boho’s managed to lock the ball up in the centre and the whistle blew to signal the end of the contest and the Boho victory, 6.1 37 to 5.0 30.
The win to the Boho’s sealed their undefeated season and rise from cellar dwellers to premiers. Illustrating the integrity of the draft, the 2011 ladder was a complete opposite of the 2010 season despite a highly competitive series of games. The Boho’s toasted their victory at Magpies club sponsor the Australian Bar & Restaurant with a significant portion of the crowd kicking on to enjoy the mighty Collingwood Magpies come from behind victory over their arch nemesis the Essendon Bombers. Thanks to all involved in the 2011 NYCAFL season especially umpires Arne Pulle, Michael Payne and Rhys Ryan and the captains of the 4 teams. The NYCAFL will return bigger and better as part of the New York Magpies 2012 season!
