After suffering their first loss of the season a few weeks ago, New York didn’t have to wait long for their chance at redemption.  The Magpies had a few key players returning and were primed to start well and that’s exactly what they did when their Captain, Andy Brennan, kicked the opening goal in the first two minutes of the game. Brennan had finished off some strong bullocking work by Donner in the forward line.

However, the Magpies seemed to relax and Philly took full advantage, winning the contested ball in the middle and controlling much of the first quarter. This enabled them to go into the quarter time break leading by 1 goal.

The second quarter saw the Magpies continue their sluggish form. The game was being played in the Magpies back half and if not for the tremendous work of their back line, the Magpies would have been down by a considerably larger margin. Caldwell, Thompson and Davis all held their opponents to little or no influence while Georgiou, McMaster and Miller found plenty of the ball. When the Magpies were able to finally get control of the possession, McMahon took a brilliant one on one mark in the goal square to kick the pies only goal of the second quarter.

At the half time break the pies were down 5.10.40 to 2.2.14 and looking in serious trouble. The coaching staff made a few changes and told the players in no uncertain term that they weren’t working hard enough.

This seemed to work as the Magpies came out breathing fire and kicked 5 goals in 10 minutes. First it was Blandford and Buxton combining to hit a leading Squires who kicked truly, then Rush and Brennan combined to kick truly for the Magpies. This was followed by goals again to Brennan and Buxton as a result of work of Kerr, Mantzaris and Taylor in the midfield. By the time Spataro had kicked truly the Pies had taken the lead and had the momentum.

Both teams wasted scoring opportunities for the rest of the quarter and NY went into the last break leading by 3 points and full of running.

The last quarter was played at a frenetic pace and with McCormick, Lyndon and Stone all winning the ball forward of the centre, however the Magpies kept wasting chances to give themselves breathing space. Keeffe, Walsh and Desai all got their hands on the ball and provided plenty of supply to the forwards and it resulted in a brilliant piece of team play ending with Torney taking a great mark running with the flight of the ball. Torney composed himself and kicked truly from 35 meters out to give the Magpies some breathing space. Despite both teams missing a few more shots on goal, the Magpies held on and out winners by 10 points. This was a high pressure game played by two high quality teams.

New York’s record for the season now sits at 5-1.

After the match New York Assistant Coach Adam Overell paid credit to how much Philly had improved saying “they got us in Philly a few weeks ago and put up another strong performance today which shows they have really come a long way”. However, Overell was also trying to find a reason for New York’s lacklustre first half saying “we thought the guys looked OK in the warmup but they just couldn’t get out of first gear in the opening half. We made a few moves at half time but it was the players who decided to put their head over the ball and have a real crack in the second half and it showed what we can do when we get going. However you can’t play half a game of football and expect to be successful so that’s something we’ll have to go away and work on”.

New York travelled to Philadelphia looking to extend their unbeaten run. However, the Magpies were slow to start and a committed Philadelphia team took advantage kicking out to an early 3 goal lead. New York seemed to be lethargic, was second to the ball and with Philly kicking with the aid of a slight breeze they took a 2 goal lead into quarter time.

The second quarter was much of the same with Philly winning plenty of contested ball and taking the most of their opportunities. NY was still being outplayed but some individual solo efforts managed to snag a few goals and only go into the major break down by 2 goals.

After a few positional adjustments at the major break, the Magpies worked their way back into the game and started to win their own ball. However, they continued to struggle to penetrate the Philadelphia backline and went into the last quarter down by a goal.

The last quarter was desperate football from both sides and NY controlled plenty of the ball in the middle however Philly managed to continually repel Magpies attacks.  The Magpies drew level, but Philly kicked the last goal of the game to take out their first win against NY.

NY Magpies assistant coach Jeremy Spiteri lamented the Pies ordinary first half saying “We were terrible in the first half, playing undisciplined football and not sticking to team structures. When we were able to get back into the game Philly were up and about and we just couldn’t over run them in the end. Full credit goes to them as they were the better team on the day. We have Philly again in 3 weeks so we’ll go away and make some adjustments”

New York Magpies 8.7.55 def by Philadelphia Hawks 10.1.61

Goals: Walkington 2, Brennan 2, Hine, Spataro, Lin, Guarino
Best: Kyle, Davis, Norman, Walkington, Walker

The Magpies first game of the day was against Philadelphia. The Magpies were keen to start strongly, and did so through Farrell in the ruck and his onballers of McIntrye, Taylor and Kerr. Injuries in the opening minutes to boom recruit Spiteri and Spielman caused issues with the Magpies rotations, however young guns Lehane and Curran gathered plenty of the ball, showing maturity beyond their years.

Schieb and S Smith provided strong targets up forward and Murphy, Keefe, and Donner all were able to make an impact in the first half. First gamer Hine was a surprise packet with a few first half goals and additional 1st half goals to McIntyre, Sani and Blandford saw the Magpies go into the major break with a handy lead.

The second half was more attacking football from New York with the run and athleticsm of Didan, Sani and Miller proving telling. Steiner and Mcmahon were rock solid in their first outing for the year and Gluck 1 and Gluck 2 managed to win their fair share the ball. In the end the Magpies appeared to have too many options and sailed to a comfortable win.

Assistant coach Brett Smiley was happy with the overall team effort, saying “It was hard to single out any matchwinners today, it really was a full team effort where everyone played their part and that was great.”

With Baltimore coming off a big win against Boston, New York knew they were in for a tough game. The coaching staff put the challenge to the playing group to produce under pressure and it set the scene for the start of the match. The first 5 minutes was what we have come to expect from a NY vs BWE clash, tough and unrelenting.

Both teams were trying to gain ascendancy with a fierce attack on the ball and NY struck the first blow with a goal to Brennan. The back six of Oui, Curran, Caldwell, McMaster, Smith and Miller stood tall and repelled multiple BWE attacks. This enabled NY to kick clear with goals to Hine, Blandford and McIntyre and go into the half time break with a solid lead. Things may have been closer had Baltimore kicked straighter.

The second half saw a similarly committed NY outfit continue their attack on the ball, led by Brennan and Blandford, the likes of Thompson, Gluck, Miller and Collins also continued the theme and gathered plenty of the ball. Whilst undersized in the ruck, New Yorks duo of Homer and Buckets toiled manfully all day and that allowed the run of Lehane, Overall, Kerr and Toby to continue the drive the ball forward which resulted in goals to…X, X and X. In the end NY ran out comfortable winners by 7 goals, however the scoreline flattered NY and didn’t represent how tough a match it was.

The second half saw a similarly committed NY outfit continue their attack on the ball, led by Brennan and Blandford, the likes of Thompson, Gluck, Miller and Collins also continued the theme and gathered plenty of the ball. Whilst undersized in the ruck, New Yorks duo of Homer and Buckets toiled manfully all day and that allowed the run of Lehane, Overall, Kerr and Toby to continue the drive the ball forward which resulted in goals to…X, X and X. In the end NY ran out comfortable winners by 7 goals, however the scoreline flattered NY and didn’t represent how tough a match it was.

After the match Coach Ormsby said “I was particularly pleased with the form of the new guys. This match was real test for them, and the team in general, and everyone stood up under the pressure so that will hold us in good stead. BWE always gives us a good contest with this one being no exception, and congratulations to them on holding a great tournament.