On a hot Dallas summer day, 25 Austin Crows pulled on their guernseys and took to the magnificent Celebration Park in Allen, TX for a doubleheader versus the Atlanta Kookaburras and the Dallas Magpies.
In the first game, the Crows started slowly kicking into the wind. First gamer Eddie Kiel was working hard through the middle to pump the ball long to forwards Wilcox and Campbell who were getting some early looks on goal. Rucks Ryan Minnick and Jon Samuelson were controlling the ruck contests and getting the ball down to speedsters Jehangir, Herrera, and Dawson. Mat King was doing a superb job shutting down dangerous Kookaburra forward Kraska. The Crows defense really stood strong in the first half through King, Chad Benninghoff, Chi Rodrigues, Andres Campo, and Joe Long was also doing some great work down back. After a close first half the Crows went into the break up by 8 points.
In the second half the Crows took over. Clever Phil Brereton kicked 2 goals, Ford Shanley and Eric Lixey also added early goals and before long the Crows had put the game away and began to rest midfielders for the second game of the day. Bomber Smith came on and went straight into action laying his trademark bumps and had a couple of scoring chances.
Final score:
Austin Crows- 6.3 - 39
Atlanta Kookaburras- 1.2 - 8
Goalkickers- Phil Brereton- 2, Deren Wilcox, Eric Lixey, Ford Shanley, Grant Campbell
Best players- Eddie Kiel (3 votes), Ryan Minnick (2 votes), Mat King (1 vote), Noor Jehangir, Joe Long, Lalo Herrera, Phil Brereton
In the second game, Dallas was fired up to extract revenge on the Crows, who just a few weeks before had snuck home by 1 point in the "Waterbowl" game in Austin. Austin was quietly confident going into the game.
Once again midfielders Kiel, Minnick and Herrera were doing a great job getting the ball forward where Deren Wilcox was fantastic. If he wasn't taking the mark and kicking the goal, he was bringing the ball to the ground, giving great second efforts and helping crumbing forwards Ford Shanley, Grant Campbell, Rene Gloria and Mark Drinnan with some looks on goal. After some early goals by Magpie forward Duncan Relf, Robby "Love' Descant was moved onto Relf and this move proved to be a big factor in the outcome of the game with Relf not getting another touch and Descant using his speed and athleticsm in the air to stop all Magpie forward thrusts. After goals by Wilcox and Shanley, the Crows went into the break up by a few points.
At the break the Crows coaching staff urged the Crows for 20 more minutes of effort...and they responded. Ninja Jehangir after being in a earlier altercation with the Magpie ruckman, laid a fantastic shepherd that allowed the Crows to push forward and score. While Ninja laid the Dallas player out in this case, just minutes later it was him sitting on his backside after a cheap shot high hit from one of the Magpie big men. Ninja was forced to come off the ground for the remainder of the game.
Grant Campbell was his usual handy self up forward until an ongoing argument with the umpire led to him being sent off. Cambo with learn from his mistake, seek counselliong on his anger, and never call the umpire a f***whit again. While the majority of the midfielders were going down with cramps and injuries, the back line held firm through Descant, Chi Rodrigues and Eric Lixey. Joe Long and Andres Campo were also helping to repel all Magpie moves forward.
With just a few minutes to go the Crows were down by 2 points. However the midfield seemed to find life and Kiel, Herrera, Spewy Davidson, and Dawson continued to pump the ball forward. Deren Wilcox was in everything, and Sam Harris and Ford Shanley continued to have an opportunity to score. After some poor kicking on goal, and some rushed behinds, the Crows found themselves up by 1 point as the final whistle blew. The Crows gathered and belted out "the Pride of Austin Texas" for the second time for the day.
The Austin Crows are now 3 wins and 1 loss on the year. They will return to Dallas in 2 weeks on June 20 for another doubleheader versus Kansas City and Dallas.
Final score:
Austin Crows- 3.8 - 26
Dallas Magpies- 4.1 - 25
Goalkickers- Deren Wilcox- 2, Ford Shanley-1
Best players- Robby Descant (3 votes), Deren Wilcox (2 votes), Eric Lixey (1 vote), Noor Jehangir, Chad Benninghoff, Ryan Minnick, Chi Rodrigues
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