Apologies for the two day delay but technical problems managed to effect my update schedule.
As you probably now know, the USA 12, held out Canada 10 to take gold on Saturday night, a result which, if nothing else, made me feel better after I had tipped them several weeks ago to do the same thing.
This game managed to deliver for the fans, with neither side managing to pull ahead for very long.
Quarter by quarter break down was USA 3-2, 8-4, 8-8, 12-10. As can been seen, the US managed to pull away into what should have been a comfortable winning lead at half time only to have the Canadian's pull back. We then had some wonderful goal for goal lacrosse before the US managed to get hold of a 11-10 lead late in the quarter.
At this stage Canada went the all or nothing, subbed off their goalie during a time out and attempted to win back the ball with an extra defender and an open goal. Smart but risky play for if the attack gets a bit of space to pass, then it is a reasonably easy goal. Hence the 12-10 scoreline with 1:19 to play.
Canada then managed somehow to pull an illegal procedure somewhere. Exactly what that was you will have to watch the video as I wasn't sure at the time and are still not sure now. Canada to their credit, will not die wondering. They did push to get the ball back for the remaining minute and as a result fouled several times. The US probably could have pushed for a 3 goal lead but decided to keep possession and run the game down. Maybe not what the fans wanted, but smart lacrosse and, with the intensity the Canadian's showed to get the ball back, not easy lacrosse to pull off.
Which brings us mildly to a few annoying parts of the game. USA, being of course one of the (cough) 'better' sides in the world, is naturally regarded as the Over Dog and a team that most of the rest of the world would like to see lose.
Now of course there is a good reason why they are the Over Dog - they are bloody good. While they did show some average passages of play during the game (my notes show references to US stick chasing that lead to Canadian goals and I do think that during the 3rd the US should not have allowed Canada back into the game by that amount) but over all they played a better game for a lot longer then the Canadian's did.
Why?
Well I for one put it down to being a better team.
So it was slightly disappointing for a fan of the game to be sitting up in the stands during the last quarter watching the US team being given the 'Boring Boring Boring' chant for the reason that the US had not managed to get a shot off for the last 3 mins. Considering at that time the US were still one down and if they didn't get a goal then they were going to lose, I think you could safely assume that the US were not actually being boring, but were instead trying very hard to set up for a good shot. Sorry kids, this is the Grand Final game where you only get to win once every 4 years, not your club game where you can shoot the moment you get in front of the goal.
Championship wrap up later...
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Bronze Australia
Japan and Australia played off for bronze and 3rd ranking in the 1pm game today.
Australia won(?) the right to this game after Thursdays semi against Canada. In a more solid game then Australia seems to have brought out this championships, Australia managed to keep with Canada for the first 30 mins and twice, for several glorious minutes, actually led the game.
Canada however is a team who when they are going to score, can score quickly and the score when from a respectable 3-4 down at 11mins into the second quarter to 3-8 at half time. Frankly, if you are going to let a team score 6 in a row against you then you really should be strong enough to go out and score the next 5.
Australia managed to claw back a goal to be 6-10 at three quarter time but that was about it, Canada breaking away to have the score at 6-15 at full time.
Which brought Australia into the Saturday Bronze game against Japan.
After the lost to Japan in the round robins I think everyone was expecting another tight hard game. Australia however had clearly had a good look at this earlier game and pretty much controlled the result for most of the game. Score was Australia 3-0 at quarter time before pulling out to a 9-2 lead at half time and 14-4 at three quarters.
Japan had some late flashes but in large did not seem to shoot as well as in their earlier games, fully missing the cage in probably about 2/3rds of all their shots. Not that Australia actually kept well which gave the game a vague feeling of disinterest which seemed to creep in from time to time.
End score was 16-9 which of course gives Australia another bridesmaid and Japan their best international finish. Missing of course from the 2010s were the Iroquois so maybe Japan was lucky, but they held England to a close loss and of course deserved their earlier win against Australia.
Australia, as mentioned earlier, collects another bridesmaid and even then didn't really get a chance to pick the dress. While 3rd is definitely better then getting completely humiliated and not even getting a game on the Saturday, we didn't manage to trouble for long USA or Canada in any of the three games against those two teams. In that every player and fan dreams of doing better, 2010 will probably have to be listed as a disappointment.
Coming soon, USA v Canada for the money shot.
Australia won(?) the right to this game after Thursdays semi against Canada. In a more solid game then Australia seems to have brought out this championships, Australia managed to keep with Canada for the first 30 mins and twice, for several glorious minutes, actually led the game.
Canada however is a team who when they are going to score, can score quickly and the score when from a respectable 3-4 down at 11mins into the second quarter to 3-8 at half time. Frankly, if you are going to let a team score 6 in a row against you then you really should be strong enough to go out and score the next 5.
Australia managed to claw back a goal to be 6-10 at three quarter time but that was about it, Canada breaking away to have the score at 6-15 at full time.
Which brought Australia into the Saturday Bronze game against Japan.
After the lost to Japan in the round robins I think everyone was expecting another tight hard game. Australia however had clearly had a good look at this earlier game and pretty much controlled the result for most of the game. Score was Australia 3-0 at quarter time before pulling out to a 9-2 lead at half time and 14-4 at three quarters.
Japan had some late flashes but in large did not seem to shoot as well as in their earlier games, fully missing the cage in probably about 2/3rds of all their shots. Not that Australia actually kept well which gave the game a vague feeling of disinterest which seemed to creep in from time to time.
End score was 16-9 which of course gives Australia another bridesmaid and Japan their best international finish. Missing of course from the 2010s were the Iroquois so maybe Japan was lucky, but they held England to a close loss and of course deserved their earlier win against Australia.
Australia, as mentioned earlier, collects another bridesmaid and even then didn't really get a chance to pick the dress. While 3rd is definitely better then getting completely humiliated and not even getting a game on the Saturday, we didn't manage to trouble for long USA or Canada in any of the three games against those two teams. In that every player and fan dreams of doing better, 2010 will probably have to be listed as a disappointment.
Coming soon, USA v Canada for the money shot.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Thunder bolts and Lightning - Pt 2
The Lightning cleared
The crowd cheered
The players rejoined the field
A ball was passed
The question asked
Would Australia yield?
The brave blue and white Scots
Put in the shots
This was history in the making
If they could keep the pace
Or win from the face
A upset for the taking?
For reasons hard to say
after the long delay
Australia dropped a quarter
The Scottish fans
Who filled the stands
Ask could their team complete the slaughter?
Come the quarter last
One final task
to play some final minutes twenty
The Australian team
In gold and green
Came and shot goals aplenty
Australia got their win
And with a tired grin
Knew the Mabel Leaf would waiting
And as the Scots would learn
Lacrosse field honour earned
Made them a team that no one's hating.
The crowd cheered
The players rejoined the field
A ball was passed
The question asked
Would Australia yield?
The brave blue and white Scots
Put in the shots
This was history in the making
If they could keep the pace
Or win from the face
A upset for the taking?
For reasons hard to say
after the long delay
Australia dropped a quarter
The Scottish fans
Who filled the stands
Ask could their team complete the slaughter?
Come the quarter last
One final task
to play some final minutes twenty
The Australian team
In gold and green
Came and shot goals aplenty
Australia got their win
And with a tired grin
Knew the Mabel Leaf would waiting
And as the Scots would learn
Lacrosse field honour earned
Made them a team that no one's hating.
Thunder bolts and Lightning - Scotland v Australia
As we type, the Scotland v Australia game is delayed at 16mins into the second half due to weather.
Visible to the north east of the grounds is a fair bit of lightning, and although it does not really seem to be anywhere near the ground and does seem to be moving SLOWLY further to the north, the game was delayed for 20 mins.
That was about 45 mins ago. With the score at Australia 9 Scotland 2 and no real indication on when the game will restart, most fans unfortunately seem to have come to the conclusion that IF the game restarts, Australia will continue to win 80% of the face and continue to slowly put goals on.
So they left.
Disappointment really, especially for the Scottish who at least deserved the respect of a full game.
Visible to the north east of the grounds is a fair bit of lightning, and although it does not really seem to be anywhere near the ground and does seem to be moving SLOWLY further to the north, the game was delayed for 20 mins.
That was about 45 mins ago. With the score at Australia 9 Scotland 2 and no real indication on when the game will restart, most fans unfortunately seem to have come to the conclusion that IF the game restarts, Australia will continue to win 80% of the face and continue to slowly put goals on.
So they left.
Disappointment really, especially for the Scottish who at least deserved the respect of a full game.
Upcoming Games - Wednesday
With the minor games out the way the fun moves into the play off games.
Here the top of the other divisions get a change to kick some of the Blue Division teams out of the finals.
Top two teams in Blue Div, USA and Canada, get the day off to sit with their feet on the chairs and sip cocktails... or whatever they do on their days off, probably 4 hours of ground ball drills and 2km sprints, while Japan (3rd in the Division) plays the Dutch at 4:30 with Scotland having a go at Australia in the 7:30 game.
Winner of Japan and Holland play the USA in tomorrow's late game while the better of Scotland and Australia will take on Canada at 4:30. Winner and losers from those two game then square up on Saturday for the metal games.
Here the top of the other divisions get a change to kick some of the Blue Division teams out of the finals.
Top two teams in Blue Div, USA and Canada, get the day off to sit with their feet on the chairs and sip cocktails... or whatever they do on their days off, probably 4 hours of ground ball drills and 2km sprints, while Japan (3rd in the Division) plays the Dutch at 4:30 with Scotland having a go at Australia in the 7:30 game.
Winner of Japan and Holland play the USA in tomorrow's late game while the better of Scotland and Australia will take on Canada at 4:30. Winner and losers from those two game then square up on Saturday for the metal games.
German outclassed
In Australia's final game in the Blue Division round robin came out and solidly defeated Germany.
This game would have produced a minor dilemma for Australia. While firm favourites, this is also a game where an upset loss would effectively end Australia's Championship, while a close game or a powerhouse domination leads to risk of injuries for the more important later games. Also in the back of many people's minds would be the need to answer the question of 'Is Australia still a top three nation?'
Australia, to my mind, came out solidly and kept Germany scoreless until just before the half time (13-1). There were a few periods of brain freezing for Australia (the German goal right after half time being a prime example) as well as a few German surprises but generally by then Australia had the game well under control and the entire stadium knew it.
What then seemed to come out from a few minor parts of the crowd was an ugly attempt to heckle and harass the umpires. This was largely uncalled for and slightly embarrassing to be even remotely associated with. Sorry Mister German fan, but that umpire's call wasn't THAT bad and when your team is 12 goals down I am really sure that your team losing possession for that push REALLY cost you the game.
End score 22-4
This game would have produced a minor dilemma for Australia. While firm favourites, this is also a game where an upset loss would effectively end Australia's Championship, while a close game or a powerhouse domination leads to risk of injuries for the more important later games. Also in the back of many people's minds would be the need to answer the question of 'Is Australia still a top three nation?'
Australia, to my mind, came out solidly and kept Germany scoreless until just before the half time (13-1). There were a few periods of brain freezing for Australia (the German goal right after half time being a prime example) as well as a few German surprises but generally by then Australia had the game well under control and the entire stadium knew it.
What then seemed to come out from a few minor parts of the crowd was an ugly attempt to heckle and harass the umpires. This was largely uncalled for and slightly embarrassing to be even remotely associated with. Sorry Mister German fan, but that umpire's call wasn't THAT bad and when your team is 12 goals down I am really sure that your team losing possession for that push REALLY cost you the game.
End score 22-4
Monday, July 19, 2010
Australia v Japan
Twitter answer...
Japan by 2. History made. Sucks it was us. They deserved it. Japan played V well.
(a blog answer would go on to say how Japan were a very aggressive, fast, and confident side who played over the 80 mins a more disciplined game. While I think more commentators would agree that Australia is the more 'skilled' side, that dosen't could for much unless you can display that skill for 80 solid minutes. Australia let Japan take a 4 goal lead and then tried to play catch up. Big question from the people at home - how did this happen?
World Lacrosse - make mistakes and teams will take them. Moral of the story? Don't make mistakes.)
So, rambling aside, where does that leave us in the rankings??
Well, England beat Japan, Japan beat Australia and Australia beat Japan. Assuming of course that German goes winless in the division when Australia play them tomorrow and USA and Canada do what everyone expects them to do (ie. WIN) then Japan, Australia and England will all finish on two wins.
In case of tie breakers for placings, the games against each other, and those games only, could for goals for and against.
So it doesn't matter that Team A defeated Team C 4000 to nil when Team B only won by two, it matters what Team A defeated Team B by. So, as it currently stands, as long as Australia do NOT screw up against Germany and the Japan v USA and Canada v England games both go North American, then Australia will finish (slightly) higher on goal differences, finish in top 4, and still be in the running for the metal games.
Japan by 2. History made. Sucks it was us. They deserved it. Japan played V well.
(a blog answer would go on to say how Japan were a very aggressive, fast, and confident side who played over the 80 mins a more disciplined game. While I think more commentators would agree that Australia is the more 'skilled' side, that dosen't could for much unless you can display that skill for 80 solid minutes. Australia let Japan take a 4 goal lead and then tried to play catch up. Big question from the people at home - how did this happen?
World Lacrosse - make mistakes and teams will take them. Moral of the story? Don't make mistakes.)
So, rambling aside, where does that leave us in the rankings??
Well, England beat Japan, Japan beat Australia and Australia beat Japan. Assuming of course that German goes winless in the division when Australia play them tomorrow and USA and Canada do what everyone expects them to do (ie. WIN) then Japan, Australia and England will all finish on two wins.
In case of tie breakers for placings, the games against each other, and those games only, could for goals for and against.
So it doesn't matter that Team A defeated Team C 4000 to nil when Team B only won by two, it matters what Team A defeated Team B by. So, as it currently stands, as long as Australia do NOT screw up against Germany and the Japan v USA and Canada v England games both go North American, then Australia will finish (slightly) higher on goal differences, finish in top 4, and still be in the running for the metal games.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
July 19 line up and predictions
In the Stadium three more Blue Division games to watch on the Monday.
First will be Germany v Canada. Safe money for most fans would be on a repeat of the Germany v USA game and a chance for Canada to give their second string some field time.
Next up in what should be game of the day, Australia plays Japan. Japan of 2010 is very fast, very aggressive and move the ball with a confidence they lacked four years ago in London. With the need to finish in the top 4 of the division for a chance at the medals, this game is vital for both nations. Australia probably favourites but this should be a close nail-biter.
Finally to close at 7:30, England play USA. Expect some tight passages of play but a reasonably comfortable win the US. 'Upset' very unlikely.
Which brings us to the other divisions who have finished their pool games and now move into the play in games. Division winners are Ireland, Czech Republic, Spain, Scotland, Wales and Finland.
Spain can probably be classed as slightly fortunate to have finished top. Germany was originally in their pool and before the Iroquois finally conceded it was completely inpractical to attend following the visa issues, this was where they would have been playing.
First will be Germany v Canada. Safe money for most fans would be on a repeat of the Germany v USA game and a chance for Canada to give their second string some field time.
Next up in what should be game of the day, Australia plays Japan. Japan of 2010 is very fast, very aggressive and move the ball with a confidence they lacked four years ago in London. With the need to finish in the top 4 of the division for a chance at the medals, this game is vital for both nations. Australia probably favourites but this should be a close nail-biter.
Finally to close at 7:30, England play USA. Expect some tight passages of play but a reasonably comfortable win the US. 'Upset' very unlikely.
Which brings us to the other divisions who have finished their pool games and now move into the play in games. Division winners are Ireland, Czech Republic, Spain, Scotland, Wales and Finland.
Spain can probably be classed as slightly fortunate to have finished top. Germany was originally in their pool and before the Iroquois finally conceded it was completely inpractical to attend following the visa issues, this was where they would have been playing.
Blame Canada, Blame Canada
Australia played Canada in the late game today.
Short answer? Canada is still undefeated.
Longer answer involves describing what was a deceptively hard game. The score ended up being 19 to 5 with Australia failing to score till the second quarter. (Although it should be also pointed out that the scores were still 0-0 for the first 10 mins. Goals in this game were earned by both sides.) This of course IS actually a reasonably comfortable margin for the North Americans and effectively shows what happens when you completely dominate the ball out of the center.
Canada, without being able to quote official stats, probably won 24 of the 28 or so faceoffs during the game and then used their possession to work for and eventually score their goals. At their level of skills, Canada do not make mistakes and Australia simply struggled to take the ball back from them.
Australia, I feel, did play a much better game then the previous two. There was none of the stunned shock opening that the US seemed to bring out against us or any of the casual ill-discipline that allowed England back into the second game. It was more a case that Canada consistently won themselves the ball and then used the time to work for and score goals.
Short answer? Canada is still undefeated.
Longer answer involves describing what was a deceptively hard game. The score ended up being 19 to 5 with Australia failing to score till the second quarter. (Although it should be also pointed out that the scores were still 0-0 for the first 10 mins. Goals in this game were earned by both sides.) This of course IS actually a reasonably comfortable margin for the North Americans and effectively shows what happens when you completely dominate the ball out of the center.
Canada, without being able to quote official stats, probably won 24 of the 28 or so faceoffs during the game and then used their possession to work for and eventually score their goals. At their level of skills, Canada do not make mistakes and Australia simply struggled to take the ball back from them.
Australia, I feel, did play a much better game then the previous two. There was none of the stunned shock opening that the US seemed to bring out against us or any of the casual ill-discipline that allowed England back into the second game. It was more a case that Canada consistently won themselves the ball and then used the time to work for and score goals.
Germany v USA
In a dream game that will have fans talking for years, massive underdog Germany dug deep against the powerhouse that is the USA. Pulling out a display of lacrosse few believed possible, the Germans briefly lead and then went goal for goal with the US for the next 79 mins. With scores level, star German faceoff player, Otto von Makingthisrubbishup, who was nearly knocked unconscious in the first quarter...
HA. Who am I kidding, none of that is true. Germany, despite some occasional surprises, was defeated by the USA who without much hassle shot regular goals the entire game in front of a small crowd who politely applauded. End score was 22 to 4, a safe comfortable win for the US who by the last half were probably just playing to avoid foolish injuries.
HA. Who am I kidding, none of that is true. Germany, despite some occasional surprises, was defeated by the USA who without much hassle shot regular goals the entire game in front of a small crowd who politely applauded. End score was 22 to 4, a safe comfortable win for the US who by the last half were probably just playing to avoid foolish injuries.
More on Saturday's games
Getting back to some earlier games.
First Australia v England. As mentioned before we tried very hard to lose that game. It was only really in the last 8 minutes during extra time that Australia stepped up and showed the skill levels they should have been using all day to dominate that game.
Instead at best we controlled parts of it and allowed England to come back from 6 - 2 down at half time to force the game into extra time at 8 all.
This really does not bode well for the Australia Canada game later tonight. Against England, any mistakes normally resulted in a missed chance or a change in possession. Against a team like Canada, who we remember defeated USA in their Saturday game, an Australian mistake is going to be a Canadian goal.
BIG lift in match discipline required for tonights game if Australia want to be competitive.
(Speaking of competitive, USA is currently playing Germany. The score is pretty much what you would be expecting. More on that game later.)
Canada and USA. Big name game. Packed house. EXCELLENT lacrosse.
Close game the entire 80 mins with the biggest lead at any one time being 2 goals. I thought the Canadians had a little bit more luck on a couple of their goals at a time when the US couldn't buy a goal, but that is life in the big city. Sometimes the ball sticks in the goalie's stick and sometimes it gets backspin and flips out the corner to dribble between the legs in slow motion. Move on, get over it :)
USA I would have to class as the slightly better team. They were wonderful to watch, having that complete confidence with their passing in attack that only the VERY good have. The comparison with watching a team like USA in attack as compared to us lesser mortals is that when they have the ball, EVERY man at EVERY time looks like he is about 5 seconds from doing something very dangerous and scoring. Watch a lesser mortal in attack and every man looks about 2 passes from setting something up.
(or more cruelly, watching some teams in attack looks like every man is about 5 seconds away from turning the ball over but the MudCrab is a backman and likes to say that about attack strings :P )
An example of the USA skill level and mind set comes from one of their man up plays. Most teams and players would get the ball moving, try and collapse the zone and do all the normal funky things like set up a good outside shot, push a corner or fed into the crease man for an inside shot.
USA come in for the man up. They move the ball, get things happening, fed into the man on the crease... and then feed OUT of the crease to the man on the left side for him to take the shot.
Against Canada.
And at lacrosse level kids, that doesn't get much better.
First Australia v England. As mentioned before we tried very hard to lose that game. It was only really in the last 8 minutes during extra time that Australia stepped up and showed the skill levels they should have been using all day to dominate that game.
Instead at best we controlled parts of it and allowed England to come back from 6 - 2 down at half time to force the game into extra time at 8 all.
This really does not bode well for the Australia Canada game later tonight. Against England, any mistakes normally resulted in a missed chance or a change in possession. Against a team like Canada, who we remember defeated USA in their Saturday game, an Australian mistake is going to be a Canadian goal.
BIG lift in match discipline required for tonights game if Australia want to be competitive.
(Speaking of competitive, USA is currently playing Germany. The score is pretty much what you would be expecting. More on that game later.)
Canada and USA. Big name game. Packed house. EXCELLENT lacrosse.
Close game the entire 80 mins with the biggest lead at any one time being 2 goals. I thought the Canadians had a little bit more luck on a couple of their goals at a time when the US couldn't buy a goal, but that is life in the big city. Sometimes the ball sticks in the goalie's stick and sometimes it gets backspin and flips out the corner to dribble between the legs in slow motion. Move on, get over it :)
USA I would have to class as the slightly better team. They were wonderful to watch, having that complete confidence with their passing in attack that only the VERY good have. The comparison with watching a team like USA in attack as compared to us lesser mortals is that when they have the ball, EVERY man at EVERY time looks like he is about 5 seconds from doing something very dangerous and scoring. Watch a lesser mortal in attack and every man looks about 2 passes from setting something up.
(or more cruelly, watching some teams in attack looks like every man is about 5 seconds away from turning the ball over but the MudCrab is a backman and likes to say that about attack strings :P )
An example of the USA skill level and mind set comes from one of their man up plays. Most teams and players would get the ball moving, try and collapse the zone and do all the normal funky things like set up a good outside shot, push a corner or fed into the crease man for an inside shot.
USA come in for the man up. They move the ball, get things happening, fed into the man on the crease... and then feed OUT of the crease to the man on the left side for him to take the shot.
Against Canada.
And at lacrosse level kids, that doesn't get much better.
England - the team for which 4 quarters is not enough
England, after going to extra time against Australia yesterday, went the extra 8 mins against Japan in the early game, this time managing to win 13 to 12.
Very tight game. England at times looked rushed and probably forced themselves into more errors then they needed to. Shots without backup, rushed passes into trouble. Guess quote from the guy sitting behind me in the stands about half time - "we can stay here and watch England play a zone and watch Japan do pretty much what they like". Japan definitely looked more polished but England managed to come back from behind and force the extra time.
England had the experience to work for and set up a good first goal followed by Japan scoring an impressive reply from a fast break some 20 seconds later. Japan then managed to get ahead which brings us to the messy bit.
About 1:30 to go with ball with England. Shot. Shot misses. Players chase. From where I myself was watching from it seemed to be Japan ball and that was the first call by the umpires.
So, one goal up and possession. Got to be happy with that, right?
Seconds later the call is overruled and England ball.
Now okay, I am watching from the stands and one assumes the umpires on the field do have a better view but considering the game that is a pretty important overruling to make at that time.
So, England ball, England score. 12 all. 18 seconds on the clock. Face, ball, REALLY impressive outside shot and England are a goal up with 5 seconds to play.
Were Japan robbed? Hmmm... always hard to say. They were ahead in normal time and allowed England to come back well before the 'bad call' managed to 'rob' them. Or not rob them.
Australia play Japan tomorrow.
Very tight game. England at times looked rushed and probably forced themselves into more errors then they needed to. Shots without backup, rushed passes into trouble. Guess quote from the guy sitting behind me in the stands about half time - "we can stay here and watch England play a zone and watch Japan do pretty much what they like". Japan definitely looked more polished but England managed to come back from behind and force the extra time.
England had the experience to work for and set up a good first goal followed by Japan scoring an impressive reply from a fast break some 20 seconds later. Japan then managed to get ahead which brings us to the messy bit.
About 1:30 to go with ball with England. Shot. Shot misses. Players chase. From where I myself was watching from it seemed to be Japan ball and that was the first call by the umpires.
So, one goal up and possession. Got to be happy with that, right?
Seconds later the call is overruled and England ball.
Now okay, I am watching from the stands and one assumes the umpires on the field do have a better view but considering the game that is a pretty important overruling to make at that time.
So, England ball, England score. 12 all. 18 seconds on the clock. Face, ball, REALLY impressive outside shot and England are a goal up with 5 seconds to play.
Were Japan robbed? Hmmm... always hard to say. They were ahead in normal time and allowed England to come back well before the 'bad call' managed to 'rob' them. Or not rob them.
Australia play Japan tomorrow.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Brief summary of games watched today
Here we go.
Despite our best efforts not to, Australia managed to defeat England 10-8 in extra time.
Latvia, in a game that reminded so much of the joys of club level games - mud, average passing, unforced errors and 20 big guys with big sticks going the biff - put away France by 'lots' to one.
Wales, looking reasonably sharp and probably pushing for Blue division in the mid future, shut out Austria 19 nil.
Which brings us to Canada, who, in an attempt to make my earlier 'expert tips' seem really stupid, held out just long enough to defeat USA 10 to 9. Two VERY skilled teams going very hard to the complete joy of the packed stadium.
I still regard the USA as the slightly better team but had definitely upset some karma kart in the recent past and didn't have much of tonight's luck. However in a very recent earlier post I *DID* claim that USA would go through undefeated and also that I expect that Australia would be about to win over Canada. To protect my ego I will now go and retcon my earlier posts to show that Han shot second. What is good for Lucus is good for the Crab :)
More game details later.
Despite our best efforts not to, Australia managed to defeat England 10-8 in extra time.
Latvia, in a game that reminded so much of the joys of club level games - mud, average passing, unforced errors and 20 big guys with big sticks going the biff - put away France by 'lots' to one.
Wales, looking reasonably sharp and probably pushing for Blue division in the mid future, shut out Austria 19 nil.
Which brings us to Canada, who, in an attempt to make my earlier 'expert tips' seem really stupid, held out just long enough to defeat USA 10 to 9. Two VERY skilled teams going very hard to the complete joy of the packed stadium.
I still regard the USA as the slightly better team but had definitely upset some karma kart in the recent past and didn't have much of tonight's luck. However in a very recent earlier post I *DID* claim that USA would go through undefeated and also that I expect that Australia would be about to win over Canada. To protect my ego I will now go and retcon my earlier posts to show that Han shot second. What is good for Lucus is good for the Crab :)
More game details later.
Japan beats Germany
In what ended up being a lot closer then I was expecting, Japan came from behind to defeat Germany 15 to 9 in a very entertaining game.
England v Australia game begins in 40mins so a larger write up on the Japan v Germany game will be posted at a later time.
England v Australia game begins in 40mins so a larger write up on the Japan v Germany game will be posted at a later time.
Hi, we're the USA, we want Number One back
Late game Friday night. Australia and the USA, as the last two teams in Blue Division, get to show their stuff to the public for the first time.
USA must have decided their fans have a short attention span and scored within the first 30 seconds. Their fans were pleased but the team decided that after flying all the way to watch the games that maybe they would like a few more goals to cheer about and went off and shot 6 more to 1 in the first quarter.
Some very clear things to take out of this first 20 mins. This is 'Team USA', they are not giving you time to warm up, they are not going to let you make mistakes and if you let them make a fast break then they are going to score on you.
We, as Australia, looked a bit shocked and nervous at the start. In the first quarter there were 9 face offs. We broke early on five of them. Our sliding on their fast breaks was poor and when we did have the ball in attack we seemed rather static.
The Australian team for the rest of the game looked more settled but to be honest never really looked like bringing the game back. In the third quarter the scoring was kept to 3 goals to 2 which doesn't show that the USA team knew that with their current lead that they could control the tempo and spent at least 5 mins of that quarter slowing the game down with some 2 2 2 type plays.
Why?
Because they could.
So, with a final score of 21 to 5 where does this leave both teams?
USA is clearly a very class act and clearly want their number one ranking back from the Canadians. The 7 goal first quarter probably reflects more on Australian mistakes then US skill but there were also times later in the game where the Americans were not completely in top gear and could of found more goals if they needed to. Obtaining 20 plus goals in a game, every game, is clearly within this team.
Australia, to their discredit, didn't start well. In their defence, international lacrosse doesn't allow many opportunities to face teams of this calibre and unfortunately as mentioned before, teams like the USA don't give warm up time. There were some annoying things like the early breaking on the face offs and some bad stick chasing against US players who could dodge with their eyes closed. We did move the ball rather sharply and while we didn't get off many good outside shots, we did set up some impressive looking feeds for inside shots and goals.
At this stage personally I can see the US going undefeated to the win the gold while Australia has a good chance of beating Canada, at least in the round robin stage.
July 17 games in Blue Division will be Japan v Germany, Australia v England and USA v Canada. My picks are Japan, Australia and USA.
USA must have decided their fans have a short attention span and scored within the first 30 seconds. Their fans were pleased but the team decided that after flying all the way to watch the games that maybe they would like a few more goals to cheer about and went off and shot 6 more to 1 in the first quarter.
Some very clear things to take out of this first 20 mins. This is 'Team USA', they are not giving you time to warm up, they are not going to let you make mistakes and if you let them make a fast break then they are going to score on you.
We, as Australia, looked a bit shocked and nervous at the start. In the first quarter there were 9 face offs. We broke early on five of them. Our sliding on their fast breaks was poor and when we did have the ball in attack we seemed rather static.
The Australian team for the rest of the game looked more settled but to be honest never really looked like bringing the game back. In the third quarter the scoring was kept to 3 goals to 2 which doesn't show that the USA team knew that with their current lead that they could control the tempo and spent at least 5 mins of that quarter slowing the game down with some 2 2 2 type plays.
Why?
Because they could.
So, with a final score of 21 to 5 where does this leave both teams?
USA is clearly a very class act and clearly want their number one ranking back from the Canadians. The 7 goal first quarter probably reflects more on Australian mistakes then US skill but there were also times later in the game where the Americans were not completely in top gear and could of found more goals if they needed to. Obtaining 20 plus goals in a game, every game, is clearly within this team.
Australia, to their discredit, didn't start well. In their defence, international lacrosse doesn't allow many opportunities to face teams of this calibre and unfortunately as mentioned before, teams like the USA don't give warm up time. There were some annoying things like the early breaking on the face offs and some bad stick chasing against US players who could dodge with their eyes closed. We did move the ball rather sharply and while we didn't get off many good outside shots, we did set up some impressive looking feeds for inside shots and goals.
At this stage personally I can see the US going undefeated to the win the gold while Australia has a good chance of beating Canada, at least in the round robin stage.
July 17 games in Blue Division will be Japan v Germany, Australia v England and USA v Canada. My picks are Japan, Australia and USA.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Canada muscles out Japan
Canada 17 def Japan 4, a score that implies that Japan was walked over from start to finish.
Not really so. Japan were fast, moved the ball sharply and well and were not afraid to be aggressive. In the second quarter they probably had about 70% of the ball and kept the quarter's score to 2-0 in favour of Canada.
Which brings to their problem. 70% of the ball for zero goals.
Third quarter the Canadians scored 7 goals to nil. They corrected their errors that previously was allowing Japan to control the ball and said to them 'when we have the ball, we WILL score.'
That in loose summary was the difference between the teams. Canadian was physically larger and had the ability to feed in good passes leading to inside shots and goals. Japan, while having a good amount of possession, lacked the size and skills to push in for inside shots. Most of their time in attack seemed to be spent looking for the shot that never came.
Still, a very entertaining game and Japan is definitely showing that are a true Blue Division team.
Not really so. Japan were fast, moved the ball sharply and well and were not afraid to be aggressive. In the second quarter they probably had about 70% of the ball and kept the quarter's score to 2-0 in favour of Canada.
Which brings to their problem. 70% of the ball for zero goals.
Third quarter the Canadians scored 7 goals to nil. They corrected their errors that previously was allowing Japan to control the ball and said to them 'when we have the ball, we WILL score.'
That in loose summary was the difference between the teams. Canadian was physically larger and had the ability to feed in good passes leading to inside shots and goals. Japan, while having a good amount of possession, lacked the size and skills to push in for inside shots. Most of their time in attack seemed to be spent looking for the shot that never came.
Still, a very entertaining game and Japan is definitely showing that are a true Blue Division team.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
And so it begins... :)
Today, July 15th, will go down in the books as a mega Crab bludge day.
There is a strong rumour going around that The Crab, got up late, had breakfast just before they shut the dining room, then did his laundry before going back to bed for a mid afternoon 3 hour nap.
NO.
COMMENT.
Today was however Lacrosse Fans(tm) the official opening of the 2010 World Lacrosse Championships with a simple and functional opening ceremony. The teams were announced, they marched on, Official type people gave Official type speeches and the oaths were read out.
Unfortunately standing out in their absence was the Iroquois team, who at this date are still not in Manchester, and then, to the surprise of many, the announcement that German had now been formally raised to the Blue Division in place of the Iroquois and the later curtain riser between England and Germany was now a 'real' game.
Iroquois WHEN (if?) they arrive will now take Germany's place in their division which fortunately does mean that they have a realistic chance of making the final games.
(for those not up with the system of Lacrosse Worlds, teams are placed into divisions based on their international raking. "Elite" nations are in the highest or "Blue" division while the other nations are matched up against nations with similar skill levels and experience. Then, after all the minor round games have been played, the winners of a lower division get the chance to play the lower ranked team from a higher division and, in theory, have a shot at the grand final game. If you think of it in the same sense as a relegation/promotion system then you are not fair off.)
So, Germany gets to run with the big boys in Blue Division. How did they shape up?
Well...
Ummm...
They weren't that great. Final score was England 12 Germany 3.
Having said that, England didn't really impress that greatly either. Both teams showed a large amount of missed passes and other basic skill fails, which, at this level, isn't really what the fans have come to see. Germany were of course playing outside their level and I think took the game as an honoured experience. To be even considered for a spot in blue division is a great honour and shows how well Germany is progressing as a Lacrosse nation.
However the important word here is still 'progressing'. I didn't really think Germany ever looked dangerous in attack, a lot of the shots they had were not even on the cage (an error that would get even us Australian lower club level players seriously yelled at - you either force the goalie to save it or you put the ball in the back of the net. Basic shooting skills) and from my very brief notes, I think that all three of the German goals were from man up plays.
As much as I am deep down a Germanphile and hate to say this, Germany is going to get butchered by USA, Canada and Australia.
England on the other side of the field were a bit more differcult to judge. Chatting to people after the game gave me the 'unofficial' view that the team was holding back on the grounds they have 8 more days of serious hard lacrosse and blowing a hamstring on day one would be a 'bad thing(tm)'. However, even allowing for the fact they were playing at say 70% they still didn't really look completely hot. As mentioned before they dropped the ball on passes a few too many times not to be noticed and there was at least two fast breaks where taking the extra pass would have given them the goal they ended up not getting.
Full day of games tomorrow and a chance to see how the other nations are shaping up. Canada play Japan for what should be a win for the North Americans and USA play Australia which will give us a feel if Australia is a serious Grand Final chance this year.
There is a strong rumour going around that The Crab, got up late, had breakfast just before they shut the dining room, then did his laundry before going back to bed for a mid afternoon 3 hour nap.
NO.
COMMENT.
Today was however Lacrosse Fans(tm) the official opening of the 2010 World Lacrosse Championships with a simple and functional opening ceremony. The teams were announced, they marched on, Official type people gave Official type speeches and the oaths were read out.
Unfortunately standing out in their absence was the Iroquois team, who at this date are still not in Manchester, and then, to the surprise of many, the announcement that German had now been formally raised to the Blue Division in place of the Iroquois and the later curtain riser between England and Germany was now a 'real' game.
Iroquois WHEN (if?) they arrive will now take Germany's place in their division which fortunately does mean that they have a realistic chance of making the final games.
(for those not up with the system of Lacrosse Worlds, teams are placed into divisions based on their international raking. "Elite" nations are in the highest or "Blue" division while the other nations are matched up against nations with similar skill levels and experience. Then, after all the minor round games have been played, the winners of a lower division get the chance to play the lower ranked team from a higher division and, in theory, have a shot at the grand final game. If you think of it in the same sense as a relegation/promotion system then you are not fair off.)
So, Germany gets to run with the big boys in Blue Division. How did they shape up?
Well...
Ummm...
They weren't that great. Final score was England 12 Germany 3.
Having said that, England didn't really impress that greatly either. Both teams showed a large amount of missed passes and other basic skill fails, which, at this level, isn't really what the fans have come to see. Germany were of course playing outside their level and I think took the game as an honoured experience. To be even considered for a spot in blue division is a great honour and shows how well Germany is progressing as a Lacrosse nation.
However the important word here is still 'progressing'. I didn't really think Germany ever looked dangerous in attack, a lot of the shots they had were not even on the cage (an error that would get even us Australian lower club level players seriously yelled at - you either force the goalie to save it or you put the ball in the back of the net. Basic shooting skills) and from my very brief notes, I think that all three of the German goals were from man up plays.
As much as I am deep down a Germanphile and hate to say this, Germany is going to get butchered by USA, Canada and Australia.
England on the other side of the field were a bit more differcult to judge. Chatting to people after the game gave me the 'unofficial' view that the team was holding back on the grounds they have 8 more days of serious hard lacrosse and blowing a hamstring on day one would be a 'bad thing(tm)'. However, even allowing for the fact they were playing at say 70% they still didn't really look completely hot. As mentioned before they dropped the ball on passes a few too many times not to be noticed and there was at least two fast breaks where taking the extra pass would have given them the goal they ended up not getting.
Full day of games tomorrow and a chance to see how the other nations are shaping up. Canada play Japan for what should be a win for the North Americans and USA play Australia which will give us a feel if Australia is a serious Grand Final chance this year.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Blue Division - see the top Five...
The Crab is now safely encamped in Manchester Uni after two weeks of being a tourist over Europe and southern England but is yet to work out if all is well here in Lacrosse Land.
Despite the fact that the opening game is 'meant' to be about 20 hours away, I am still not sure if the Iroquois have been able to leave the US or not.
As you might know there is currently a massive amount of what is best loosely described as visa bollocks in regards to if the team is allowed to travel using their Iroquois passports or not.
In VERY brief summary
UK Types - Hmmm, not seen these passports before. Can the US State Dept just confirm they accept them?
US State Dept - No.
Lacrosse Types - WTF?
US State Dept - Okay, how about we issue some US passports on a fast track and the team can travel on those
Iroquois - What? And reject our own sovereign nation status? No
So as I currently understand it (and largely reading from all the same sources that you kids currently are), the team is coming but is highly unlikely to play in tomorrow night's game.
Despite the fact that the opening game is 'meant' to be about 20 hours away, I am still not sure if the Iroquois have been able to leave the US or not.
As you might know there is currently a massive amount of what is best loosely described as visa bollocks in regards to if the team is allowed to travel using their Iroquois passports or not.
In VERY brief summary
UK Types - Hmmm, not seen these passports before. Can the US State Dept just confirm they accept them?
US State Dept - No.
Lacrosse Types - WTF?
US State Dept - Okay, how about we issue some US passports on a fast track and the team can travel on those
Iroquois - What? And reject our own sovereign nation status? No
So as I currently understand it (and largely reading from all the same sources that you kids currently are), the team is coming but is highly unlikely to play in tomorrow night's game.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Nearly there... but will everyone else be
Hello Lacrosse fans,
The MudCrab is currently in Cardiff and will be on the train to Manchester tomorrow morning.
The big question however doesn't seem to be 'will MudCrab get to the games on time' (and seriously, no one is REALLY asking that question), but 'will the Iroquois be allowed to enter England.'
In a visa issue that I do not confess to fully understanding, it seems that since the US will not guarantee to UK customs that the Iroquois will be allowed to return to the USA if they travel to the UK using their Iroquois confederation passports.
Now I am sure it is a lot more complicated then I can sum up in a few paragraphs, but I am sure that considering that the curtain raising game is England v Iroquois, a quick rational and sensible solution to this issue would be a good thing for Lacrosse.
The MudCrab is currently in Cardiff and will be on the train to Manchester tomorrow morning.
The big question however doesn't seem to be 'will MudCrab get to the games on time' (and seriously, no one is REALLY asking that question), but 'will the Iroquois be allowed to enter England.'
In a visa issue that I do not confess to fully understanding, it seems that since the US will not guarantee to UK customs that the Iroquois will be allowed to return to the USA if they travel to the UK using their Iroquois confederation passports.
Now I am sure it is a lot more complicated then I can sum up in a few paragraphs, but I am sure that considering that the curtain raising game is England v Iroquois, a quick rational and sensible solution to this issue would be a good thing for Lacrosse.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Team TV 2010 tour is about to start
Hello fans,
Currently it is June 29th and the Crab is prepping his bags for his trip to Adelaide airport in 4 hours time. Since you are only here for lacrosse I think most of you can safely skip the next 16 days where I roam across NW Europe on my side trips and pick up the blog action on Wednesday 14th of July when I finally arrive in Manchester.
Currently it is June 29th and the Crab is prepping his bags for his trip to Adelaide airport in 4 hours time. Since you are only here for lacrosse I think most of you can safely skip the next 16 days where I roam across NW Europe on my side trips and pick up the blog action on Wednesday 14th of July when I finally arrive in Manchester.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Remember me? Not even a little?
Hi Kids,
back in the day MudCrab Lacrosse was THE place on the web to receive up to date and useful infomation about, well, my adventures at the 2008 U-19 Lacrosse Worlds.
Since then I have not been to any major international lacrosse fixtures... well... apart from the All-Star games in Melbourne last year... so this blog has slowly been covered in dust and apathy.
Well with Manchester 2010 coming up in several short months I thought it was prime time to dig out the password and fire this puppy up again.
Stay tuned.
Tell your friends
Esp the rich ones :)
back in the day MudCrab Lacrosse was THE place on the web to receive up to date and useful infomation about, well, my adventures at the 2008 U-19 Lacrosse Worlds.
Since then I have not been to any major international lacrosse fixtures... well... apart from the All-Star games in Melbourne last year... so this blog has slowly been covered in dust and apathy.
Well with Manchester 2010 coming up in several short months I thought it was prime time to dig out the password and fire this puppy up again.
Stay tuned.
Tell your friends
Esp the rich ones :)
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