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.
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