The Lone Star Cup stays
in Texas
Coaches Corner.
May 22nd 2004.
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Figure 1: Chance waits for the
ball off-hands. |
As the Lone Star Cup got
underway the
wind swept directly across the ground. The new Magpie goal posts were shaking
in the breeze like a Polaroid picture. A great days football was held on the
weekend in Dallas that saw teams from Austin, Fort Worth, Wichita Falls and
Kansas City take on the locals in the third annual Lone Star Cup. The 10 a-side format
made for plenty of open play and running into spaces throughout each
game. All games were very close all
day and the standard of football was of a high standard. Even though Dallas retained the trophy
football in Texas was the winner here this weekend. New players gaining valuable match time and experience to help
them further there newly found passion and drive. In the first game Fort
Worth battled out of state team Kansas and at the end of the 40 minutes fell
about 9 points short. Back-line player Sean Stover worked hard |
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all game and was able
to keep a lot of forward advances at bay.
Around the center of the ground Brandon Blankenship played his usual running
game and delivered the ball deep into the forward line, where spearhead Glen
Paton was able to beat numerous players and win the ball. Paton kicked straight and true all day but
it was not enough to match the play of the Power, who were led by mid-fielders
and some accurate kicking. The second game saw
home team Dallas go head on against local metroplex rival Fort Worth in what
had been talked up as the "big one" of the day. The crowd wasn't let down on the speed of
play and the physical nature of the play.
There was some hard tackling and hitting on and off the ball but this
was definitely overshadowed by the high level of skills exhibited by both
sides. Dallas on-baller Chris Cordry
played a best on ground game and was damaging across the entire ground,
selling his inviting "dummies" to everyone who brought them. He was well supported at center half
forward by Dallas veteran Scott Cobb, who on numerous times put his body on
the line to win the ball. |
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At half time Fort
Worth had extended their lead to 5 goals due to some accurate kicking from
full forward Paton. Full credit must go to
backline marshal Sean Neary who put a stop to many more advances from the
Fort Worth forwards. Down the other
end of the field Dallas struggled with the blustery conditions, missing too
many easy goals. Leading into the
second half, however, the Dallas side lifted through some great mid-field
play and some early goals. But when
the final siren sounded they found themselves short by 10 points. In the last game of
the day Dallas was out for revenge and to uphold their win-loss record on
long time opponents Kansas City Power.
The Pies were unforgiving and led by dashing on baller Justin Chance
dominated much of the play. Chance's
running out of the center and into the forward line was a huge plus for the
home side and he capped of the game with 4 handy goals. Elusive Dallas forward Thane Hayhurst
stepped up to the plate and also was effective in the forward line, kicking 2
goals. At half time it could have
been anyone's game but a strong speech from the coach and there was not going
to be a Magpie loss here. They came
out strong and 6' 5" ruckman Aaron Gunn showed just why he is a force to
be reckoned with dominating the center bounces. He was supported well by Sean Neary and the little ball getters
in the center managed to out play and out class a tired looking Kansas
City. In the end it was a convincing
46-point win to Dallas and the Lone Star Cup had once again been retained. It was a great day of footy
in what weren't perfect conditions but through grit and determination
everyone battled out the day and got in some valuable practice for what is
shaping up to be a great year for the game in the US and also a great year
for the Dallas Magpies. Cheers, Super-Coach-Stu |
Figure 2: Paton in Front. |
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