On Saturday May 22nd , 2010, the Austin Crows hosts the Dallas Magpies, (4) New York Magpies and the Nashville Kangaroos for a 5 game tournament to be played at Austin United Soccer Fields. All four teams will fight it out against one another to be crowned The Austin USAFL Tournament Champions for 2010.
The Austin Crows take on the American Revolution in preseason action.
“Saturday will be a great day of Aussie Rules footy. New York are the one of the top teams in the country year in year out, Nashville perform consistently well at a national level, and we always have a good rivalry against Dallas.” Head Coach Simon Boyce said. “There are a number of guys from all teams who are playing on Saturday that have been selected to represent the United States against Canada later this year, so we are sure to see some great action on the day.” It is apparent Boyce recognizes the challenges of this weekend. “We are using this weekend to gauge where we are at. Both Nashville and New York will provide a new challenge for the Crows and help determine where we are at heading into the rest of the season. We are going to have to play at our best to compete with these teams.”
Matches kick off at 11am with Austin taking on the highly fancied New York. Matches continue throughout the day with each side playing one another in 2 x 20minute halves. Catering will provided by Boomerang’s Pies and a Post Tournament Function will begin at 7om at Six Lounge Austin with Texas BBQ and plenty of beverages on offer.
The 2009 Division III National Champions, Dallas Magpies take on the New York Magpies. The first time Dallas played New York was at the 2001 National Tournament and were winning most of the day to go down by 7 points in the final minutes of a tough game. They met again in 2005 in the Division 1 tournament and New York were too strong winning by 8 goals. Needles to say Dallas will be hitting the field with much to prove and notch up their first win against the northeasterners. Dallas will rely upon its fast midfield and talented forward line to attach the opposition from the first bounce. Fitness has been getting better every session and now with the heat setting in the Dallas team hopes to be in good form for the big clash.
Not to be overshadowed will be the Dallas and Nashville contest. These two teams have not met since 2006 when Nashville broke their losing streak against the Pies winning by 17 points. The Pies and Roos have met several times throughout the 2000’s and every game has been a rough and tough battle. Dallas holds the record but this is sure to be a close one. Nashville competed in the Division 2 tournament in 2009 and lost narrowly to Milwaukee, while getting beat by 30 points at the hand of San Diego.
Dallas started their season positively on their home turf a couple of weeks ago running out comfortable winners over Baton Rouge and Austin. “The team has been gelling really well on the track with the skills and match-type skills bringing out the best in many players” commented assistant coach Adam Frizzle. Retention at the club has been excellent this year and recruiting has brought in some key talent who will be out to do their best on Saturday. Veteran Daniel Russo returns to the lineup after a couple of years on the sidelines recovering from two glass ankles that shattered in season 2007. Missing in the first round clash was key defenseman David Wilson who is a welcome return to the field.
According to New York Magpies Coach Glenn Ormsby, "The players are pretty excited about the chance to head down to Austin and play teams that we don't normally face. All the teams in the tournament are very strong and it we'll have to be at our best to have a chance."
The New York Magpies will find the conditions tough as it is going to very hot, with weather scheduled in the mid 90's. Ormsby said "It's certainly going to be trying conditions but it will be a good test for us to see how we are going at this point in the season."
The New York Magpies will have a different looking team this trip with forwards Keating and Torney, midfielders Roberts, Smith and Buxton and defenders Lewis, Thompson and Pollulach all unavailable. Acknowledging the Magpies face a huge battle to cover these loses, Ormsby remains upbeat about the Magpies chances, pointing out that "we have a couple of significant ins that will help cover the loss of all those players who are unavailable. Squires coming back will shore up the backline. He's a straight at the ball player which will give us a bit more hardness and with Smiley, Mantzaris and Buckingham also coming back it should straighten us up a little. Mitchell and Hawkins should play if they both pass fitness tests and that's important as they provide genuine class around the ball. We have also been able to get a full game into the likes of Norman, Lin and Gluck so they will be better for the run and the form of newcomers Davis and Sani is encouraging."
