On Saturday June 20, the Dallas Magpies hosted a tournament with the Austin Crows and the Kansas City Power. After losing twice to Austin by a point, Dallas was finally able to get the W.

This was to be the third time the Dallas Magpies faced off against the Austin Crows, and the Magpies were hungrier then ever to show their superiority as the best Australian Rules football team in Texas. After being beaten by the narrowest of margins in the two previous outings, both by a point the Magpies knew they had the team to beat the Crows it was just going to take a cunning game plan from Coach Stuart Rackham to get them over the line and prove what most already knew.

The two Captains meet in the middle as it was to be decided which way either team would be kicking the ball. The Crows won and elected to go into the wind in the first half, a decision which was based on several factors, however it was not a good one!

Dallas Magpies seized the opportunity taking full advantage of the breeze in the first half booting three goals and adding two behinds to their first half tally.

Steven Bass was first to get the Magpies going, he continued on where he left off in the Kansas game, giving himself plenty of room to work with; the ball was worked down from the middle by foot from Adam Frizzel, the ball spilled from the pack and Bass was there to gather it and convert it in convincing style.

Adam Frizzel was next to notch a goal against his name, after swapping duties with Duncan Relf in the middle, his work ethic earned him a set shot 30 out. With windy conditions this was no easy shot, but Frizzel made light work of the dubious task giving the Magpies a two goal lead early in the game. The Magpies missed some opportunities adding two behinds before second gamer Brandon Peek playing on the ball astutely put himself in the ideal position to rove the ball off a long kick into the forward fifty. Before the ball could be rushed through Peek gathered and slotted it through much to his own delight and that of the anticipated onlookers. The Crows' Robbie Descant was one of the few bright lights in the first half and gathered numerous possessions across half back.

As hard as the Crows tried they could not penetrate the rock solid defense of the Magpies, David Wilson was allowed to play as a loose man in defense as the Crows left him unaccountable, and Kyle Hogern was relentless in his style of attacking the ball in defense, punching from the back and clearing the ball also by foot. The third prong to the half back defense was again Chris Olles and in a post game interview in the performance of the Magpies and himself has stated “That we (Dallas Magpie) had to follow what Coach Stu said, come out hard and keep the pressure on and keep it out of the backline”. In comments on his performance Olles stated he was happy with the pressure he applied!

In the second half the Crows had every intention to peg back the damage that the Magpies had inflicted. Campbell, Herrera, Minnick and Jerry Dawson were starting to get touches through the midfield and pump the ball forward. Goals to Wilcox and Campbell gave the Crows hope of pulling off the come from behind win. However, they could only manage two goals and three behinds, one of those behinds brushing the goal post.

Jess Wortman again worked hard in the forward line, and proved to the team that he will put his body on the line and get to a contesting position for the ball. Also in a post game interview on the Magpies and his personal efforts Wortman stated the following despite his individual brilliance. “We won because it was a team effort”. Also “It was tough going into that second half but we really put a lot of heart into it and pushed through to come away with the win against Austin”. The nail in the coffin came for the Crows when Cory Ray converted another major deep in the pocket from a near impossible angle going into the wind!

The Magpies managed to add two behinds of their own before the final whistle was blown.

Dallas 3.2 4.4 (28)

Austin 0.1 2.4 (16)

GOALKICKERS

Dallas: Steve Bass 1, Adam Frizzel 1, Brandon Peek 1, Cory Ray 1.

Austin: Grant Campbell 1, Deren Wilcox 1.

BEST PLAYERS

Dallas: Kyle Horgen, Jess Wortman, David Wilson, Adam Frizzel, Brandon Peek.

Austin: Robby Descant, Ryan Minnick, Dave Enslow, Lalo Herrera, Chad Benninghoff.

Article courtesy of DallasMagpies.com.

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