On Saturday June 27, the No. 7 Orange County Bombers travelled to Vegas to take on the Las Vegas Gamblers.

With the temperature over 100 degrees, the Bombers and the Gamblers lined up in Vegas for a "friendly" match to help kick start the SCAFL combined 18 a side season. The div1 Bombers were expected to be too strong for the div3 Gamblers, and this proved to be the case with the Bombers cruising to an 18 goal win. But the Vegas boys provided a contest and showcased some new young talent which is always good to see, but they just couldn't run with the far more experienced Bombers side.

The Bombers took a big squad of 26 to Vegas, with a healthy dose of Americans including some exciting new discoveries. The starting line up was made up of 9 Aussies and 9 Americans, with first year player Connor Marks standing out by being named in the starting 18, and then going on to have a hand in the first 4 goals of the match. Connor finished with impressive stats for a rookie, a great first up game after showing enormous promise in the SCAFL league.

Adam Hale, in his second year of football after a breakout 2008, had a solid game and showed he has continued to improve on his outstanding season last year. In the last quarter, when all players were tiring under the relentless heat, Adam's superior fitness enabled him to run riot, racking up possesions and kicking a couple of great goals.

The Bombers put together some fine passages of play considering it was their first hit out together after 4 months of playing against each other in the SCAFL Metro League. But while there were some encouraging moments and some good individual performances, head coach John Fragomeni left the boys in no doubt that they have a lot of work ahead of them before they become the team he expects them to be.

Revo Brandon Blankenship was on loan from the San Diego Lions for the game, but the young team did not have weapons to match it with the Bombers.

The Bombers face a far bigger test in San Francisco on July 11, when they face up to the No. 5 Golden Gate Roos in what could be described as a blockbuster.

LasVegas 2.6 (18)

OrangeCty 20.13 (133)

GOALKICKERS

LasVegas: Brett Pease 1, U Keaton 1.

OrangeCty: Chris Stewart 4, Paul Lindley 4, Ben Vadasz 3, Chris McNeil 3, Adam Hale 2, Leigh Bridges 2, Connor Marks 2.

BEST PLAYERS

LasVegas: Brett Pease, Cameron Anderson, Brandon Blankenship, U Keaton.

OrangeCty: Chris Stewart, Ben Vadasz , Adam Hale, Leigh Bridges , Qemal Shaholli .

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