TRI-NATIONS MATCH REPORTS
25 Jun 2008, 02:46pm Posted by Marty
Click to enlarge photo.November 17th 2007 will always be remembered as a great day in the history of the Lao People's Democratic Republic as it saw the debut of the Lao Elephants - its first and only National Australian Rules Football Team. Leading up to the day things were not looking good with a squad that had been decimated by injuries and softness (a curse that had seen some of our greatest talent fall by the wayside with excuses so lame it led to the destruction of talat sao at the behest of an angry national President....but that is a whole other story....).
Upon arriving at Wattay Airport the squad had 13 fit players, several of which were not 100% on the rules yet. In the immigration queue this scribe was approached by a transparent Irish chap who said something incomprehensible to me and pointed at the football I was carrying. Like most human beings I am terrified of the Irish and offered him the footy immediately just in case he was in a fightin' mood....As it turned out him and his 7 travelling pals were gaelic footballers from the west coast of Ireland.....like a gift sent from a jig dancing, guiness drinking, lepricorn loving god a light bulb flashed above my head and all of a sudden our squad had swelled to 21 and our hopes had skyrocketed!
Despite losing the Irish lads on Friday night, they were found again on Saturday morning headed out to the ground with us following the jumper presentation.
To be sure (to be sure) there were many nerves amongst the squad out at the ground but our hopes were lifted when we saw the mighty Lao Mahouts netballers destroying all in their path dressed in the hottest pink polo shirts this side of the spring carnival.
< u>Game 1 Vietnam Swans Vs. Lao Elephants
12.30pm saw a piece of history begin. In stinking hot conditions the ball was bounced in a 16 per side 20 minute halved match that would mark the beginning of a soon to be awesome history. The Elephants came out flying with O'Brien steaming away from the first centre bounce following Barker's precision tap down. The Elephants were two goals up in no time through sausage rolls from captain Sharples and Paddy O'Shay. At this stage it was a case of how far the Elephants? How easy is International Footy?
Then our nemesis fitness kicked in and captain Hassett's hamstring snapped in half. All of a sudden the Swannies were able to kick a couple of cheeky ones either side of half time and hit the front. The dam builder Ben Smith was moved onto the ball and a wall of Irishman were told to run like Michael Flattley dances in an effort to bring the Phants back. While the Elephants had a lot of the ball they were unable to convert opportunities despite Phil Jordan running amok down at full forward . A late goal from Seamus Declan O'Malley was unable to pull the Elephants back as they went down in their first ever game by 9 points. A gallant effort by the lads but ultimately we were left to rue missed opportunities.
Scores: Vietnam Swans - 5.2 35 defeated Lao Elephants - 3.5 23
Game 2: Lao Elephants vs Thailand Tigers
By this stage it was about 45degrees and the general consensus was that we didnt really want to play another game of footy straight away against the fresh legged and very experienced Tigers. But an elephant never gives up, and from word go the Phants gave a solid contest even kicking the first goal through the steamrolling Peter O'Brien. However, the Tigers dominant midfield then began to run amok feeding Tigers skipper Rhino at every opportunity as he slammed through goal after goal. At half time the Tigers were 6 goals up.
The second half was the highlight of the day for the Elephants as the backline which had been under constant attack in the first half was able to stand up to the Tigers powerful forward line, and convincingly outplay them. Sunny Forsyth, with the best sideburns in international footy laid some crunching tackles, and big Sepo Chris started running at people with the look that he really, truly wanted them to be in pain very shortly. Kempy thwarted many a tiger attack at half back and the G-train started to threaten opponents with all sorts of nasty post-game shenanigans. With more grunt down back and a steamrolling on-ball unit the Elephants looked like a very solid side and slammed through goals from Bertie O'Driscoll, the big bad Rooster, and Sharples to ourscore, and outplay the tigers in the second half.
Scores: Lao Elephants 4.4 28 defeated by Thailand Tigers 10.3 63
All in all the Elephants can hold their heads very high and will be much better for the experience. Next....the Asian Champs in Singapore in August.....
...will the Irish lads be there?
Stay tuned.
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