|
|
Sport
 |
|
All
smiles – Army’s winning AFL team taste victory
and enjoy a 17-year undefeated record after beating Navy
in the final.
|
| |
 |
|
An
Army player punches the ball out of the hands of his RAAF
opponent.
|
| |
 |
|
Army
team coach Sgt Andrew Potter directs from the sideline.
Photos by Michael Weaver and Ben Caddaye, service newspapers
|
Record
bound
By
Michael Weaver
IN WHAT is fast becoming one of the longest winning streaks in ADF
sport, the Army Australian Football side secured the Jim Smail Cup
for 2003 with a 53-point win against Navy at Queanbeyan on March
28.
After defeating Air Force by a massive 95 points on March 26, Army
secured its 17th straight championship with another victory that
seemingly gets sweeter each year.
Leading by 25 points at half-time against Navy, Army came out for
the third ‘premiership’ quarter with nothing less than
victory in mind, kicking three goals in three minutes to put the
issue beyond doubt.
The football gods signalled their approval as an electrical storm
surrounded the ground and then opened all through the fourth quarter.
Navy then managed to outscore Army by three goals, but did little
more than add some respectability to a scoreboard that had Army
in front from the first minute.
Army opened the game with three goals straight before Navy troubled
the scorer, as Navy’s ball skills at times looked a little
nervous with easy marks going to ground and loose Army players running
free.
Navy tightened up in an even second quarter, putting on three straight
goals to Army’s three goals and two behinds, with one
Army goal that soared high appearing to be just wide of the big
sticks.
Regardless, any chance Navy had was quashed after five minutes of
the third quarter when Army turned a 25-point half-time lead into
an unbeatable 43-point margin.
Some traditional inter-service rivalry highlighted a dampened fourth
quarter, with Army’s No.4 throwing away any chance of being
named best on ground after he threw some indiscriminate punches
that didn’t go unnoticed by the umpires.
|
|
|
.
|
|
