Port Malmö 14.8 (92) def. Jutland 5.12 (42)

Premiership football rolled in to Randers in Northern Denmark for the first time this past Saturday. The ground, which aptly filled one of the key DAFL ground criteria of a six-goal breeze, bore witness to a hard tussle between the thus far unbeaten Maulers and a Jutland team searching for one more win to put them within touching distance of the finals.Captain Ward lost the toss but lost little else all day in an all-action B.o.G display. So, kicking with the wind in the opening quarter, Port Malmö established a healthy lead. Jutland made regular trips inside the Malmö defensive 50 early on but were unable to convert any opportunities in to goals. Port, on the other hand, were clinical. McClaer, excellent all day, got the ball rolling from a free 25m out. Two goals from Malmö’s Irish contingent swiftly followed. First Boyd, then the returning Rattigan slotted beautifully on the run after a slick counter-attack from half-back. Further goals from Johncock, who led the line impressively, and the effervescent McMahan meant the scores read 5.1 (31) to 0.3 (3) at the first break.

Ultimately, it was the 2nd quarter that selaed the Shinboners’ fate and sent Port on to a 5th straight DAFL victory. Having used the wind effectively, Malmö now needed to keep Jutland to a low score whilst trying to sneak a goal or two. Thanks to some sterling work all over the field not only did Malmö restrict Jutland but actually managed to outscore their opponents 3.2(20) to 2.3(15). McClaer, Johncock and McMahan with a goal apiece added to their efforts in the first quarter.

Having maintained their 30-point cushion during the 2nd, Port Malmö were able to put the game beyond any doubt in a 3rd term that followed the pattern of the first; a brief period of scoreboard inactivity followed by some accurate goal-kicking resulted in 5.3 (33) for the quarter while the back-line held Jutland to a single behind. Quarter highlights included a well-deserved goal for 17 yr-old ruckman Alfred Bengtsson who performed admirably against Rasmus Jacobsen (Jutlands best on the day) and Jens Djernes (arguably the best ruckman in DAFL), a bomb from O’Riordan which in this writers opinion may well have been his best goal of the season (top two at least, Denis!) and a great pick-up off the toes and finish from Ward after a well-placed knock-down from McClaer.

In an interesting sidenote, at one stage during the third Port Malmö’s forward line consisted of Johncock, McMahan and Adam Brown with an extraordinary combined age of 129. DAFL’s oldest forward three combination?

The tiring Maulers found themselves pinned in their own half for much of the final quarter. The hosts booted 3.5 (23) to 1.2 (8) to close the gap somewhat and give the scoreboard the more even, respectable look that Jutlands’ battling performance deserved.

With one game remaining before the summer break, the DAFL ladder is starting to take shape as three teams (PM, NC and Farum) battle it out for the top two spots and a double chance whilst the remaining three fight it out for the one remaining final spot. An away win for Malmö at reigning premiers North Copenhagen in two weeks would virtually guaruntee a top two position whilst Jutland will in all likelihood need to beat the Crocs in Copenhagen to see September action unless they pull off a huge shock and turn over Farum in one of the two contests against the Cats.

Port Malmö best: Ward, Scotford, Johncock, Bengtsson, McClaer

Full match info here

2 Responses

  1. BoG Chip of the old Block. He would be playing for the Brisbane Lions if he was here. Keep yuor eye on the ultimate fellas. A Premiership only come to those the ‘Footy Gods’ look upon.
    Use the corridors nad first give is the best option. Breath out when you are kicking for goal.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *