Calgary Claims Stampede Cup

A small gathering of BCFooty players made the trek over to Calgary to defned the Stampede Cup trophy. Unfortunately as we've seen so often this year, the Calgary Kangaroos were too strong on the day and won back their cup.

Match Results

Calgary Bears 2.3.15 v Calgary Kangaroos 10.6.66
BC Footy 9.5.59 v Calgary Bears 0.3.3
Calgary Kangaroos 15.10.100 v Cougars 2.2.14

An expanded report will follow, but here's some pics in the interim....

Eagles "Stink" their way to victory

On another beautiful day for footy, the Eagles pulled off a desperately needed victory to come back in the local season series (now sitting at 4-3). From the opening quarter the Eagles took control against the Cougars and never relinquished the lead all game.

Dale Wakefield exploded out of the blocks kicking 4 first quarter goals and 5 in the first half to set up the Eagles. Coach Freeman had one of his best games for the Eagles this year, while in his last game before heading back to Australia, Paul "Stinky" Atkinson was arguable B.O.G.

For the Cougars, the backline was tested all game and Coops and Cikerla stepped up to play big games. Fleming bagged 3 up forward and kept it close at times during the game, but the Cougars just couldn't quite get in front in the end.

Final Score
Cougars 7.8.50 to Eagles 13.10.88

Goals
Cougars - Fleming 3, Prashad 1, Santo 1, Palin 1, Coops 1
Eagles - Wakefield 5, Taylor 2, Joyes 2, Freeman 2, Brad 1, Jess 1

To see the gallery of photos from the day, click on the picture below -

Calgary 3-peats in West Coast Challenge

After a couple of week's of high temperatures, it seemed like divine intervention that the mercury cooled a little just in time for the annual display of the North West Pacific footy spectacular - the West Coast Challenge.

Once again, teams from Burnaby, Vancouver, Calgary and Seattle gathered to contest for "the Boot". To recognise the significance of the event, the BCFooty committee managed to secure the rights to the magnificent Thunderbird Stadium - the best footy ground in North America.


The Road to Thunderbird

Game 1 - Cougars v Eagles

The first clash of the day saw Vancouver's traditional rivals, Vancouver and Burnaby go head to head. With the series sitting at 3-2, this was a pivitol clash between the two clubs.

The game became even more special as BCFooty saw it's first ever father/son playing in the same game, with both Nick and Mike McFarlane lining up together. Mike was one of the best Canadians to play for the Cougars before "retiring" after 3 seasons (2001-03). He is also the driving force of the North Delta Juniors. One of the direct products of the Juniors is Mike's son Nick, who was playing his first official game for the Cougars.


Nick and Mike McFarlane

From the start of the game it was all Cougars as they jumped the Eagles and controlled play around much of the ground. "Charlie" Sheen and Cikarela were dominate accross the CHB line, while Scotty Fleming was quickly establishing himself as a key target up forward. Mike McFarlane proved he's still got it, as he slotted home a nice goal for himself.

At half time, the Cougars had jumped away to a 4.2.26 to 1.2.8 lead. The second half was a lot tighter with the Eagles repeatedly driving the ball forward. In the end though, a nice mark and a second goal for Mike McFarlane saw the Cougars comfortably home 5.2.32 to the Eagles 2.7.19.

Goals

Cougars - McFarlane 2, Grills 1, Mark Palin 1, Fleming 1

Eagles - Dickins 1

Game 2 - Grizzlies vs. Kangaroos

The first game for the defending champs saw them face an undermanned Seattle side. However, pre-game, the word in the commentary box was that the Calgary boys had a rather big Friday night - carving up the downtown Vancouver bar scene, so it was going to be interesting to see how they fared in their first game.


The commentary team calls the early action

The Special Comments team

Well it certainly didn't have much effect on their on-field performance as the Kangaroos came out guns ablazing. Calgary established domination through the centreline early and the No.1 recipient of that was Judgey who marked everything that came his way and slammed through 5 of Calgary's 6 first half goals.

At half time, Calgary was up 6.3.33 to Seattle 0.0.0. They certainly didn't let up in the second half and proceeded to pile on another 6 goals. Rugby league legend Timmy Brasher proved he's no slouch with the Aussie rules ball, putting in a great game, while Flower and Copeland took control through the centre and the likes of Beau Corps and Stewart continued the damage in the forwardline.

The 2nd half also saw Brad Flower take one of the biggest hangers you will every likely see in a game of AFL at any level. He literally launched himself onto the top of his opponents shoulders....seemed to pause there for a while, took the grab...and then for good measure just sat there for a bit longer to take it all in before finally drifting down to earth. Amazing.

Final Score - Calgary 12.9.81 to Seattle 0.0.0 (yikes).

Game 3 - Cougars v Grizzlies

So after a solid opening game against the Eagles, the Cougars were looking for more of the same against the Grizzlies. Despite facing a determined Seattle side, the Cougars were able to drive the ball continously into the forwardline. Fleming was having a "coming of age" day, proving to be quite a handful for his opposing number with a lot of hard leads and some nice grabs. Brock Gutherie was also strong at CHF and the scoreline showed with the two of them putting through 3 goals for the game. With a couple of Vargo goals in the first half, the Cougars went to half time with a lead of 4.3.27 to Seattle 0.1.1.

The Cougars prepare for the 2nd half.

The pace eased off in the second half, but the Cougars continued to build up the scoreline. The usual suspects in the backline prevented the Grizzlies from adding to the scoreboard, while another goal from Fleming and a major for Campo saw the Cougars home easy winners.

Final score - Cougars 6.6.36 to the Grizzlies 0.1.1

Goals

Cougars - Vargo 2, Fleming 2, Campo 1, Guthrie 1

Game 4 - Eagles vs. Kangaroos

Knowing they needed a victory to remain in contention for the West Coast Challenge title, Eagles coach Freeman had the boys fired up to take it up to a Calgary side that had just crushed Seattle. In the first half...that's exactly what they did. Calgary quickly realised that the Eagles had come to play. With Skipper Stevie Harper back after an extended visit to Australia and Stinky Atkinson playing his usual great game in the centre, the Eagles were able to get the ball into the forwardline and give their forwards a chance. Young Santo "Claus" Zenome continues to impress in the forwardline, kicking a nice goal. He could be the goal sneak the Eagles have been looking for since Stratford's departure. Veteran Colin Hilton added one of his own to give the Eagles a slight lead early.

Joyes launches over Flower and Payne

Calgary started to fight back and get on the board themselves. Rich Joyes was doing a great job on the dangerous Judgey, while Payne and Taylor kept the Kangaroos from getting too much on the scoreboard. At the half, the Eagles held a slender 2.2.14 to Kanagroos 1.4.10 lead.

The Roos team that emerged at half time was the championship team that had just destroyed Seattle. As the half wore on, the Eagles were swamped under wave after wave of Calgary attacks. The Roos were relentless and piled on 8 2nd half goals to crush the Eagles.

Final Score - Roos 9.9.63 to the Eagles 2.3.15.

Goals

Eagles - Santo 1, Hilton 1

Game 5 - Cougars v Kangaroos

So with 2 wins each, the Cougars/Kangaroos game was effectively the Championship game. Both teams had plenty of motivation to win. The Cougars had added incentive with Skipper Vargo and SuperCoach Grills both lining up for their 50th game. Would it be a fairtale finish?

Vargo and Grills after Game No. 50

The first half was a tight affair with niether team really gaining a clear advantage. Newbe Mark Palin was given the task of tagging Flower out of the game and that he did with great effect. After prancing onto the field with some fancy Flourecent orange boots, Flower was quick to change at half time, hoping that would help him get a few kicks. To counter the dangerous Judgey, Grills moved himself to Full back and stopped many attacks with some huge sweeping marks on the last line of defence.

The forwardline tried hard when the ball was down our end and Fleming continued to lead hard all day. Unfortunately a few easy misses saw the Cougars down at half time - 0.4.4 to Calgary 2.2.14.

The second half remained a close affair, but Calgary slowly but surely were making the best of the limited opportunities. Despite a late goal by Scotty Fleming after taking his own "hanger" over none other than Flower, the Calgary Boys were too strong accross the ground.

Final Score - Kangaroos 5.5.35 to Cougars 1.4.10

Goals

Cougars - Fleming 1

Game 6 - Eagles vs. Grizzlies

After 2 losses each, both the Eagles and the Grizzlies knew pride was on the line when they lined up for the last game, with neither team wanting to leave the West Coast Challenge without a win. On this occasion it was the Eagles who came out the most determined. From the start, Wakefield, Chuck, Freeman, Stinky and Co, controlled the centre and set up their forwards with many, many chances.

Despite some wayward kicking in the first half that saw the Eagles with a 2.7.19 to 1.1.7 lead, they came good in the end. Joyes made the move into the guts and looked very good on the hard lead, taking some nice grabs and kicking 3 majors. With Randy Dickins playing a great game up at CHF, could Coach Freeman have unvieled a spectacular new forward arrangement? One player who impressed yet again was Santo Claus who seemed to be roving and snapping goals from all sorts of angles in the pocket, ending the game with 3 goals of his own. In the end, a great victory for the Eagles to finish off their tournament.

Final score - 8.10.58 to Seattle 2.3.15

Goals

Joyes 3, Santo 3, Hilton 1, Chuck 1

In the end a great win for the Eagles, but the result did not change the fact that for the 3rd successive year, the Calgary boys walked away as Champions.

Post Game

Post game it was off to the newly established Irish bar of Campus Mahoney and Sons for a few ales, the presentation of some "interesting" trophies to each teams best player, and a lot of good times.

Gareth and Rosie with the West Coast Challenge Cup (aka "The Boot").

Seattle Coach for the day - Bartlett says a few (actually many) words


Calgary Best - Beau Corps


Cougars best - Luke Cikerla


Eagles best - Stinky Atkinson

Thanks

Thanks as always to the many volunteers for the day. In particular - all the Umpires for their great work all day and Laura Grills for her sensational Pie selling.

Gallery

The view the full gallery of photos from the Game, click the following photo. (Thanks to Janis and Randy for the great action shots !!).

Cougars heat it up in a thriller

With the Cougars v Eagles series locked at 2 a piece, game 5 in the local series was always going to be a cracker with both teams keen to take the series lead. Both teams arrived at Burnaby Lakes to beautiful barmy weather and a ground that was in superb condition.

The Eagles had extra incentive to win on the day as veteran Colin Hilton became the first BCFooty player to crack the 50 game mark. Before the game started, both players formed a guard of honour as Col ran through a banner to mark the occasion prepared loving by his “girls” - wife Kym, and daughters Sophie and Riley.

With the formalities over, it was time to get on with the footy at hand. The Cougars were buoyed before the game with the return of ruckman Mark McCutheon and the every versatile Shine Edgar, both back after an absence of a few games. They quickly made their mark with McCutheon dominating the early ruck duels and Edgar was getting a lot of it out on the wings.

Despite playing into a strong headwind, the Cougars had a lot of play in the early going. Playing his first game for the Cougars, Big Pat adapted quickly to the game at CHF and found himself in great position to take a few marks and have a couple of cracks at goal. Despite the stifling conditions, both teams were playing fast and furious. A pair of Vargo goals saw the Cougars with a slight lead at quarter time.

Q1 – Cougars 3.5.23 to the Eagles 3.1.19

After a solid first quarter and now playing with the wind, the Cougars were confident of building on their lead, but it was not to be. The Eagles centreline took away the ascendancy of the game when Chuck moved to the ruck and Randy Dickins was proving a handful up forward, kicking a number of nice goals (including a long bomb on the half-time siren). Col Hilton topped off his 50th with a highlight reel snap from the boundary and the Eagles took an 8 point lead into half time.

The Cougars couldn’t get anything going forward and when they did, Chris Payne was proving to be just that – a right pain, rejecting a lot of Cougar advances. The scoreline could have been a lot bigger for the Eagles had it not been the solid play in the backline by Scotty “Mr.” Sheen, Teddy Bundy and Luke Cikerala who were running straight lines at the footy all day. Johnny Bouker was hard at the ball too, so hard in fact that a big tackle on his favourite Eagle – Chris Freeman, lead to him popping his shoulder out and unfortunately taking no further part in the game.

Half Time – Cougars 4.6.30 to the Eagles 6.2.38

The game could have easily turned the Eagles way as players from both sides were being tested by the heat. However, the Cougars dug in and once again fought hard into the wind. Grills switched to the ruck and his attack and enthusiasm for the footy was infectious.

The centreline of Jorgansen, Vargo and Edgar was linking well leading to a couple of Vargo goals from tap out wins and some quick handballs through the centre. Les Ketchell continued to shine across the forward flank showing a lot of dash, while Campo was once again proving to be an elusive goal sneak, bagging two nice goals for the Cougars on the day.

Q3 – Cougars 8.10.58 to the Eagle 10.6.66

With an early goal to the Eagles it looked like they might just pull off a deserved victory, but the Cougars were not done yet by a long way. Scotty Sheen continued to repel numerous attacks and pump the ball long where players were lining up to get free. Shifting to Full back, McCutheon continued to be all over the footy, and had a number of long linking plays with Cikerala and Jorgansen down the wings.

Gradually the game shifted as Guthrie finished off a nice passage of play with a goal, then Grills, then Vargo and suddenly the game was extremely close. With no-one to sure of just how tight the scoreline was, and with only seconds to play, Edgar banged home a beautiful snapped goal from 20 metres out after some sensational long linking play down the wing by the Cougars.

The siren went shortly after…but who had won?.....it was the Cougars !!! A superb come from behind victory in an extremely tough game after the team had looked gone a 3 quarter time.

Final Score - Cougars 12.11.83 to the Eagles 11.10.76

Cougars Goals - Vargo 5, Campo 2, Grills 1, McCutheon 1, Jorgensen 1, Guthrie 1, Edgar 1

Eagle Goals - Dickins 4, Freemo 2, Santos 2, Col 1, Chick 1, Stinky 1

Kelowna Trip

Its fair to say that the Calgary teams gave as a footballing lesson.

Game Results - (Seems to be some differences to the Calgary website, but these are what we have)

BC Canadians 6.6.42 to Calgary Canadians 7.7.49
Vancouver Cougars 4.2.26 vs. Calgary Aussies 19.7.121
BC Canadians 3.4.22 vs. Red Deer 8.4.52
Burnaby Eagles 7.5.47 vs. Calgary Aussies 15.7.97

Here's a collection of pic's from the weekend. Just click on the picture below to see the slideshow.

Here's a link to an article that appeared in the Kelowna Daily Courier.

Game 4 - Cougars v Eagles May 28th, 2006

It was another wet day in Burnaby Lakes as the Cougars and Eagles prepared for Clash No. 3 in their long season series. For the previous 2 days, SuperCoach Grills and Skipper Vargo had been planning for the Eagles downfall via a Football Strategy Planning Retreat in Whistler under the "guise" of playing golf.

The Cougars hit the dressing rooms with a strong turnout and on paper; it was shaping up as one of the strongest teams, fielded for the year.

From the opening bounce however, the Cougars looked second fiddle against a fired up Eagles team. Boom new recruit Andy was dominating the centre bounces and Wakefield, and Stinky Atkinson were driving the ball out of the centre for the Eagles with ease. Once again Johnny Bowker was given the job of forming the Freeman blanket and quickly continued where he left off a fortnight before. Determined to "shake the blanket", Freeman temporary shook it off after delivering a crushing (but fair) hip and shoulder that temporary saw the blanket shaken up and in need of some quick repairs.

The Eagles continued to press forward. From the opening stanza Coops was in everything that came into the backline. With the ball constantly on the ground, it was only through his ferocious diving and tackling efforts, and the tough play of the two Brocks and Matty Neufeld that prevented the scoreboard from creeping higher into the Eagles favour. Hilton and Bagjera put on a couple of Eagles goals and the Eagles were off and running.

After moving up the ground from the full pocket, Grills began to gather a lot of stats across the centreline and began to swing the ball the Cougars way. A late Cougar goal to Vargo saw the Eagles with a handy but small lead in the sloppy conditions.

Cougars 1.0.6 to the Eagles 2.1.13

The boys were asked to lift in the second quarter to match the Eagles intensity as far as hitting the ball hard and tackling went, and that they did. A couple of key changes in the centreline and the Cougars began to turn the game their way. Despite a very, very late night the night before, DJ Bennetron began to fire up and relished an unusual role for him out on the Wing, where he began to pile up a lot of loose possessions. Having just driven into town and basically run straight onto the field, Shine Edgar wasted no time getting his hands on the footy and set up a number of Cougar thrusts.

Still it remained the dominant play of the backline that was crushing the Eagles hopes and setting up an almost impenetrable wall across CHB. Playing some of his career best footy, the "Guru" - Rob Edmonds was an inspiring force all game as he constantly got his right fist out to deny his opponents the ball time and time again. In one beautiful passage of play later in the game, he managed to garner about 5 quick possessions, only to fall antagonising close to a great goal after a snap from about 15 metres out...proving there is a reason backman play in the back !!!

The Cougars began to hit the goals, hard and if not for the (now seemingly) usual misses, the scoreboard could have been a Cougars blowout.

Half time - Cougars 3.5.23 to the Eagles 3.2.20

After half time, some drizzling rain was ominous as the Cougars began to rain goals.....or should I say - points on the scoreboard. Big Luke Cikerela moved to the forwardline and was instantly a solid target to aim for, providing a lot of hard leads and fighting hard to keep the footy in the forwardline. After a long layoff, Richie Ananadacoomaswarmy was trying to weave some black magic around the forward line and after an easy miss in front, he atoned for himself by quickly slotting through a nice goal.

Having lost the Bowker Blanket, Freeman can not have been to happy to have been introduced to the Scotty Sheet as Scott relished the opportunity to completely cover the Eagles coach and severely reduce his impact on the game.

With the Cougars backline continuing to control the game, the Cougars centreline was taking it in turns to drill the ball long. Jorgensen and McCutheon were getting plenty of tough possessions across the centre as the likes of Neufeld and Thompson drove the ball long. Jorgensen continually got himself into scoring position but had to put his hand up this week for the title of most points for the Cougars (much to the relief of Perennial point scorers - Grills and Vargo).

Hats off to the play of Eagles backmen Chuck Buchanan, Cam Maris and Pete Taylor who single-handedly tried all day to keep the Eagles in it and applied a lot of pressure that stopped a lot of Cougars chances from turning into goals rather than points.

3 quarter time - Cougars 4.11.35 to the Eagles 3.4.22

The 4th quarter was all Cougars. Determined to convert their dominance around the ground into goals, the team never let up and peppered the forwardline time and time again. It seemed that everyone wanted a piece and the scoreboard co-operated.

Clearly lacking for something to do in the backline, Coops (for the second time) found himself in front of goals and slotted his 2nd home for the game. Having never scored a goal in 42 previous games for the Cougars it was a deserving result for the Cougar who'd played the hardest footy all day. However, he was quickly reprimanded by Coach Grills who told him in no uncertain terms that backman should not be lurking in the forwardline....

With Coops out of the way, Grills was able to slot a nice goal of his own - which turned out to be career goal number 50 for the Cougars. Jorgensen finally slotted one through the sticks late in the game and despite another 5 points; the Cougars came off the field big winners.

Final Score - Cougars 8.16.64 to the Eagles 3.4.22 (this is eerily similar to our last game against the Eagles which was 8.15.63 to 3.2.20 - and also proves we need to do some goal-kicking practice....)

Goals - Coops 2, Vargo 2, Grills 1, Luke 1, Richie 1, Brad 1

Game 2 & 3 - Cougars go 2-0 in Port Angeles

The Vancouver Cougars revitalized their season with a stunning 2-0 result from this weekend’s road trip down to Port Angeles.

Despite aiming for a 7am departure time, we yet again couldn’t co-ordinate 30 players and supporters to get out of bed in time to get going from Vancouver and head across the Border at such an early hour. We finally got going at 8am and bolted south. The long trip got a bit longer for some after Shane Burgess accidentally packed his old passport – Doh !! Thankfully, Teddy (who some say could make it on the F1 circuit at the speeds he drives) drove back and got it for him as he sat in citizenship limbo at the US Immigration office.

Pretty much everyone missed the shorter 10.15am ferry from Keystone so we had to head almost all the way down to Seattle to catch the 12.15 Edmonds ferry across to Puget Sound to get to Port Angeles. FINALLY at around 2pm – 7 hours later we made it to the ground.

The game was at beautiful Civic Field, which has to be one of the nicest grounds Seattle has ever managed to co-ordinate for a game. It was small, but in beautiful nick and had quite a nice grandstand to go with it.

Game 1 – Cougars v Grizzlies.

With 5 Eagles about an hour behind due to the “Burgess Border Incident”, the Cougars played Seattle in the first game. After a disappointing first up loss to the Eagles, the Cougars were strengthened tremendously by the return of Troy Macri (currently residing in Calgary) and Shine Edgar (the former Cougars, turned Eagle, turned back to Cougar). From the opening bounce, the Cougars centerline of Grills, Bowker, Macri and Vargo took control of the game and bombed the ball long into the full-forward line on the very short ground with the later 3 all kicking nice running goals at some stage in the game.

It didn’t take long before it was raining goals. Grills headed down to Full Forward in the second half and proceeded to grab everything that came his way, snagging 4 goals. First time player Mark McCutheon was proving a handful just about all over the ground. Starting at Full Back, he even managed to run the length of the ground and kick a goal, before later kicking another after replacing Grills in the ruck. Another first timer – Chris was racking up possessions across the Half Forward Flank. Coops as always was a dominant force in the backline while Settacasi relished a short stint in the Full Forward position taking some nice grabs and bagging a goal for himself. Edgar was all over the footy throughout the game, and while his disposal wasn’t up to usual lofty standards early (after a full year off from the game), he proved that he is going to be very dangerous as the season progresses.

All up a thumping win.

Final Score: Cougars – 12.8.80 to the Grizzlies – 3.2.20.
Goals: Grills 4, McCutheon 2, Settacasi 1, Campo 1, Vargo 1, Macri 1, Attwood 1, Bowker 1.

Game 2 – Cougars v Eagles.

Game 2 saw the second game in the Cougars v Eagles series. From the start, the Cougars weren’t having it as easily as they had against Seattle. Despite being without 2005 B&F winner – Louie and regular centreman Dale Wakefield, the Eagles centerline of Freeman, Atkinson and Harper were a strong force early and set up a number of Eagles drives. Thankfully the regular forces of Coops, Neufeld, Teddy and Campo were up to the task of squashing the Eagles forwards and refused to concede any easy goals.

As a result, the Cougars managed to keep their heads in front at every change. As the game wore on, the Cougars started to roll over the Eagles. Having picked up a few good stats in the first quarter, Coach Grills made a key move on Eagles player/coach Freeman – he applied the “Bowker Blanket”. For the next 3 quarters, Freeman could not move on the ground without the “Blanket” completely smoothing him and taking him right out of the game. With Eagles Skip Stevie Harper also going down with a Hammy injury, the Eagles began to lose control through the centre.

"The Bowker Blanket" - as worn by Chris Freeman

Edgar got a lot of the ball through the centre, while McCutheon was completely unstoppable all over the ground again, almost single-handed taking control of the game of the Cougars.

Vargo headed down for a stint in the forward line and bagged himself 4 goals to continue what is likely to become a season long duel with Grills at the top of the goal-kicking ladder. Grills snagged a late goal to take the season lead after (some say), stealing a long bomb from Matty Neufeld on the goal-line and tapping it through. Normally a backman, the goal would have been Matty’s first in 21 games with the Cougars – shame Grills, shame. Although in saying that, Matty proved he was definitely a backman earlier in the game when he sent a kick from 20metres out, directly in front - about 20 metres wide of point post and out on the full. Once again, some wayward kicking from the usual suspects prevented the scoreline from being even larger.

At the other end, Macri proved he is just as big a handful down in the backline, sweeping across the CHB line on regular occasions, to send the ball back the Cougars way time and time again.

In the end, a tough but strong win.

Final Score: Cougars 8.15.63 to the Eagles 3.2.20
Goals: Vargo 4, Macri 2, Grills 1, Josh 1.

To see a gallery of pics from the game, click on the picture below -