Saturday, May 25, 2013

ANGEL-SWANS FALL IN OAFL SEASON OPENER

Photo courtesy of Rob Colburn.
Angels Tara Cools-Lartigue and Margo Legault in action.
Three Montreal Angels made the trek to Toronto this past Saturday to suit up for the Ottawa Lady Swans in the Ontario AFL opening round. The Lady Swans were the surprise story of 2012 finishing 2nd in the women's division before being bundled out of the finals in straight sets. 

Up against a new and improved Etobicoke Lady Roos team the Angel-Swans fought bravely but eventually lost a scrappy contest by 21 points.

The Ottawa Lady Swans next match is against reigning premiers the High Park Lady Demons at home in Ottawa on the 8th of June.

Thursday, May 16, 2013

ANGELS SIT ATOP NORTH-EAST SHIELD DIVISION

Action from Round 1 NE Women's Shield

AFL Quebec’s recent Preseason Cup tournament also served as the debut round of the North-East Shield, an exciting new women’s Australian Rules football competition contested between New York, Boston and Montreal. The league has introduced an innovative new scoring system in which 2 premiership points are awarded for a win and 1 point for a draw. In addition, any away team that secures a victory or draw on the road is awarded 1 bonus point.


The hometown Angels and New York Lady Pies squared off in game one, the visitors having the advantage of stiff breeze at their backs in the first half. The contest was a tight arm wrestle early, both teams’ defences holding up well under the pressure. Margo Legault was in everything for the Angels but it was the work of the Magpie army’s Licata, Hinojosa and Casillas that swung momentum New York’s way. It would be Andrea Casillas who eventually broke the drought, the talented utility slotting through a classy goal on the run to give the Magpies the early lead. The Angels threatened to snatch back the lead late in the half, rookie Angel Robyn Graham leading the charge showing glimpses of brilliance on debut, but Magpie defenders Ervin and Ridwan held the fort down back and New York held on to a hard earned 4 point halftime lead.

The Angels fought back strong in the second half, Elaine Gilmore unstoppable through the middle adding a goal and putting the Angels noses in front. Veronique Chasse had been a handful for the opposition all game and Margo Legault was providing the Angels drive through the midfield dominating the clearances, the purple haze slowly gaining ascendency in the match. Despite having all the play the Angels were wasting opportunities in front of goal. The Magpies were far from out of the match and rebounded the ball forward against the flow of play scoring a behind. With only a goal in it the final nail on the coffin was delivered by Angel Emily Legault, the star ruckman slamming home her first goal of the afternoon allowing the Angels to run out  12 point victors, Angels 2.5 (17) to Lady Magpies 1.1 (7).

Game 2 pitted arch-rivals Boston and New York against each other. The Demons launched out of the gate, a goal to the midfield machine Alysha Olson and two to Holly Teufel giving the Boston squad complete control of the match early. The Magpies fought back with some forward forays of their own, Samantha Wolf playing a lone hand up front trying to ignite a spark and managing two behinds for her efforts. The Magpies were working their way back into the game with some solid work from Karen Muiter and Alessandra Nolting, but the early damage was proving difficult to undo and the Demons held a commanding 17 point break at the half.

With their backs to the wall the Magpies came out fighting. Melissa Fudor continued her sublime work through the middle and Aiko Neligan threw herself fearlessly into every contest but it simply wasn’t enough. Boston had their tails up and Holly Teufel was putting on a clinic in front of goal booting her third for the match. With further great plays from Andrea Williams and Anna Belfore the Demons stormed home to a 35 point mauling of the Magpies. Demons 5.7 (37) to Magpies 0.2 (2).

Boston’s fierce victory over New York had pundits billing them as warm favourites over the Angels for game three, but with some of the team’s marquee players already looking on from the sidelines things were about to get worse. The Demons six goal victory had come at a price, and now two more of their stars were sitting on the sidelines nursing injuries. In no mood for mercy the Angels were about to move up a gear. Tara Cools-Lartigue had been one of the Angels best all day, her attack on the ball and ability to win the contested ball a key to Montreal’s repeated forward plays. Lindsay Belzie who had started off slowly was also finding touch. Dominating up forward the spearhead finally slotted her first for the day and the Angels were off and running. Lisa Arredondo refused to throw in the towel for the Demons and led the charge for a mini Boston revival. It netted a point to Olson before the Angels snatched momentum back, Emily Legault starting to make her mark on the game peppering the goal face with three behinds. As the siren sounded for halftime an inaccurate Montreal held an 8 point lead and the Demons were hanging on by a thread.

Having formed an absolute brick wall in defense all day alongside impressive rookie Melissa Saltarelli, Mimi Eboka’s push forward earned her a first ever goal and a valuable one at that, as Montreal sat on the verge of breaking open the match. Kelsey Martin continued her stellar afternoon causing havoc across half-forward for the Demons defense and when Lindsay Belzie added her second major of the game and Emily Legault finally broke through for her first after kicking five behinds the Angels had sealed the match cruising to a solid 29 point victory. Angels 4.6 (30) to Demons 0.1 (1).

The results of the round placed Montreal at the head of the table, but only by the smallest of margins. The race for the North-East Shield very much still up for grabs as the three teams get set to battle out round two in Boston on June 15.

Monday, May 13, 2013

FOR THE ANGELS, 2 OUT OF 3 AIN'T BAD

Robyn Graham was amongst the best on debut
The Montreal Angels made a solid start to their 2013 campaign winning two out of three games and finishing runner-up to the Ottawa Swans in the AFL Quebec Preseason Cup.

The Angels recorded victories over the New York Lady Pies and the Boston Lady Demons before falling to eventual winners the Ottawa Swanettes. There were many promising signs from the home squad including the exciting performances of three debutants, Robyn Graham, Melissa Saltarelli and Vero Chasse. 

Full match report coming soon.

Monday, May 6, 2013

WOMEN'S FOOTY TAKES CENTRE STAGE IN MONTREAL

Clockwise from top left: Swans, Angels, Demons & Magpies
The 2013 AFL Women's Preseason Cup will take place at Loyola Campus, May 11th from 11am.


Some of North America's most exciting Australian Rules footballers will take centre stage at the Loyola Campus in Montreal this coming Saturday in the fifth annual AFL Quebec Preseason Cup.

The "Big East" has been a factory for women's Aussie Rules talent in recent years. The four competing teams; Boston, New York, Ottawa and Montreal can lay claim to a top-two Ontario AFL finish, a Canadian National title and several U.S National Grand Final appearances between them. Furthermore,  all teams are home to United States and Canadian National team players. It sets the stage for a blistering day of Aussie Rules football.

The defending cup champion Angels will be without their star midfielder and Team Canada captain Aimee Legault and backline giant Kate Allbon Sargeant, the losses will put the heat on Montreal's new crop of rookies to rise to the occasion and throw the door wide open for the any one of the three challengers to claim the silverware come Saturday afternoon.