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The Guelph Gargoyles traveled to Ottawa for the Canada Day long weekend to contest the Canada Day Cup played annually against the Ottawa Swans. Ottawa took the cup off the Gargoyles in 2009 after Guelph held it for the 2008 season. The Gargoyles were keen to see it’s return to the Royal City for 2010 and traveled up the 401 confidant but not complacent about a win on Saturday.

Four Gargoyles who traveled to Ottawa had played in the Canada Day football carnival in Toronto held on Thursday July 1^st so didn’t get much of a break having to back up again on the Saturday. As with the majority of teams that travel to Ottawa the team had to deal with a weakened lineup due to player availability for the trip. With several key position players out for the game it was a good chance for the coaching staff to provide an opportunity for some of the 2010 rookies to step up.

The majority of the team scheduled to play Saturday arrived in Ottawa on the Friday and headed out for dinner as a team. A few beers were utilized to wash down the Italian food and as is usual once the conversation gets really going a few more were consumed. This in hindsight might not have been the teams smartest move for 2010 considering the hot weather experienced on Saturday and the reduced interchange bench. We are after all human and the Gargoyles enjoy having a good time as much as any team in the league so it was likely to be expected.

A hot windy day greeted the Gargoyles at Rideau Carleton Raceway in Ottawa for the 2:00pm start time. With the game underway and both teams trying to contend with the tricky breeze the Gargoyles again started slower than the coaching staff would like. Guelph moving the ball forward but was unable to inflict any damage on the scoreboard. The Swans also trying their luck getting the ball into the Gargoyles defense zone only to find the back line repelling any intrusions. Midway through the first quarter some great play out of halfback saw the ball thrust deep into the Gargoyles forward line where Alex Filipowicz secured the ball and kicked his first goal for the season which he promptly celebrated with a perfectly executed back flip. This inspired the boys from Guelph who proceeded to gain multiple entries into the forward line aided by some great work out of the engine room where Greg Logel, Jeff Borysiewicz, Zack MacDonald and Travis Doyle were working tirelessly. Gargoyles lead 3.8.26 to 0.1.1

With the second period underway the team was beginning to play Gargoyles style footy with hard running, quick ball movement and the 1%’s the coaching staff have been instilling into the players psyches since the start of the season. The Swans aided by the breeze in the second were unable to penetrate the Gargoyles back line other than to register another behind. Rookies Daniel Hussey & Ryan McLaughlin really stepping up to the plate and having big game impacts as they contested balls and racked up possessions. Jeff Borysiewicz was impossible to tackle and kicked a great goal on the run towards the end of the second that saw the Gargoyles leading 5.9.39 to 0.2.2

At the half time break the message from the coaching group was to capitalize on the opportunities provided to the forward line in front of goal. Guelph struggling to inflict the damage the team is capable off by leading the league in the behinds tally for 2010 with 92 to date. Even converting 25% of these would see the team sitting at almost 200% in for/against percentages rather than the 133% they hold onto now.   Guelph controlled the quarter but was still plagued by goal kicking inaccuracy only managing to kick 2 goals and 5 behinds to end the quarter 7.14.56 to 0.3.3. Signs the team were beginning to fade were prevalent in the last 10 minutes of the quarter as the toll from the heat, un-rested players from the games during the week, minimal bench and Friday night beers all combined to take their toll on the team. Playing with a full bench all year has seen the team elevate the game pace for 2010 but the lack of a full bench for this match and minimal adjustments to our usual game pace really started to take their toll.

The Swans coaching staff must have had some magic syrup for the lads at the final break. The Swans came out firing in the 4^th quarter leaving the Gargles watching on as they piled on 5 unanswered goals to get them back in the game. Guelph well and truly running out of steam as they battled the breeze and a flight footed Swans outfit for the last 20 minutes of the match. In the end the Gargoyles damage in the first 3 quarters was too much for the Swans. To their credit though they showed us what they are capable off when focused and played some exciting football. Obviously they did not want to see the Canada Day Cup make it’s way back to Guelph without putting up a solid fight first and that they did.

Gargoyles winners at then final siren 7.14.56 to 5.3.33

Goals:               Jeff Borysiewicz (2), Dave Maurer, Chris Cunning, Zack MacDonald, Travis Doyle and Alex Filipowicz.

Best Players:   Jeff Borysiewicz, Greg Logel, Travis Doyle, Zack Macdonal, Ryan McLaughlin and Daniel Hussey.

Guelph defeated the Ottawa Swans 7.14.56 to 5.3.33 on Saturday July 3rd in very hot conditions.  Ottawa played some great footy in the 4th qtr as the Gargoyles ran out of steam with a minimal bench and some sore heads from the night before.  Full report to follow.

While the rest of the teams in the OAFL competition have the weekend off and will be resting up at a cottage or sunning themselves at a beach the Gargoyles squad heads to Ottawa this weekend for the inaugural Canada Day Cup game. The Guelph Gargoyles struck up a friendship with the lads in Ottawa 3 years ago as they were preparing to enter the OAFL competition and were invited to participate in the Cup game that Ottawa started in 2007 against the Central Blues as an exhibition match. The Canada Day Cup is now contested between the Gargoyles and the Ottawa Swans yearly on or around Canada Day.

The Gargoyles took the cup in 2008 but relinquished it in 2009 giving the Ottawa Swans their first ever win in the OAFL competition. The Swans too strong for the Gargoyles on that day and the cup has resided in Ottawa for the season. 2010 sees the Gargoyles with some changes to their team from 2009 and a renewed focus on match fitness travel to Ottawa to contest for the cup. The game is a regular scheduled round of OAFL competition as well that counts towards league points so has more meaning than a regular round. What do we have in store for us in Ottawa this weekend?

Guelph Gargoyles:

With a win over the Dingos last week the team displayed an ability to stick to the match plan and run the game out. Goal kicking has been “slightly” off target for 2010 with the team likely leading the behinds tally in the league! Training this week saw the team focusing on this area as well as assistant coach Ben Roberts tricking the majority of the team into a “light” fitness session on Tuesday that saw most players stretched to their limits and physically sick. Has to bode well this weekend as the team had a voluntary training session Thursday evening with quite a few Gargoyles players involved in the Canada Day football carnival arranged by the league playing for the various teams involved on the day. Ben Roberts and Scott Rowe competing of the Australian All Star team, Zack MacDonald for Northwind Team Canada and rookies Angus Macaulay and Mark Cianfagna along with coach Chris Cunning, Gord Munro and Aaron Fanning having a run in the rookies/veterans game.

Guelph has been moving the ball particularly well the last few games. The play out of the halfback line up the wings or when suitable through the center has been excellent. The team at the request of coach Lingus needs to get the ball to the foot more quickly into the forward line targets, will be interesting how this goes on Saturday.

The team like most of those from the league is not at full strength for the Ottawa game with the travel involved but is still a quality outfit. This weekend will see the return of some players that have been out with injuries or away traveling with the likes of Neil La Fontaine back into the team and Barry Rooke, Daniel Hussey and Matt Bannon likely trying out their newly healed knees.

Ottawa Swans:

Have struggled this year with the loss of some key talent from their 2009 team. The Swans however can never be taken lightly and have the home ground advantage for this game. The field at Rideau Carleton Raceway is suited to the Swans style of play with its shorter length and they obviously know their way around it fairly well. The Swans will be particularly keen to retain the Canada Day Cup and will come out fighting in at the beginning of the game. This weekend may be the first time that Guelph has played a game in Ottawa without teaming rain so fingers crossed for some fair weather in the nations capital. The game is sure to be played at an intense pace for the 4 quarters and the Gargoyles will need to play their best to bring the Cup back down the 401 to Guelph.

Game time is 2:00pm at Rideau Carleton Raceway in Ottawa.

Coming off a big win in the previous round against the Toronto Rebels round 7 of the OAFL season saw the Guelph Gargoyles face up against the Toronto Downtown Dingos. 2:00pm at Margaret Greene was the location for the game and wet weather was looking like the course for the day as it rained heavily most of the morning and looked set to continue for the afternoon.

Approaching game time at about 1:30pm the skies lifted a little and a glimmer of hope for a somewhat dry game appeared. The weather held off for the start of the match as it got underway at the scheduled time and only minimal rainfall occured for the balance of the game. Guelph this week starting with 23 players as a few rested niggling injuries and others had work commitments.

Travis Doyle captained the team for the game after his huge week against the rebels in round 6 where he booted 6 goals for the day. The coaching staff making a few small tweaks to the lineup to accommodate the difference between the Rebels teams last week and the Dingos lineup this week. Daniel Murray was given the job on Dingos full forward Buczkowski whilst Travis Doyle moved to ruck moving Matt Newark forward to provide a tall target. Zack MacDonald and Scott Rowe were rotated through wing and midfield to maintain a fast running game and the rookie brigade of Mark Cianfagna, Ryan Maclaughlin & Aiden McQuoid made the starting lineup. Jason Fox moved forward from his usual defender role to half forward whilst Adam Millen still suffering some pain from a rib injury sustained earlier in the season also started to round out the team.

With the game underway both teams were hard at the football picking up the ball and working it into their forward lines. The Dingos able to make more on an impact on the scoreboard as they converted goals whilst Guelph struggled to kick through the center posts and ended up with only 1 goal and 4 behinds to the Dingos 3.2 ratio. The two teams playing very different styles of football as the Dingos kicked to targets for set goals whilst the Gargoyles ran harder through the middle handballing before kicking on the run into the forward line.

With the 2^nd quarter underway and some minor lineup changes to combat any match-up issues the Gargoyles began to press the Dingos. Matt Newark moved into the ruck rotating with Travis Doyle and laid a nice clean tackle on a Dingos player who had a penalty awarded against him for not disposing of the ball. The tackle appeared to upset the Dingos player who had a run in with Matt Newark and very quickly half the Gargoyles team who came to his defense. With the Dingos player ejected from the field for the balance for the quarter the Gargoyles looked to capitalize but suffered from goal kicking accuracy problems again and only converted about half the opportunities. A pretty even score for both teams at half time saw the Gargoyles needing to lift although they dominated the possession of the ball in the quarter.

Things got interesting in the 3^rd quarter as some mix-ups in the goal area saw a goal called for the gargoyles that may have been a little suspect. This was soon followed by another goal from Ben Steinbacher being called a behind and another that clearly went through in the 4^th that was also called a behind. I guess when we have volunteers running the goal umpiring it can sometimes be a little confusing but possibly something we can work on as a league.

Guelph took a handy lead into the 4^th quarter after Scott Rowe loaded one up from outside 55m and it made the distance after bouncing twice but went through untouched. Guelph leading by 4 goals.

The final quarter saw the Dingos fire up and boot a couple of goals to get back into the game before Guelph wrestled control back and flooded forward. A goal was converted and numerous behinds as they ran out winners by 10 points in the end. This was not before Jeff Borysiewicz never one to avoid some conflict upset a Dingos player ending up in a tussle between Ben Roberts and the said Dingo who were both rested for the final term by the umpire. Really nothing in it to speak off just a little heated at the time however the Dingos displaying a little lack of discipline in giving away some penalties that cost them dearly in the long run. The Gargoyles focus this year on discipline and zero tolerance for umpire backchat paying off. It took us a long time to learn but kudos to the coaching staff for their strong stance this year yanking anyone that doesn’t abide to the interchange bench immediately.

Guelph Gargoyles 9.16.70 defeated Toronto Downtown Dingos 9.6.60

Goal kickers:            Matt Newark (3), Adam Millen (2), Scott Rowe (2), Greg Logel & Benjamin Roberts

Best players:            Scott Rowe, Greg Logel, Adam Millen, Daniel Murray, Ryan McLaughlin & Matt Newark.

The Guelph Gargoyles have defeated the Toronto Dingos 9.16.70 to 9.6.60.  Full match report to follow.

With the halfway point of the 2010 OAFL season hitting this weekend the Guelph Gargoyles face off against the Toronto Downtown Dingos who currently reside in 5^th place. What does the game hold in store for us?

Guelph Gargoyles:

Coming off a big win over the Toronto Rebels in the last round seem to be getting the midfield bugs ironed out. Some excellent passages of play on the weekend saw targets hit all over the ground and a game pace that was upheld for the entire 4 quarters. The team will be keen to reverse the goal/behind ratio this coming weekend as it could have been an absolute blowout on Saturday with some more accurate goal kicking. The Gargoyles dropped a game to the Dingos in the 2009 season, which they are very keen to make amends for.

Guelph will be looking to continue building on the form from last week. Some minor changes to the lineup this week see Jason Fox and Cameron Grant return to the team. Ed Williams and Loi Van Leeuwen have the week off this round whilst Matt Bannon, Mike McKee, Daniel Hussey & Barry Rooke are sidelined due to injury.

Key this week will be the teams focus on the 1%’s we saw so much of against the Rebels. Smothers, attacking the ball off the ground, shepherds and getting back to defend after a turnover. With wet weather in the forecast the team will be looking to the strong hands of Matt Newark who excelled in the wet a few weeks back and Dave Maurer for more crumbing and leading in the forward line.

The team lineup for the weekend looks strong and versatile and it will be required against the Dingos who have some very skilled players interspersed with some youth that will test the Gargoyles team. Will Travis Doyle continue on with his current form kicking 6 goals last week or will the team see what has been a pattern this year with various players leading the charge and taking the goal tally for the game?

Toronto Dingos:

Are coming off a defeat at the hands of the Etobicoke Kangaroos but only by 3 points in a very close contest last Friday evening. The Dingos have plenty of talented players including the likes of Chris Buczkowski up forward who appears to be back in form, Craig Stewart allover the ground and midfielder Mike McFarlane. The Canadian players on the Dingoes led by Chris B are all fairly experienced and move the ball well especially out the back of packs via handballs. Guelph will need to remain on top of this style of play to come out winners on Saturday.

The Guelph strengths of speed, passage play and defense will be stretched by the Dingos experience and accurate kicking on Saturday, which is sure to be an exciting game to watch.

Game time is 2:00pm at Margaret Greene Park

The 3-2 Guelph Gargoyles faced off against the 1-4 Toronto Rebels on Saturday June 19^th in round 6 of the OAFL 2010 competition. Guelph was coming off a win against the High Park Demons the previous week and the Rebels off a loss at the hands of the league leading Toronto Eagles.

A hot muggy Saturday afternoon greeted both teams at Margaret Greene Park in Guelph for the 2:00pm start. Guelph with a full squad of 24 to match up against the Rebels who looked to have only half a bench for the day. A very focused and determined Gargoyles team went through the warm-up and the coaching staff discussed what was required for the day.

With the flip of the coin the Gargoyles were going with the wind for the first quarter and would be looking to capitalize. The Rebels were first to win the clearance with the game underway and booted long into the 50m goal area where a Rebels player took a nice mark and goaled to give them the first points. Guelph quickly got things back on track concentrating on moving the ball out of the center and forward into the 50m zone where Matt Newark was taking some very nice marks. The Gargoyles doing a stack of rotations off the bench to keep the speed of the game at it’s maximum was already appearing to have some effect on the Rebels who began to fade in the end of the first quarter which saw Guelph leading by 4 goals.

With the 2^nd period underway Scott Rowe was having a damaging effect on the Rebels, as no one appeared to be able to keep up with him. He was running circles around his opposition, kicking pinpoint accurate shots into the forward line including a “Bend it like Beckham” piece of magic from the right side of the center square that hit Travis Doyle on the chest and was quickly converted to a goal. The Gargoyles were putting heavy pressure on the Rebels defense that was forced to work overtime all day.

The half time break saw the Gargoyles leading 61 to 17 and absolutely controlling the game although not converting every opportunity that was presented as the behinds tally was quickly racking up. The 3^rd quarter saw 4 more goals added to the Gargoyles tally as Travis Doyle was having a field day. Matt Newark after taking a great mark on the top of the 50m zone sprayed his kick wider than a malfunctioning piece of farm equipment straight into the hands of rookie Daniel Hussey standing on the opposite side of the field. Dan lined up and kicked a beauty from 40m out to bag his second for the season. Dave Maurer was also making short work of the Rebels defenders crumbing well and racking up his goal tally. Scott Rowe also getting in on the action with 2 of his own from kicks on the run. Midfielder Zack Macdonald was running hard all day racking up numerous possessions and making quick works of his opponents for the entire game.

With the 4^th period underway and the Gargoyles leading by 70 odd points the Gargoyles were looking to overrun their opponents. The interchange bench working all day with countless rotations as the team displayed that it can be disciplined enough to not allow any selfish play and maximize game speed. The first few minutes of the game saw the Rebels giving it one last go as they moved the ball into the Gargoyles defensive half but were only able to load up the scoreboard with some behinds as the Gargoyles defense held strong. The game saw probably the most smothered kicks in the writers recent memory as the Guelph team put their body on the line countless times and held back and Rebels advances. The quarter saw the Rebels just simply run out of steam whilst the Guelph team just kept pressuring. Benjamin Roberts wanting to add his name to the goal kickers list loaded up from outside 50m only to have his kick land on the goal line and bounce back into play. Scott Rowe continued his domination of the wing/midfield and fed the ball into the Gargoyles forward line numerous times although the entire quarter was played into a fairly stiff breeze. The Rebels could not get the ball out of the defense zone as they resorted to long kicks out of the back line. Guelph kicked a ton of behinds as they dominated the quarter but could only add 1 additional goal to the scoreboard into the wind.

As the final siren sounded the Gargoyles ran out winners 13.24.102 to 2.9.21

Goals:                        Travis Doyle (6), Scott Rowe (2), Dave Maurer (2), Zack MacDonald, Greg Logel, and Daniel Hussey

Best Players:            Scott Rowe, Travis Doyle, Zack MacDonald, Ben Steinbacher, Benjamin Roberts, Mark Cianfagna & Greg Logel.

Guelph has convincingly beaten the Toronto Rebels on Saturday defeating their Toronto opponents 13.24.(102) to 2.9.(21).  Trav "Double Double" Doyle bagging himself 6 goals for the afternoon.  Full match report to follow.