Day 2 notes

Day 2 results...

Barramundis d. Hong Kong 17-5
Thunder d. France 17-12
Terra d. Canada 12-9
Firetails lost to United States 12-17
Taipans d. United Kingdom 17-13
Dingos v Ireland 17-7
Barramundis lost to United States 14-17
Firetails d. Ireland 17-2
Taipans d. Japan 16-10
Terra lost to Japan 13-17

The Dingos seemed to give their rookies a bit of a run in their first game - Paul Denyer, John Liddicoat and Tim Lavis all scored two goals each. Andrew Glover reeled in 6 goals of his own, receiving 3 of them from Mike Neild. The Aussies only had 8 turnovers for the match. In other games in their pool, Great Britain defeated Colombia 11-7, and Germany pulled Venezuela back from a 12-9 lead (10min before soft cap) to win 14-13.

The Firetails had a bigger ask in their opening game against the US. The game was high in turnovers (36 by Firetails and 31 by USA), and a five point mid-game run was enough for the Americans to close it out. Lauren Brown caught 5 goals, and Di Worman provided 5 assists. The second game was a different story, with the Firetails never looking threatened. Bec McKinlay led the stats with 3 goals and 1 assist. The girls are sitting 4th in their pool, behind USA, Finland and New Zealand, but at least their toughest assignment is out of the way.

The Barramundis also had a day of mixed (lol!) fortunes. Game one was a landslide 17-5 victory over Hong Kong. Huy Vu with 3 goals and 2 assists, and Laina Hall contributed 2 goals and 1 assist. Their second however saw them go down to the US 14-17. The score was 15-8 to the States with about 20 minutes to play. The Mundis scored 4 goals in 10 minutes to peg it back to 15-12, but the US managed to come away with the win. Pete Blakely score 4 times, and Vickie Saye caught 2 and threw 1. The Mundis are 3rd in their pool behind USA and Germany (who have beaten Colombia and Hong Kong). Germany v Italy on Wednesday morning is shaping up to be the crunch game in this pool.

The Taipans are 3rd in their division with wins over Great Britain (3rd seed) and Japan (4th seed). GB went up 2-0 early, but the Taipans scored 8 of the next 10 goals to seize control. Piers Truter scored 4 goals and 1 assist, and Chris "Buzz" Burwell chalking up 1 goal and 3 assists. Similar story in the Japan game - both teams traded for a while before 3 quick goals put Australia in the driver's seat. Japan scored after a marathon point, but the Taipans went on another run, this time scoring 4 goals in 10 minutes. Buzz continued to rack up the stats with 3 assists. The Taipans only have one game on Day 3, facing France, who lost to GB 17-11.

Thunder had a shaky start, having to wait 12 minutes until they hit the scoreboard. Thunder "veterans" Ashley Button and Phil White each had 3 assists to help straighten the ship, while Calan Spielman was found in the endzone 3 times, and Alex "BJ" Britten-Jones contributing 2 goals and 2 assists. The big test for the boys will be tonight/tomorrow morning when they face Colombia and the US.

The Junior Women's division was all over the shop on Day 2, with only one out the 7 games going to seed. The Terra girls had a fantastic 12-9 win over Canada in what looked like a tough game that lasted just over 2 hours. Terra were up 10-6 at time cap, and held off a strong comeback from the Canadian girls. Cat Phillips had 5 assists, and Ellie Sparke threw 2 and caught 2. Their second game of the day was another length encounter. Both teams exchange 2 and 3 point runs, but Japan ran away with a 17-13 win. Mel Hill had 3 assists, and Crystal Cheung caught 5 goals. It seems the girls had a hard time containing Maiko Motoki, who caught 8 of Japan's goals. Colombia (who beat US and Canada) and Japan sit atop the table, with Terra in 5th spot.