Summer break is now upon us and we are sure missing footy!! So let’s recap the 2024 Indochina Cup. In case you forgot, BOTH men’s and women’s teams defended their titles and once again took home the trophy! Ladies first…
Women’s Match Review:
Vietnam Swans 6.9 – 45 defeated Cambodia 1.1 – 7
Goals:
Amy – 5, Brodie – 1
Best on Ground:
Amy, Brodie, Ev, Lucy, Alana, Katie
Game Review:
The hot Siem Reap sun started early in the morning, testing the ladies after a big Friday night on Pub Street. Crawling out from the shade and sweating out their gin and tonics, the ladies booted up and switched on for their longest game of the year. Playing x4 15 minute quarters, the Swannies knew they needed to preserve their energy in the game. Our midfielders did a great job in moving the ball forward in the first quarter. Our ruckwoman, newly named Lucy O’Ruck, played her best game so far. She secured almost every ball, putting it in the hands of Ev, Brodie or Sarah to move downfield. She has incredible accuracy in her marks, always putting it into the hands of Amy or Katie. Well done Lucy!
The 2nd quarter showed a bit of tiredness from the Swannies, with Cambodia taking more marks and getting close to the goals. They made some quick marks and leads that we struggled to defend. Our defensive line of Krista, Mary, Kay, Jen and Court stopped all goals and points, working hard with some huge tackles. Special shoutout to Court for taking a ball in the face to stop a goal being scored.
Amy showed another star performance as a full forward. Cambodia could not track her down to stop any leads or marks. Knocking back 5 goals gave her the BOG and Goal Kicker Award for the tournament. Katie layed out some big tackles (sorry Tilly) to win the ball back for the Swannies and give our forwards the opportunity to score. Evrena also played one of her best games for the Swannies, working tirelessly to move the ball to the hands of the forwards. Breaking tackles and moving the ball is her specialty and really showed in this game.
Thank you to the Thai ladies who joined us and strengthened our squad in the heat!
Special mentions to the ladies who played their last game for the Swannies. Mary, Alana and Eimear, you will be truly missed by every Swans member. Thank you for all your hard work on and off the field and for helping us make history at Asian Champs last year.
The Swannies men and women continued their winning festivities on and off the field that evening- back to Pub Street they went. Thank you to Cambodia and Siem Reap for hosting us! We look forward to future tournaments and building our friendships with this team.
Player Reviews:
Backs
Court – continued to win one-on-one battles all day, lay tackles and didn’t get beaten. Played her role in a defense that didn’t concede a single score until the last quarter.
Kay – one of three fill-ins from Thailand that brought the heat! Played with intensity and ferocity and didn’t give the opponent forwards a chance all day.
Jen – thrown into a new role off half-back with the job of picking up Cambodia’s most dangerous forward and kept her direct opponent goalless. It’s great to have a player like Jen that I can trust to play in any position on the ground.
Mary – in her final game (for now) Mary was once again the general down back, intercepting any attempt from Cambodia to get it into their forward line. She’ll be missed :'(
Krista – another consistent performance for an important member of our back 6. Reliable kicking was on display once again and never left her opponent’s side. Got a run on the wing in the fourth and showed her value further up the ground too.
Mids
Lucy – one of multiple girls that I thought played their best ever game for the Swannies. Took some big marks, laid ferocious tackles and drove the ball into our forward line (and on one occasion the backline) with some long bombs. Quite clearly the #1 ruck in Asia, having Lucy in the middle is like having a 4th mid!
Brodie – continued a string of strong performances, shrugging tackles and driving the ball forward with her run and long kicks. Loved the fire and ferocity that we got from Brodie which we’ll no doubt continue to see.
Ev – played one of her best games for the Swannies, her delivery into the forward line was exceptional. Once again won heaps of contested ball, was involved in run & carry and laid a massive tackle in the 3rd quarter to stop a Cambodian score.
Sarah – in her 2nd ever game Sarah played the majority of the game in the midfield and didn’t look out of place for a second. Just in town for a couple of games we’ll miss having her around but hopefully she’ll make it out for another tournament in the future!
Alana – played another incredible game, constantly reading the play to stop the opposition getting the ball out of our forward line. Ran all day, took some great marks and beat any opponent near her. So proud of how she plays her footy and she’ll be greatly missed!
Eimear – again did another great job on the wing. Linked up with the midfielders to help give our forwards great opportunities all day. Got put at half back in the last quarter for her first-ever time and was really useful there too. Sadly is departing us (for now) but I’m confident she’ll be back.
Forwards
Niamh – continued to compete really well as a forward/ruck. Never got out-marked by her opponent, harassed their defenders when they got the ball and was a key reason for why we were able to lock the ball in our forward line for so long.
Katie – played again as a forward/midfielder and took some incredible marks across half-forward. Unlucky not to get a goal for the day but gave Amy some excellent opportunities and continues to lead the way with her voice and effort.
Jules – another from Thailand that played with us for the day and absolutely killed it. Would have to be one of the most ferocious tacklers I’ve seen play and gave some great handballs and sheppards that directly resulted in goals.
Yen – made the most of increased game-time and nearly kicked her 2nd goal in two games. She continues to improve and her willingness to take advice is great.
Tud – the third player from Thailand that played with us and did an exceptional job. Constantly looked to take advice and applied great pressure in our forward 50.
Amy – a very consistent four quarters from Amy earned her another BOG, finishing with 5 goals. I was impressed with her positioning and strong leads, was clinical in her shots on goal and didn’t get out-marked all day.
Men’s Match Review:
GAME 1: Vietnam Swans VS Thailand Tigers
Tigers got the early jump and piled on 4 goals straight to start the quarter, absolutely dominating all round the ground. Warner “Tiprat” McMahon stemmed the flow with a late goal to end the quarter. If Jordy “Lekka” Johnson wasn’t playing the Tigers lead could have been a lot more as he was owning the back flank and wing providing a lot of drive from there and creating forward 50 entries but the Swans just couldn’t convert those opportunities into goals. Tigers by 17 points at the break. 1st Quarter Swans 1. 1 (7) Tigers 4. 0 (24)
Very much the same as the first quarter with Tigers dictating play and not missing any opportunities in front of goal as they added another four goals straight for the quarter. Timmy Pickert was switched to defence that quarter and intercepted some very important balls that could easily have become goals. Jordy again was important in that quarter for the Swans as was Patty “Tadhg” Kennelly who was starting to insert himself in the game and getting his hands on the ball off the wing. Tigers lead by 28 points at half time. 2nd Quarter Swans 3. 2 (20) Tigers 8. 0 (48)
Half time break couldn’t come soon enough for the Swannies. Needed the reset and magnets on the board got switched around. The Swans turned it around a bit in this 3rd quarter, the midfield started to get on top and the backline was clutch keeping the Tigers to just 1 goal in the quarter. Matty B, Timmy P and Brad Stevens repelling any high balls that were coming in. Two big goals coming from the Cambodian boys Tong and Mongol really helped lift the spirits for Vietnam. Swans win the quarter but were still down with a quarter to go. Tigers by 21 points at the break. 3rd Quarter Swans 5. 3 (33) Tigers 9. 0 (54)
It was all or nothing in this last quarter. The Swannies were instructed to attack and to take the game on if they were any chance of winning this game. Jono Mackay was switched into the ruck for the whole last quarter and did not disappoint getting first touch on the ball and feeding the mids, bringing Jakey, Will, and Tish into the game as they were just pumping the ball into their forward 50. Villa absolutely dominated this quarter, clunking marks and helping himself to four goals. The pressure was dialled up all quarter and again the Swans back line was solid keeping the Tigers goalless, but in the end both teams had to settle for a draw in an entertaining game. DRAWN game. 4th Quarter Swans 9. 3 (57) Tigers 9. 3 (57)
Goals: Villa (4), Warner, Jakey, Jordy, Tong, Mongol
Best: Jordy, Patty, Villa, Jono, Timmy
GAME 2: Vietnam Swans VS Cambodia Eagles
After watching the brutal and often fiery game between the Tigers and Eagles that resulted in Thailand winning by 2 points. It was simple, the Swans had to win by 3 points or more to retain the trophy. A few key players from Cambodia were left battered and bruised from their previous encounter and it was important for the Swans to get a good start and a good start they did! Finishing the quarter four goals to one with Timmy and Jordy picking up where they left off from the last game. Swans by 19 points at the break. 1st Quarter Swans 4. 2 (26) Eagles 1. 1 (7)
Start of the second quarter you could tell that fatigue was starting to set in and it didn’t help that this game was played on the hottest part of the day. Things were heating up on field though as Cambodian local livewire bobbed up again with two more important goals to extend the Swans lead. Cambodia were a lot more competitive in that quarter getting a lot of the ball but couldn’t convert accurately in front of goal. Swans lead by 28 points at half time. 2nd Quarter Swans 7. 3 (45) Eagles 2. 5 (17)
With a half to go both teams were struggling to field 16 fit players. Swans were reduced to 2 on the bench as Wayno McMahon decided it was the perfect time to have a nap with only just the ICC trophy on the line. Done for the day. Cambodia were also playing sore but they saw an opportunity here and they took it, reducing the margin after kicking 4.1 to the Swans 2.1. Cambodia had their tails up heading into the final break as they had all the momentum. Swans by 15 points. 3rd Quarter Swans 9. 4 (58) Eagles 6. 7 (43)
Fifteen more minutes of football and it would determine whether the ICC trophy will be staying in Vietnam for the fifth year in a row or Thailand would be crowned the new ICC champs. It was put on the Swannies that they needed to dig deep, there was no rotations and they needed to leave everything on the field. Jono Mackay was put into the ruck and set up three clearances that all resulted in goals and the game was put to bed. Getting on the end of them was Villa with a foot and half height advantage over his opponent kicked a couple in the last quarter was the main target in the forward line and he ended the game with 5 goals. Swans WIN by 29 points. 4th Quarter Swans 12. 6 (78) Eagles 7. 7 (49)
Goals: Villa (5), Jed, Mongol (2), Jakey, Tish, Patty
Best: Timmy, Jordy, Jed, Jakey, Patty
Congratulations to both Jordy Johnson for winning the Swans MVP and coming runner up for the tournament and to Paul Villanova for winning the Leading Goalkicker. Well deserved winners on the day.
All in all, it was a fabulous day of footy with all players putting their hearts on the line. We couldn’t thank the Cambodian Eagles enough for hosting a great 2024 ICC tournament. And as always, a BIG thanks to our 2024 sponsors – none of this would be possible without you.
Cant’t wait to get back on the field come August!
HOOONK HOOOOONK!
