Round 2 was another huge success, with teams from The Vietnam Swans lining up along with the very best of rugby, gaelic and even hurling, courtesy of the Saigon Geckos Rugby Club, Hanoi Dragons Rugby Club, Saigon Gaels GAA Club, The Viet Celts Hanoi GAA and Na Fianna Ho Chi Minh GAA.
What a day, culminating in well over 300 gathered at Jaspas in Thao Dien. Read on for the highlights from the men’s and women’s games of footy.
#AFLW
In a great sign for women’s footy, Saigon assembled a strong team and Hanoi bought it’s fantastic 2020 numbers down for the 2nd round!
A 3 quarter arm wrestle saw the skills Hanoi have been building through their great training this season showing glimpses of some of the experienced Saigon women like Chia, Naomi, Katie and of course Katie’s girls Ella and Hannah. Saigon hit the last quarter with a 1 goal lead but from there were never headed slamming on, 5 goals in the last.
The score: Southerners: 10.3 def. Northerners: 5.3
The Men
With Round 1 ending in some score keeping controversy, Round 2 gave both teams a chance to set the record straight.
Saigon was bolstered by strong numbers after playing with an empty bench for most of Round 1 and Hanoi welcomed back spiritual leader and contested bull Jake Norris, freshly quarantined and raring to go.
The intensity was off the scale with all players making huge crunching plays. Saigon established a clear ascendency both in clearances and most tellingly via Oscar Silk in his last game. The Grouch ended up with 8 (technically beating the North off his own boot), while Sean Milner and Chris Nicoletti were immense in the middle. Jakey and Jas had pushed all game for the North and added some late respectability to the score card.
The score: Southerners 13.7 def Northerners 7.6
New faces threw their hat into the ring for best on ground awards. Ross Early was superb for the North, while it was was newcomer Chris who took out best on ground for the South in his first ever competitive AFL match, winning the award from the ruck!
Great to see new names and new faces on the ground for both sides as we head to 2021. Looking forward to some international matches in the near future!
Special Notes
Thanks go to Deputy Consul-General Petrina Lawson, who attended on behalf of the Australian Embassy, Vietnam, who’d generously supported the event. Petrina tossed the coin for both games and it was an honour to have her in attendance.
On a sombre note, we’d also like to offer our condolences to Lachlan Stark after the passing of his partner, Phuong. Since an announcement within the Club over a week ago, the display of support from Club Members has been exceptional and much appreciated.
