The OC Bombers hosted a big weekend of footy on August 8 and 9, with the Denver Bulldogs traveling out to So Cal to take on the Bombers on Saturday and the San Diego Lions on Sunday.
The venue for the Bombers v Bulldogs clash was the Cal Poly University grounds in Pomona, and the excellent surface and wide open spaces of the field helped make for a great contest. A nice crowd was on hand to enjoy some good football from both sides, and even the weather cooperated with temps in the low 80’s.
This game was to be a big test for both clubs, with the OC Bombers missing 8 of their key players and Denver traveling with a lighter squad than usual.
Bombers head coach John Fragomeni said before the game, “We have been focusing on our second tier depth and in particular giving our rookie American players as much on field experience we can. Players like young ruckman Tyler Mounce and centre half forward Andrew Loewen are being thrown into senior roles in key positions, and they are developing very well as are fellow Americans, Zach Caspary, Ronnie Luto, David Dollar, and Nate Smith and I expect they will show well today”.
As the players lined up some interesting match ups occurred, with the OC coach moving veteran full back Kurth Nelson up the ground to center half back, while at the other end American rookie big Andrew Loewen started at CHF for the Bombers in the absence of Chris Stewart, and held down this vital position in only his second 18 a side game ever. These two areas proved to be crucial, and young Drew and old KB had great games with Drew providing a big target and taking some strong marks, finishing off his good work with 2 goals. It was good to see 2 American players at opposite ends of their careers have such a big impact in a big game.
In the first quarter the Dogs jumped out of the blocks well to post the first goal of the game, and while the Bombers quickly responded, the contest was very even with both sides feeling each other out but neither able to take control. The Bombers and Dogs went goal for goal as they turned on an entertaining quarter for the crowd, and went into the break with just a point separating them.
In the Bombers quarter time huddle, Coach John Fragomeni was less than pleased with his side’s performance to date and delivered the boys a bit of a spray. He asked that the players stick to the game plan and reduce the unforced errors that were causing way too many turnovers. The players were instructed to move the ball into the prescribed areas and break across lines, and the coach finished his address by demanding 5 goals for the quarter while keeping Denver to a minimum.
With a fresh start and change of attitude, the Bombers did exactly that, slamming on 5 goals in a blistering 10 minutes of footy. Unfortunately, once the players reached their target they relaxed a bit, allowing the Dogs to goal and bring the remaining 5 minutes of the quarter to a stalemate, but the Bombers had shown enough to set the tone for the rest of the day.
While pleased with their purple patch, the OC coach and the players were disappointed with the late fade out and vowed to work harder to keep the pressure on in red time. To Denver’s credit, they never gave in and provided some great contests, but the depth and experience of the home side was too much for the traveling Bulldogs. The Dogs had 4 Arizona players and 2 from OC help them form a squad of 22, so they were obviously less than full strength.
The second half saw a more consistent OC team lay on the pressure that would eventually ensure a win, but Denver’s persistence and pressure still managed to expose a few chinks in the armor of the less experienced Bombers team. Once again it was OC’s defense that helped set up the win, keeping Denver’s scoring shots to a minimum and providing important drive off half back. Kareem Lorseyedi and Mike Hertstein continued their good form and combined with the other OC defenders to again give up a miserly score.
In the midfield Leigh Bridges turned in another BOG performance, while Rob Luto backed up his stellar game two weeks ago with another solid match. The Bombers welcomed back on-baller Simon Sweeney from injury, and he slotted back in to the midfield like he’d never been away. Bombers co-captains Qemal Shalholli and Frederick Schulin led from the front and turned in solid performances while carrying injuries. Q’s snap and goal in the second quarter opened the floodgates and inspired his teammates to lift; resulting in the 5 goal burst that essentially put the game out of the Bulldogs reach.
The Bombers forwards again put scoreboard pressure on their opponents, with 5 goals from full forward Chris McNeil and 2 goals and many assists from half forward Paul Lindley. These efforts rewarded the hard work of the defenders and midfielders, resulting in a 7 goal final quarter from the OC Bombers. After some wayward kicking in recent weeks, it was refreshing to see the goals out-weigh the points for a change. OC finished with 16.6, a big improvement on the last few games.
After the game OC coach Fragomeni had this to say, “Consistency over a full four quarters will be something we need to improve upon as well as how we move the ball, however I’m very pleased with the players that took the field against Denver. It is a difficult proposition for players to gel immediately when you are forced to make such huge wholesale changes in a team structure from game to game. The players that were brought into the team stepped up to the challenge and equipped themselves extremely well.”
Sunday saw Denver line up against San Diego, and another entertaining game ensued.
The Denver boys showed up to the field at Southlake Middle School in Irvine on Sunday morning feeling a bit bruised and battered, especially after a pretty big Saturday night in Huntington Beach. But they backed it up and took it to the Lions, eventually going down by 2 goals in a great game that saw scores level at three quarter time.
Simon Shenk was outstanding for SD, while for Denver Brent Barnes and Tom Ellis led their makeshift team from the front and went close to pulling off a win. With the Dogs side made up of a combination of Denver and AZ players plus a few OC rookies they had the job ahead of them, but the boys combined to put on a very entertaining contest. In the end it was a very good performance from the Lions side and they showed that they are still a force to be reckoned with even as they go through their rebuilding process.
All in all it was a very enjoyable weekend of football, and the OC Bombers are appreciative of all the players, helpers, and supporters from all three clubs who turned out and helped make it work.
OC Bombers - Q1: 2.2 Q2: 7.4 Q3: 9.5 Q4: 16.6.102
Denver Bulldogs - Q1: 2.1 Q2: 3.2 Q3: 4.3 Q4: 5.4.34
OC goalkickers – Chris McNeil (5), Paul Lindley, Andrew Loewen, (2), Leigh Bridges, Josh Deblank, Pat Garthwaite, Colter Allison, Simon Sweeney, Qemal Shalholli, David Dollar.
OC best – Leigh Bridges, Kareem Lorseyedi, Simon Sweeney, Rob Luto, Chris McNeil, KB Nelson.
Umpires – Paul Pietsch, Ian Kooloos.
