SCAFL Round 4 Match Report

San Diego Lions hit their straps in LA on diet of Dog’s eyes and Wet Cement

Bob Bitmead

March 3, 2013, San Pedro. Eight days after a feast of meat pies (a.k.a. Dog’s eyes in rhyming slang) and home brewed beer denominated Wet Cement for its ability to improve scale weight of cattle at sale, the San Diego Lions took on the LA South Bay Outlaws at their home ground in San Pedro. Prior to this meeting the Outlaws had been unbeaten and the Lions unsung. It was top of the ladder versus bottom in an away game for the Lions. The Lions came away with the points and the pride.

After an early (three and a half hours before game time) scare in the Del Mar Park ‘n’ Ride en route to the game, when only three players and an umpire/ersatz coach arrived and it looked liked numbers would be low, the turn out to the game was colossal: seventeen (fairly) fit, young(ish), and (definitely) enthusiastic players rocked up to Field of Dreams at San Pedro for the ten-a-side Southern California Australian Football League match. The bookies had written down the Lions early after poor performances in Riverside and San Diego and the Outlaws were effectively unbackable.

The first quarter began with an abrupt sequence of plays directly from the center bounce to a goal from Justin (JV) Valley within seconds. This was followed by the break-out of newly fashioned Brandon Silveira replete with black and red scrum cap. He nailed another two straight goals in the first quarter from well-placed kicks from the center and back lines. The Lions were kicking with a reasonable wind and the Outlaws were stunned … but only briefly. In the second quarter with the wind advantage, the Outlaws clawed (Do Outlaws have claws?) back. But, late in the quarter, the Lions turned the tide with solid defense from John Bucci and Simon Schenk and further attack spearheaded through Brandon Silveira and driven by a midfield of Mattie Lillien in ruck, Brian Steffi and Matt Raffa in midfield. But the eye-opener was the commitment and performance of noobs (rhymes with Koobs) Mark Kubala, Don Doan, TyJ Arambulo, and others. They were ably assisted by salty dog Jess fresh off the boat from Tasmania. The second quarter saw the injection of a number of newer players and, for every Outlaw goal, the Lions had a reply with a goal of their own … or at least one of Brandon’s. At the half: Lions 6:6:42 to Outlaws 5:4:34.

The second half is normally where the more seasoned teams consolidate and drive back the upstart pretenders, but not this time. The Lions extended their lead in the third quarter (with the wind) and in the fourth (without the wind). Every thrust forward by the Outlaws was met with a determined and unrelenting Lions defense, which sent the ball forward with purpose and direction. The forwards responded with a sequence of accurate kicks and good teamwork to extend the lead continually during the game. The final score was Lions 15:9:99 to Outlaws 10:6:66.

The Outlaws are a class outfit of players and a number dug deep, none more than Chase Bryant, who took the challenge right up to the Lions with insistent running and continual breaks from stoppages. His class runs out of the packs caused havoc and required serious attention. Aussies Arnie Martin and Cameron Brown likewise were not to be held down for long. Brian Steffi, John Bucci and Simon Schenk rose to the occasion. A string of other players including Russian Yakubovich, Bill Klein, Brian Traichel, Seth Evans showed how to tackle and smother the advances.

The capacity of the Lions repeatedly to string of successive goals in response to goals from the Outlaws indicated that this was a game won by teamwork and long-term commitment to the outcome and to each other. As the game wore on and everyone saw the opportunity of nailing a wing, the intensity from the Lions and their sense of purpose became even stronger. The backs looked for the midfielders who looked for the forwards. Every contest was hard fought with the players learning and adapting to the successful actions. Training and all that talk suddenly started to make sense in terms of actions on the field. And didn’t that feel good? A different team of blokes came south on I-5 than went up it in the morning. We know it is a single win, but it is the first one in too long. A new group of players know what it feels like to play the Lions way and to both support and rely on your teammates.

The preparation of the team from coach Sean Beattie and president/mentor/conditioning coach Brandon Blankenship, both of whom were unavoidably back in San Diego, was a key ingredient in the win. We were thinking of Sean and Brando when we sang the team song. For me, I could not help but yell (singing does not come naturally) the refrain … and down they went like wet cement.