Melbourne Floorball League Rnd 10

The first Game saw the recently deposed leaders of the competition trying to regain their position on top of the ladder and claim the minor championship.  Up against the Vikings were the ever-improving Panthers, most likely the dark horse of the competition who could possibly challenge both the Vikings and the Aerials.

The first period saw the Panther Captain open proceedings and Stuart Quenette close the period with goals, however the Vikings were able to get four goals in between to go into the first break 4-2.

The second period was more of one way traffic, with stand in goalkeeper for the Panthers, Mel Bartle, having to remain alert. Chris Frieman added to his first period goal to get a hat trick, while Kim Snowden close the period with 2 goals in the final minutes. Vikings 8-3 up.

The final period was a lot closer, with each teams defence not allowing many shots. Clinton Teh came out of goals (regular goalkeeper Scott Bartel is injured) to add to his season total. The panthers were able to restrict the Vikings scoring for the period, but still were unable to regain any ground. Vikings finish the season on top with a 10-4 win.

VIKINGS 10 (Chris Frieman 3g 0a, Kim Snowden 2g 0a, Kris Coplley 1g 2a, Martin Erhamre 1g 2a, Karl Sundelid 1g 1a, Clinton The 1g 0a, Ville Peltomaki 0g 1a)
def
PANTHERS 4 (Matt Mullins 2g 0a, Stuart Quenette 2g 0a, Dan Street 0g 3a)

The next match was probably the biggest of the season, with the Spartans needing to beat the Stingas to knock them out of the finals. The Spartans were pumped, and many of the forwards had promised that there previous run of bad shooting was a thing of the past.

The first period saw a close contest. The Spartans got away to an early 4-1 lead, but the likes of Ben Monkton were able to catch the Spartans defence over committed during attack and regain the lead by the end of the quarter. Stinga 5-4.

The next period was a complete change. After a period change motivation speech by former Australia vice captain Mat Benfield, the Spartans that had pushed the Vikings each time they played decided to turn up and it was like a new had replace the team from the first period. They managed to put on 8 goals to 1 in the period and went into the final break 6 goals ahead.

The final period was a tense one. With the Stingas adding the first few goals, and putting up a claim for a finals berth, The Spartans looked as if they might again give up their lead and fail to make the finals. This was not the case as they added 5 goals and finished the Stingas season. Spartans home 17-9.

SPARTANS 17 (Peter Campbell 6g 2a, Sarah Rist 4g 0a, Nathan Mitchell 3g 4a, Mel Bartle 2g 0a, Brendon Glenk 1g 1a, Will McDade 0g 2a, Chris Borjarski 0g 2a)
def
STINGAS 9 (Ben Monkton 5g 0a, David Hammond 1g 1a, Damien Monkton 1g 1a, Gavin Staindl 1g 0a, Warren Mazurek 1g 0a, Raymond Staindl 0g 1a)

Team P W D L B Pts  F  A Diff
Vikings 8 7 0 1 2  21 66 36  30
Aerials 8 6 0 2 2  18 97 47  50
Panthers 8 3 0 5 2   9 58 60  -2
Spartans 8 2 0 6 2   6 54 86 -32
Stingas 8 2 0 5 1   6 58 99 -41

This means that the finals will see the Vikings play the only team to have pushed them this year, winning by the narrowest of margins each time.

The other match will be between the Aerials and the Panthers, which should be very entertaining as they are both hard running teams.

On a final note, the MFL would like to thank both David Hammond and Warren Mazurek for all of there efforts this season by playing with the Juniors from Pakenham who filled out the Stingas line up. Their dedication to the development of the game has not gone un-noticed.

Semi Finals  THIS SUNDAY (19th Jan 2003)
4.30pm  Aerials V Panthers
6.00pm  Spartans V Vikings