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After going down to the Florida Redbacks by 16 points the Kookas 10 minutes later had to front up against a fresh Ft Lauderdale team chomping at the bit to play their first real game of footy. Originally these games were to be separated by an hour or so of rest and recovery but somehow in the mix up with the fields (the games were originally to be played in Tampa) this was left out of the days plans. Ft Lauderdale till now had been sort of a satellite team of Florida's playing "Metro" style games against their big brother team. Today was to be statement it seemed they no longer wanted that tag and were now a stand alone team. Probably what they had forgotten in the mix of excitement of getting a team to Sarasota was to bring some Americans. This meant the Kookas after a dog fight at Polo Lane Coral were now confronted with 15 Aussies and maybe one or two Americans bursting at the seams to play footy. The 2 x 20 minute game started with the ball virtually staying in the Ft Lauderdale half. With plenty of legs and skill the team from way south were out to prove a point. Luckily for the Kookas they were offline shooting for goal and at one time had 1.5 on the board. Kraska was able to snag a goal mid term after a handy pass from Baker on the boundary line. But that was the only score for the Atlanta team as they struggled to move the ball past the center. The second half the Fighting Squids, gotta love or hate that name, were all done with their inaccuracy and kicked 6 straight goals. The Kookas never gave in with Sheehan, Kraska, Jones and Kewley doing everything they could to stem the flow. Ballagh kicked a goal but was under stress from injury and Kraska got his second for the game from of his slyly won free kicks. In the end it was a good sign to see the Ft Lauderdale guys finally get to play a real game in their new jumpers and the Kookas came off holding their heads high having given it their best shot. Best
Atlanta
Jones, Kraska, Kewley, Mitchell, Hyder FTL
Not available Goalkickers
Atlanta
Kraska 2 , Ballagh 1 FTL
Herman 4, Cooper 2, Daffey, Bridges, Nicholson, Close, Schatz 1 each. Final Scores
Atlanta 1.0 3.2. (20)
FTL 5.10 11.10. (76)
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