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Last Saturday saw the first appearance of the Baton Rouge Tigers in a full game in Atlanta. Having visited for the 2004 Nationals last October the Tigers since have been consolidating their ranks and making a real impression on footy in the south. Earlier in the year Atlanta Kookaburras traveled well to Baton Rouge in April but took the full four quarters to win the game away from the Tigers who are a mostly young and spirited group of players from around the LSU area. The weather was looking gloomy for the game and that certainly made the crowd attendance small but for those who came out thankfully the impending rain held off and a great of footy was witnessed. The Tigers had left several of their more experienced players at home unfortunately but that certainly didn't stop them from having a "red hot go". The first quarter started evenly, Gambaro in the ruck for the Kookas looked like he was in for a good day with Crist, Heffernan and Mobley for support. Mobley pushed down for his first goal of the day and then the Kookas hit their straps. Goals came in quick succession to the masterful Cave and then the youngster Crist with Captain Bacon in a lot of the work he posted one for himself. Biggs and Diamond were combining well and they also posted a goal each. Baton Rouge pressed forward several times for the quarter but were unable to finish off their good work. In the backline playing his first official game Joel Thickens acquitted himself well and with Paul Cargal and Curtis Jones shoring up the rest of the backline opportunities for the Tigers were few and far between. At quarter time it was the Kookas leading 6.2 to the Tigers 0.0. Kicking with the breeze in the second term the Kookas the were again able to post several goals making the most of their opportunities. Accurate kicking and sharing of duties was the highlight of the game so far with Mobley, Diamond, Bacon & Cave getting their second goal each then Thad Sheffield coming down from the backline and Gambaro slipping down from the center for their first of the day. Centerman Ben Crist was running amok through the center and also had his second goal as the quarter came to a close. At half time the Kookas held a handy break leading 13.4 to 0.1 In the third term the battle continued. Despite the score line the Baton Rouge Tigers threw everything at the Kookaburras and in so doing gained even further respect. The BTR boys are young and inexperienced but they make up for it with passion and a never give up attitude. Baton Rouge started the quarter well moving the ball well into their forward line several times before their hard work paid off and they posted their first goal of the game. However the Kooka forwards were too much to hold for an entire quarter and goals game late to M Frost his first, Diamond, Mobley and Cave getting their third each. Brent Bacon was having a great day also at CHF and helped him self to two more before the term ended. At the last break it was Atlanta 19.7 to Baton Rouge 1.1.7 Fatigue set in for both teams into the last quarter which was a scrappy affair. The Kookas kicked six behinds before kicking their first goal thought Alan Mobley undoing their accurate kicking on the day. Pete Eckman slipped down for a piece of the action and goal and Justin Diamond and Brent Bacon finished off great days each posting another major. The final margin of 144pts the Kookaburras greatest winning margin of all time and the total only 3 points of their all time highest score. All in all the score line shows a one sided affair but really it doesn't demonstrate the the evenness of all the contests all over the ground. The Kookaburras just had too many avenues to score goals and kicked very accurately in the first three terms. Well done to the Baton Rouge Tigers on a great contest all day. Atlanta 6.2 13.4 19.7 23.13.151 Baton Rouge 0.0 0.1 1.1 1. 1. 7 Best Players: ATL: Crist, Mobley, Gambaro, Bacon, Diamond, Cave. BTR: Not supplied Goalkickers: ATL: Bacon 5, Diamond & Mobley 4, Cave 3, Crist 2, Eckman, M Frost, Gambaro, Biggs & T Sheffield 1 each. BTR: Not supplied
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