Shamrock Club Swings to Victory against
Defending Champs
by Jason Kirkpatrick
After much anticipation the opening match of the season began with the reigning champions Irish Pub Ninjas taking the pitch against the Shamrock Club Griffins. The Ninjas started off with gusto, but it was Shamrock Club that got on the board with the first point of the season. The Pub squad answered back shortly after with a point from Ryan Schubert to level things up. Shamrock Club was reeling from the Ninja assault, but both teams were struggling equally to get possession at midfield. Play flipped from goal to goal and a stalemate was emerging until Pub Captain Tim Dombroski broke away and fired one through the uprights on a quick turn-and-burn play with surprising agility. The Griffins would counter with another point, but Pub would score again to take the lead at the first water break.
Shamrock Club re-grouped during the break and came out on a mission to stop the swift attack of the Ninjas forwards. David Morrow helped jam up the shooting lanes and force things back into Pub territory, but Dombroski snuck a point over the top again from the far side of the pitch. Despite the Ninja advance, Shamrock Club was soon in the midst of a scoring blitz led by captain Vinny Moloney. While the Griffins volleyed four through the posts, their defense wasn’t resting on their laurels. Morrow was a blocking machine and seemed to be everywhere at once, repelling four Pub shots on goal in a matter of just thirty seconds. The Ninja fullback line were no slouches themselves, though. While they aren’t the biggest backs on the pitch, they are effective and the Griffins, despite their new-found lead, seemed to have some difficulty finding the back of Pub’s net. Their resilience would pay off though as Chad Koch finally slipped one past the Pub keeper late in the third quarter for three.
Irish Pub was down 0-6 (6) to Shamrock Club’s 1-8 (11) as play resumed, but that wouldn’t discourage the Ninja’s from giving it their all despite losing some of their top pointers to injury. Shamrock Club scored early, but it did not come easily. Philip Novakovski and Aaron Freyer were showing some hustle with some great grabs, sending the sliotar back down the field on several