WILDCATS IMPROVE TO 3-1 WITH BIG WIN OVER GARGOYLES IN GUELPH

After receiving their first loss of the 2007 season at the hands of the Broadview Hawks in Round #3, the (2-1) Hamilton Wildcats were hoping to get back on track against the Guelph Gargoyles this past weekend at Margaret Greene Park in Guelph. The 'Cats' were hoping for big results and big numbers on the bench as Mother Nature always seemed to turn up the heat in Guelph, and the Wildcats would need a full bench of reserves if they were to keep up with the extremely fit Guelph side. with 22 playerson-hand (4 reserves), Hamilton needed a quick start if they were to have any chance of picking up their 3rd win of the young season. The (0-2) Gargoyles, who are never a team to be taken lightly, were also keen for a victory on the day and come out hard in the 1st quarter with several impressive passages of play from the guts leading to 3 very early goals. Thanks to a pair of much needed goals in the final 35 seconds of the 1st quarter (Alex Thompson & Daniel Crouch), Guelph took a narrow 3.5.23 to 2.0.12 leadinto the break and were flying high after the first 20 minutes of play. After recieving a verbal thrashing, from coach Justin Johns for their lack of effort and obvious slow start, Hamilton made ammends for their 1st quarter "brain-fart"with one of the strongest quarters this Wildcat reporter has seen in his 8 long years of playing for this club. The 'Cats'grabbed the lead kicking 5.2.32 to 0 in the 2nd frame, with a hat-trick coming from rover Mike Nolan and padded their lead in the third quarter. Despite not playing their best footy in the 4th, and Guelph making a bit of a comeback with the help of the 200 year old Willow tree which overhangs one of the pockets (PS: apparently this tree is IN play); the Wildcats managed to hang on to their lead to defeat Guelph for the second time this year; 9,2,56 def 5,13,43. The (3-1) Wildcats will now head to Toronto (Humber College North) to face a much improved (2-1) Lakeshore Rebels side on Saturday, June 9th starting at 2pm.

HAMILTON GOALS:
Daniel Crouch (3), Mike Nolan (3), Paul Lawson (1), Alex Thompson (1), Josh Porter (1)

HAMILTON BEST:
Mike "Abs" Nolan, Josh Porter, Brett "Hilly" Hill, Justin Johns, Sasha "Kocanovic" Kuruc.

OAFL Round 4 Results