Round 1 - Senshu Powers

(English follows Japanese)

2019年A league 開幕戦第2試合目は東京ゴアナーズと専修パワーズの昨シーズンのグランドファイナル出場チームが早くも対戦した。
1Q
両チームゴールを奪い合った。ゴアナーズのチャーマズが2ゴール決めて、このまま勢いに乗るかと思われたが昨年の王者専修パワーズも近田、平野と若いプレーヤーがゴールを奪った。１Qは22－14とゴアナーズが僅差でリードして終えた
2Q
2Qも両チームはゴールを奪い合った。チャーマズが3ゴール奪うと前半だけで5ゴール奪う活躍を見せた。しかしパワーズも昨シーズンはケガで不本意に終わった中川が復活のゴールを奪い、平野もこの試合2ゴール目を決めてゴアナーズを勢いに乗らせなかった。前半は44－27とゴアナーズが17点差で折り返した。
3Q
王者パワーズが追い上げた。中川、鈴木のゴールに加え、6ビハインドを奪い、一挙18点を奪った。一方ゴアナーズは0ゴール5ビハインドでFW陣が精彩を欠いたことで49－45とパワーズが4点差まで追い上げた。
4Q
両チーム最後まで攻め続けた。パワーズは近田、平野のゴール、ゴアナーズはウィルソン、ホールのゴールでこのまま引き分けかと思うほどお互いに攻め合った。しかしゴアナーズのマンクが残り2分でゴールを奪い、そのまま試合終了。最終スコアは71－59で東京ゴアナーズが昨年の雪辱を果たす結果で勝利を収めた。

Courtesy of JAFL.org 

The second game of the opening round of the 2019 A League saw an early rematch between last year’s grand finalists, the Tokyo Goannas and the Senshu Power.

Q1
The teams traded goals back and forth for the first quarter.
Chalmers booted two goals early for the Goannas, who looked like they might run away with it, before two young players, Chikada and Hirano, pulled a couple back for the reigning premiers.
The first quarter ended with the Goannas leading narrowly 22-14.

Q2
Chalmers got three more goals to bring him to a total of five for the first half. Nakagawa, getting a goal on his return from a season-ending injury last year, and Hirano, picking up his second, stemmed the tide for the Senshu Powers.
The first half ended with the Goannas leading by 17 points, 44-27.

Q3
The third quarter saw the Powers make a comeback.
Goals from Nakagawa and Suzuki, as well as a string of six behinds, saw the Powers quickly put on 18 points. The Goannas forwards, meanwhile, struggled, managing zero goals and five behinds, allowing the Powers to pull the margin back to four points, at 49-45.

Q4
Both teams fought hard until the final siren.
Following goals from Chikada and Hirano for the Powers, met by goals from Wilson and Hall for the Goannas, the teams looked to be on the way to fighting out a draw. With two minutes to go, however, Monk snatched a goal for the Goannas, and they held on to the lead until the end. The final score read 71-59 in favor of the Goannas, who got their revenge for last year’s grand final.


English translation courtesy of Philthy.