OAFL Playoffs Tighten Up

September 19, 2005 by Bill Frampton | View Comments (5)

The Ontario Australian Football League playoffs continued in dramatic fashion Saturday at Humber North Oval in Toronto, with the campaign tightening up as two of the closest Semi-Finals in league history were played.

The sudden-death First Semi-Final saw the Etobicoke Kangaroos play the surging Lakeshore Rebels. The Kangaroos were attempting to recover from their narrow defeat in the dying minutes of last week's Qualifying Final while the Rebels needed to continue building on their strong performances over the last several weeks.

The game was close from start to finish, with neither team able to establish dominance. The lead changed hands several times during the course of the game until a late goal gave the Rebels the win, 11.5 71 to 10.6 66.

The 'Roos were eliminated from the playoff race with their second straight loss by less than a goal. The Rebels advance to next week's Preliminary Final and are one game away from being the first team to reach the Grand Final from fifth place in the standings.

The Second Semi-Final pitted two of the league's traditional powers against each other. The Toronto Dingos --- who earned the bye last week by finishing first after the regular season --- opened their playoff campaign against the Toronto Eagles, who have won more league titles than any other club. Both teams had their eyes on the prize of a week's rest before the Grand Final two weeks from now, while the loser would face another tough game next week in the Preliminary Final.

The only previous meeting between the two teams this year was a 3-point win by the Dingos in Round 1 so a close contest was anticipated, but the Eagles started faster and jumped out to an early lead and at half-time the Eagles led comfortably, 5.2 32 to 1.4 10. The Dingos dug deep after the main break and came back in the second half, gradually narrowing the gap before finally pulling ahead and holding on to the lead at the final siren, winning 7.8 50 to the Eagles' 6.7 43.

These results put the Toronto Dingos into the Grand Final in 2 weeks, while the Toronto Eagles will try to stop the Lakeshore Rebels in next week's Preliminary Final and earn a second shot at their arch rivals.