OAFL Playoff Picture Settled

September 12, 2006 by Bill Frampton | View Comments (0)

The Ontario Australian Football League regular season wrapped up on Saturday with Round 13 and the playoff picture was finally settled, but not before some riveting contests.

The round began with the clash between Toronto Eagles and Toronto Dingos at Humber North Oval. A win for either team would cement a strong playoff position, while a loss carried with it the risk of possibly dropping out of the 5 altogether. The Eagles' momentum has been building over the last few rounds and the trend continued as they took an early lead and kept the Dingos on the back foot to win by 10 points, 5.11 41 to 4.7 31. The margin could have been wider but inaccurate kicking for goal by the Eagles allowed the Dingos to keep it closer than it should have been.

The Broadview Hawks also rode momentum into their clash with the visiting Hamilton Wildcats and were confident of another win. The visitors had other ideas though, wanting to farewell veteran Chris Tyrell with a win. The Wildcats came out much stronger than when the teams met earlier in the season and played hard for all 4 quarters before the Hawks finally got on top by 15 points in a very even contest, 9.10 64 to 6.13 49.

The Mississauga Demons needed to reverse their recent slump against the Lakeshore Rebels to get back into the playoff hunt. Though it's been a tough year for the Rebels, they came prepared to pull off an upset and led by a goal at half-time. The game was still tight after three quarters, until the Demons kicked 4 goals early in the fourth quarter to pull ahead and secure the win by 36 points, 11.9 75 to 6.3 39.

Down the 401 in Guelph, the Gargoyles hosted the Etobicoke Kangaroos at Margaret Green Park with both teams wanting this one for different reason. The Gargoyles wanted the win to secure a playoff berth, though it was conceivable they could still get in with a loss depending on the other results. The 'Roos have had first place in the bag for a few weeks now but wanted the win to maintain their momentum into the playoffs.

Both teams played hard from the opening bounce and in the first half momentum swung back and forth. Etobicoke led by 14 points at quarter-time but Guelph cut that to 8 points as they came back in the second quarter. The Gargoyles suffered from indiscipline in the third quarter and the 'Roos took advantage, kicking 3 goals to none to extend their lead. The fourth quarter saw a spirited Guelph comeback effort led by on-baller Jeff Borysiewicz who took on the Etobicoke defense and kicked two spectacular goals, but the 'Roos steadied and added four of the own to post a comfortable win, 13.11 89 to 9.3 57.

So far it's been quite a year in the OAFL. One of last year's Grand Finalists failed to make the playoffs, and the other dropped down to fifth place. That's the worst regular season position for the previous year's top teams in league history so far. The playoff positions may be set but the race is still wide open.