Gent Gekko International 25th-26th August

Day One

The Australian Men were looking forward to this weekend with the prospect of good games and a full team heading into their last good comp before Worlds. The first group for the Australian Men included a Belgian club team (IRWV), a British club team (Pennine), the Dutch U21 team , the New Zealand U21 team, and the German Men’s Team. With 5 good games ahead it was going to be a difficult but enjoyable day. The first game was against the Dutch under 21 team and proved to be a good starting point with the men winning 6-0. The second game was against Pennine and would prove to be a tough game. Despite many excellent opportunities the men kept finding the bar not the net and unfortunately lost the game 3-2. This now meant that the men had to win every game in the remainder of their group to progress to the finals round. The third game for the day was against the New Zealand under 21 team. The men started slowly and were soon 2-0 behind. However the men rallied and scored the next 5 goals and won the game 5-2. The men had now won 2 and lost 1 which meant the result of the next game against IRWV1 was critical. The men started strongly and played with a high level of intensity. At half time the score was 0-0 with the men needing a win to have hopes of progressing. The second half was hard fought but the men were able to score 3 times with the final score 3-1. After four games the men had now won 3 and lost 1 making the final game against the German team crucial. The men had to draw or win to have a chance of progressing – a loss would most likely see them out of the top 2 in their group. It was to be a game of high intensity with both teams wanting the win. The Australians were quicker out of the blocks and quickly scored the first goal of the game. A second well worked shot came not long after however the Germans responded and the score line was 2-1. Again the Australians worked hard to get a 1-on-1 shot with the goalie and converted – score line 3-1. The Germans then quickly brought the ball into attack and scored a quick goal. This took both teams to half-time with the score being 3-2. The Australians started the second half strongly and were first to the ball on the charge start but the Germans picked up the ball as they ran over the Australian player. The Germans attacked hard but the Australians were able to regain the ball and attack back. After several minutes of both teams attacking the Germans were able to convert making the score line 3-3. Both teams kept attacking and looking for the game winning goal but time eventually ran out and the final score for the game was 3-3. The draw was enough to guarantee the Australians would finish second in their group and progress to the elimination finals with their first game against the Dutch Men’s Team early Sunday morning.

Day Two

Sunday dawned much the same as Saturday – wet and windy. The first game for the Men’s team was against the Netherlands, a long-time foe for Australia. The game started strongly with the men scoring the first goal of the game quickly. The Dutch responded with 2 goals shortly after and then another just before half time making the score line 3-1. The Australians again got out of the blocks well and scored first, but again the Dutch scored shortly after now making the score line 4-2. The men now had to press (man-on-man) the Dutch to regain the ball and momentum in the game. The men recovered the ball and scored making the score 4-3. Unfortunately the Dutch broke Australian press after the game restarted and scored the final goal of the game, with the final result 5-3. This now put the Australians outside the group playing for finals and a top four position. The next game for the Men would be against a Belgian team WKV (which has most of the Belgian team in it). It was a physical game but the men won 5-0. Their next game would be against Meridian A (an English club team). Again it was a strong physical game but the Australians played very well and blasted through Meridian with the final score 8-1. The men were now looking for their final game of the competition for the 5^th or 6^th position and were hoping to play the Swiss national side. Unfortunately they lost their previous game to WKV, so the men would again take on their previous opponents. As before the game was a physically tough game but the men again prevailed 6-2. While disappointed they didn’t make the finals the Men were satisfied with their achievements over the weekend and were able to meet a number of goals they had set. The men will now travel to Gottingen, Germany on Monday to begin their final preparations for the World Championships!

Farewell Ieper

After a few good days of training and many good meals in Ieper, it is now time to leave. We’ve enjoyed our time here and appreciate the hospitality of Serge Vandeputte and Kanoclub De Paddel for the use of their fields for the week.

The Last Post Ceremony, Ieper — Menin Gate

Each day at 8pm the Menin Gate Ceremony takes place. This is when the local people honour the fallen soldiers who defended the town from the Germans during WWI. During the ceremony the last post is played and wreaths are laid to remember those fallen. It is a very touching and humbling experence. Lest We Forget.

Touring – De Paddel team 2012

2 – Nathan Moore, 1 – Robert Sims, 4 – Craig Hutchinson, 3 – Matt Moore, 8 – Luke Holmes

Australian Men’s Canoe Polo Team 2012

De Paddel competition

Day One
The men knew coming into De Paddel that it would be a tough comp as they only had 5 players, but they didn’t realise how tough it would be. The first day started well and despite being in the group of death the boys won their first game 10-0 against a good French club team, Chateau Thebaud. The second game was going to be their first big test – playing Agen. Agen are an excellent French club team and won De Paddel several years ago. The men played a good team game and won it 5-3. Unfortunately in the last 15 seconds of the game one of our players was injured by an illegal boat tackle to the chest as he was being double teamed by two Agen players. The men found out just how unfortunate it was during the start of the next game as the injured player was unable to warm up and couldn’t throw a ball. Some quick scrambling resulted in Chris Heard (Assistant coach to the Women’s Team) suiting up and playing the game as the 5th player. The men then won this game 6-1. The men were now in a good position in their group but still had to face Spain senior men and Italy senior men. The Spanish senior men were the next game and the Aus men knew it would be tough due to the speed and aggressiveness of the Spanish. The game was tight with both sides looking for opportunities and at half time the score was 2-1 in favour of Australia. The second half was again tight and the Aus men extended their lead to 4-2 but fatigue began to take its toll and the final result was 4-4. The final game for the day was against Italy men and for the tired Aus men would be the most difficult. Chris was unable to play this game so Nick Burnett (NZ women’s coach) answered the call up and agreed to be the fifth player. Again fatigue would have a big impact and the Italian men swiftly built up a 3-0 lead with fast break goals. However the Aus men were not finished and continued to fight with the final result being 4-3 in favour of the Italians. The men were exhausted physically and mentally after a tough day, but were happy that they now got to play for finals on Sunday.

Day Two
After a long hot night where the temperature was still 32 degrees at 8pm, the men’s first game would be against Acigne, a French club team who came 3rd in the French League. The efforts of the previous day were still evident in the slow start to the game by the Aus men. By mid-way through the second half the score was 3-2, but the men needed to win to progress so they pressed (man on man) Acigne for the remainder of the game. Again fatigue and lack of subs took their toll and the final result was 5-2 to Acigne. Unfortunately this resulted in the Aus men now playing for 7th or 8th. The final game for the De Paddel comp for the Aus men was against Great Britain under 21 team. The men were determined to give everything they had in the game and finish with a win. Unfortunately Chris Heard and Nick Burnett were both coaching at the same time as this game (against each other actually!) so Ken Sullivan (Aus team manager) answered the call up. The men played well and gave it everything they had and despite a great steal and pass for a goal by Ken, they were unable to finish out the game. The final score was 5-2 in favour of GB meaning the Aus men’s final result for De Paddel was 8th position of 24 teams in Division 1. The men would like to thank Chris Heard, Nick Burnett, and Ken Sullivan for helping them out in their hour of need and playing for them. While being a little disappointed in how the comp went the men are proud of what they were able to achieve under difficult circumstances. They now look forward to next weekend and having a full team for Ghent competition.