The Sabretooth Tigers flew into the beautiful island of Phuket for the second last tournament of the year- The Andaman Cup (better known as the Phuket Masters) and felt rightly confident of their chances. The team was made up of Tigers from the usual playing group, boosted by a couple of new boys- Ashley and Gerard, former President Hilsey, K-Dag and none other than David Shields, out of retirement for the weekend. They had a strong team and they knew it, but who knew what the other teams would bring?

You could hardly find a more pleasant setting for a day of Asian Footy. The ground looked a picture. Save the odd pothole, the surface was soft and lush. A cool breeze, touched with light rain blew the length of the ground keeping the day so cool that Hooey didn’t even need to play in his trademark sombrero. 

The Sabre’s took on the local team, the Phuket Power in their first match and didn’t take them lightly. Phuket have really grown their squad this year and had good numbers, including guns Spokey, Muppet and Kaye. But the Sabres were just too strong. Jayden was huge  in the ruck and the Sabres had all the possession. Goals came from J-Mac, Welby, Gezza and Skinny and Phuket shanked their only easy chance in front of goal. In the second half the Tigers ran into the strong breeze but were equally dominant. The first half goal scorers each doubled their tallys and Shieldsy also chimed in with two fine goals. The Sabres were dominant at both ends, kicking nine goals and only conceding three behinds. What a great start.

The Sabres then took on the Indonesian Ghekos, a team that had demolished Singapore in their first match. The Sabres played with the strong breeze behind them in the first half and made it count, with goals to Pez and Welby. At the close of the half Key-Dag took a great running grab in the arc but as the hooter sounded for half-time his shot slid across the face of goal. It was a miss that would prove costly. The Sabretooth Tigers went into the half-time break with a one-goal lead and the second half was all about halting the Ghekos second half surge. The Sabres backmen battled hard, the midfield ran their guts out but despite this the Geckos kicked three goals with that strong breeze behind them to just the one to Shieldsy. The Ghekos won the match by just three points.

The Ghekos then went on to demolish the Phuket Power by ten goals while the Sabres rested up. So the equation was simple for the Sabres. If they beat Singapore in their final round robin match they would take on Indonesia again in the final. 

The result was never in doubt. Running into the breeze, which had dropped remarkably, the Sabres kicked four goals to one in the first half and then turned around in the second and did the same. It was a dominant performance that set the stage for the final that everyone wanted to see. But before the game even started the Sabres were dealt a heavy blow. Coach J-Mac had battled through the Singapore match with a painful rib injury to put his team into the final but was unable to continue. Indonesia very sportingly allowed the Sabres to recruit a replacement and so Spokey, freshly showered and enjoying a post-tournament beer was recruited as a replacement. 

The Sabres made a great start, battling for possession well and giving the forwards plenty of opportunities. Pez converted his two chances and for a time the Sabres held the lead. But Indonesia are a quality side and soon the goals started flowing for them. Then the game took a nasty turn. It got niggly, there was a bit of biffo, and as always, Skinny was in the thick of it. He was playing on Indonesia’s captain, Tex, and throughout the match had been engaging in a bit of push and shove. As the goals started flowing for Indonesia Skinny sensed the game slipping away. In an attempt to lift his own game he lifted the intensity of the push and shove. Tex did not like it.  A ball up was called near the Alan Cooke Pavilion, the tap went to ground and Tex joined the contest. Skinny arrived a moment later and cleaned up Tex with a loose elbow to the back of the head.

Only Skinny knows whether it was intentional or not. He claims it was an accident. Tex did not agree. Before Skinny could get to his feet to apologise Tex was on him, spittle flowing, eyes ablaze screaming “see what he did!!” Fortunately Spokey was on hand to throw Tex off, Skinny nonchalantly dusted himself off and the game continued. Indonesia later scored and at the next restart we saw some of that needless violence that makes us all love footy. Pez, still stewing at the earlier injustice ran straight into Tex with a heavy shoulder and the push and shove resumed. Fortunately the half-time hooter sounded to calm things down.

Indonesia ran in two more goals in the second half to win the game comfortably, 7.2 to 3.1 and after the match Tex bought Skinny a coke zero to apologise.

It was a great tournament and a great day of footy.  With only one man on the bench all day all the Sabretoothed Tigers had to contribute, and they did. Hooey was immense, always there for the handpass, always running himself into space. Shieldsy showed his class, running for miles, taking grabs, kicking great goals. Jayden, in this last tournament for the Tigers was huge in the ruck and around the park. Jazza was a rock down back, as was Nam. Pez and Welby kicked their goals, J-Mac ran his guts out streaming out of half back and Hilsy and Key-Dag also played well. Skinny probably had his best ever tournament, kicking three goals. And don’t forget new boys Gezza and Ash . How good were they! And they both played the whole tournament in sneakers. Gezza kicked several great goals, one an absolute monster from 40 meters out, and Ash was simply everywhere. 

Gunny umpired almost every game single-handedly and did a great job and most importantly, the whole tournament was driven by club legend Yoda, who worked tirelessly behind the scenes. He also got the boots on and did his bit for his beloved Sabres on the pitch. Good on ya, Yoda!

It was a great way to finish the year for the senior squad and we can’t wait for the next one. Good on ya, Tigers!

Competition Results

Indonesia defeated Singapore 57-18 Thailand defeated Phuket 60-3 Singapore defeated Phuket 32- 27 Indonesia defeated Thailand 25-22 Indonesia defeated Phuket 62-1 Thailand defeated Singapore 52-20 Final- Indonesia defeated Thailand 44-19 Winners: Indonesia

Sprint winners: Indonesia

Boat race winners: Singapore