California Dreamin'

After swallowing the disappointment of the loss to JAM like a massive sea gherkin the Dingos got back on the wagon today with a convincing victory over another top quality US team - Revolver.  This is the other strong Bay Area team, made up with some Stanford college kids and some wiley old hands.  Dingos from the '04 Kaimana team will remember some of the guys who were on the Stanford team that beat us at that tournament.  Revolver has beaten JAM on a number of occasions this year and are looking to try to break into the semis at UPA nationals this year.

The Dingos were hungry for the game and bolted out of the gates with 3 defensive points in a row.  Blocks from Taylor, Matzuka and Holmes got the dogs on a roll and the Revolver offense was on the back foot.  The American's game was based around short, athletic handler types, relying on a couple of very fast receivers as their main go to guys but the monster Dingo defense was effective at shutting down all but the dinky little inside out throws that Seppo teams have come to love and use quite effectively.

In the second half, the Revolver lads had a bit of a comeback, generating some turns with hard running D, but generally the offensive juggernaut that is Dingo O rolled over the top.  Wavey Dave O'Brien had a really solid game, a couple of excellent "one pass" points where he hucked for goals.  Ant Dowle took some nice overhead grabs, Lavis and Tatham were strong all over the field.

Overall, an impressive rebound from yesterday's defeat and great to get the Dingos on the board with the first US scalp of the pre-tour.  

Even better than the win was the hospitality shown by our humbled hosts.  The Revolver lads turned out a massive feast of cold beer, steak, barbequed hotdogs and hamburgers, burritos filled with 24hr slow cooked pork tastiness ... mmmm slow cooked pork.  It was great to hang around after the game, chat to some of their players and eat some really fantastic food.  Nice work to all involved in that one.

We now have 48hrs of quality rest which will see us head to Yosemite National Park to hike "the Half Dome" before we head to Santa Barbara to play against the Condors.