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After two rounds of the AARFL season, the player draft that was held a couple of weeks ago seems to have worked. Two close games, with lots of action, good football and plenty of team work.

After last week's tied game, the second game started out with perfect weather for footy - warm and sunny. One new face and one old (in both meanings of the word) started on Saturday - new guy Tom Gultom, who lives in Dahlonega, made the long journey down to play and immediately showed the skills picked up while living in Australia. And Greg Cave, back visiting from Melbourne, played his once-yearly game of footy in Atlanta. Both players were immediately in the thick of things and both sides went at it from the start.

The early running was from the Downtown Dingoes and they were quickly on the board with goals from Brent Kewley and Ed Robinson. The Dingoes made the Bushrangers look very slow and they obviously missed the drive that their captain Nick Miklowski brings to the game. Subbing for Nick was "Captain America" - Benny Crist and he did his best to get the Bushrangers going. But it was all Dingoes in the first quarter and they continued to bang away at the goals. Stalwart Wayne Kraska was roving all over the ground, playing like the young man he once was, picking up kicks and providing plenty of quality passes up forward to Brent Bacon, who was locked in a very physical battle with newcomer Mike Roper. The Dingoes continued their stellar play with further goals to Kraska, Bacon and Shawn Williams, who is starting to show his understanding of the game more and more every week.

At the first break it was Downtown 6.2 (38) to a struggling Buckhead 2.1 (13)

The second quarter started much the same as the first, with the Dingoes making the Bushrangers look sluggish and lacking in teamwork. Shane Wamsley was proving to be a rock in defense for the Dingoes and with much improved tackling skills kept Buckhead from scoring early. The Bushies were not taking advantage of the their ruck dominance through Dave Evans and it was eventually Evans, who kicked the goals, that helped his team start to get back into the game. Four goals in the quarter to Buckhead, through Evans, Jones, Baker and Cave, started to give the Buckhead fans some hope, as their team work came together as the quarter progressed. A late goal from Dingoes captain Carl Garofalo kept his team in front, but the wheels had started to wobble on their cart and a little bit of team disarray meant that momentum was shifting to Buckhead. Lax player marking allowed Buckhead to get open players all over the ground, which contributed to more possession and, as everyone knows, it's hard to score when you don't have the ball.

At the half time break, it was still the Dingoes, but with a reduced lead of just 12 points - 8.3 (51) to 6.3 (39).

Whatever Bushrangers captain Benny Crist said to his team at half time, it seemed to work as the Bushies came out in the third quarter full of running and piled on goal after goal. Great running out defense from Curtis Jones enabled plenty of opportunities to Eric Baker and he dominated the Dingoes backline with some strong play and a couple of really good overhead marks. This allowed Buckhead to slam in seven goals for the the quarter to the Dingoes two. Bushies Simon Davis and Tom Gultom were getting lots of possession in the midfield and further added to the Dingoes woes by providing lots of opportunities for the Bushrangers forwards.

At three quarter time, it was all Buckhead as they jumped ahead to a near 3 goal lead - 13.5 (83) to 10.6 (66).

In the final quarter, the Dingoes gave it everything they had trying to get back into the game with Dan Heffernan and Carofalo upping their workrate in the midfield and banging the ball forward. But for each goal they scored, through Robinson and Kraska, the Bushrangers answered with their own through Jones, Baker and Evans. The Dingoes could not get closer on the scoreboard and late injuries to Kraska and Bacon did not help their cause. In the end, it was Buckhead comfortably maintaining and then extending their lead to more than four goals.

The final score was Buckhead by 28 points - 16.11 (107) to Downtown 12.7 (79).

Best man on the ground went to Benny Crist for his running and the way he brought his teammates into the game. It was a good all round performance from Buckhead, who now look forward to adding Ross LaRosa to the team for the remainer of the season. The Dingoes must be hoping that Adam Grist and Rashad Hodge will make it out to next Saturday's game, giving them added speed and strength around the packs and some help in the back field. This, of course, would be offset by twin brother Rasean playing for Buckhead, but you catch my drift.

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