2008 Ales Hrebesky Memorial
Day One
Well an ominous start against the tournament favorites was on the cards and it was a hard fought physical affair. Despite having few numbers the Dublin Riggers fought hard against a numerically supiorior Boston Megamen. We ended up loosing the contest by a score of 10-2 but, not before we scored two of the best goals of the tournament both coming from behind the cage.
Result: Loss (10:2)
Day Two
The Day started with no expectations as we played TJ Malesice who were last years runners up. We set the tone early with some punishing play and big hits as Bingo was on a mission to hit anything that moves. The score was kept closer than Malesice would have liked and had a narrow 2:1 lead at the half. Matt Walsh scoring a nice goal as he fell on the way to goal slotting the ball in the five hole of the Malesice goalie.
More bruising play continued and eventually the Riggers hard work paid off tying the game at 2:2. Malesice quickly regained the lead shortly after and put the game out of reach in the final 2 minutes. Though the result was not reflective of the dominant play by the Riggers.
Result: Loss (4:2)
The Riggers finally broke out offensively against the Old Dogs Plzen. It's hard to imagine a team of 8 guys playing box lacrosse utilise a 'run and gun style offense' but, that is exactly what we did. We jumped out to an early 4:1 lead and did not look back at all. Pouring it on offensively the Old Dogs had way more than they bargained for and eventually succombed to the Riggers. The Score sheet was pretty balanced with everyone contributing.
Result: Win (8:4)
Day Three
Last Year the Tricksters tricked us and got the better of us, this year we were determined not to be fooled again. Bratislava pulled of a suprising victory against the Team from Philly in a shoot out so a lot was expected of them. But the Combination of Gibby's Domination at the face off circle, Matt Walsh's Hattrick, the steallar goaltending of Tony Devine who was filling in for Matt Cannon, and the punishing style of play led to the Riggers second victory in the tourney. It has to be mentioned that this is the first time I think a coach has yelled at a played to score and that player did. Coach Arnold should definitely get the assist on that goal.
Result: Win (7:3)
Next on the cards were BiBer the combination team from Berlin and Bielefield. Simon Vit and Gibby got the Riggers offense running again and Matt walsh's contributions made the score 4:1 at the end of the half. It was an offensive explosion by Gibby who bagged three in the second half which saw the Riggers narrowly pull out a victory against the German team who was clawing their way back into the game.
Result: Win (7:6)
Day Four
The combination of 'running and gunning', drinking, and playing a bruising punishing style of defense definitely had taken its toll on the Riggers and heading into the 9th place game the Dublin side had little left in the tank. Though not before making a little more noise as the Riggers jumped out to a 2:0 lead in the first half on a goal by Gibby and an well finished quickstick by Tony Devine. Matt Walsh bagged himself another goal and Gibby finished out the scoring for the Dublin side. But, the game was not for the Riggers to claim as the younger LCC Tigers pulled out the victory late in the game.
Result: Loss (7:4)
Summary
This is the best result to date for the Dublin Riggers who finished tenth and earned a ton of respect along the way. The Gritty Irish team who dominated faceoffs, physically dominated opponents on the defensive end and scored some of the tournaments highlight goals were definitely the talk of the town. How can 8 guys play that much lacrosse and do so well in that kinda tournament is beyond me but fairplay to each and everyone of the guys for the effort they put in.
MIcheal Kennedy, Adam Ginty, Peter (Malesice), Matt Walsh, Matt Cannon, Tony Devine, Bingo, and Simon Vit all played like legends and my hat goes off to each and everyone of them. Coach Arnold's half time speeches and key time outs were top notch.
Tony Devine, Sean Gibson, and Christain Arnold (COach) Represented the Riggers in the All Star Game. While Gibson also was selected a tournament All-Star.
Brian Bendig Awards
The Brian Bendig of Keilbasa was Michael Kennedy
The Brian Bendig of Tour Guides was Simon Vit
The Brian Bendig of Pain (Both to himself and others) was Bingo
The Brian Bendig of Dancing Naked was NAZ
The Brian Bendig of Missing Third Day of tournament mornings was Matt Cannon (was also the 2006 winner)
The Brian Bendig of Smoking Cigarettes was Christain Arnold though this was close as Tony took second place.
The Brian Bendig of being pantsed in the stand was Tony Devine.
