Connecticut Wildcats 54 – New York Knights 6

By Mike Lee

August 12, 2006 – Jack Casagrande Stadium, Norwalk, CT – On a great Saturday afternoon the Wildcats came out firing right away at an injury plagued NY Knights side and never looked back. The game started with some fierce tackling and hard running by both teams, until Damien O’Malveney snuck through middle to put the Wildcats on the board. Minutes later there was a nice try on the wing from Steve Annuziato. After a few penalties the Wildcats charged right through the middle again with a try from Brent Griffiths. The boys from Gotham made many charges and had several close calls, but were unable to break the Wildcat defense in the first half.

The score at the half was Wildcats 26 - Knights 0. More of the same continued throughout the second half for the Wildcats. With several bruising runs from Will Brazier and Ben Kelly, the Wildcats were constantly on the front foot setting up Wildcat backline to touchdown several times more. Damien O’Malveny had some brilliant running and playmaking throughout the second half dotting down another three in the second half, and setting up several others. Adam Nables had a kick charged down directly into his stomach and scored an easy try for the Knights and their only points for the day. In the end it was the Wildcat defense that put consistent pressure on the Knights forcing many errors, giving the Wildcats a majority of possession throughout the entire game. Best performances from the Wildcats were by Damien O’Malvaney scoring four tries; Danny Bull, who only scored one but had his hand in several others; Ben Kelly who was everywhere on defense; and Will Braizer for several hard, bashing runs. When all was said and done the Wildcats had 11 tries to the Knights 1.

The resounding semifinal win caps off an undefeated season for the Wildcats, who enter the Grand Final 11-0-1. It marks the fourth year in a row the Wildcats head to the Grand Final to meet the Glen Mills Bulls, with the Bulls leading the series 2-1. The Wildcats are eager to bring the C.D. Ferrainola Cup back to Connecticut, with CEO Rich Portale saying, “The Bulls will no doubt be tough, as always, but there is something special about the Cats this year. We have been improving every week and I think our best footy is yet to come. We eagerly await the massive challenge ahead of us and look forward to getting stuck in against the big boys of Glen Mills.”

Wildcats vs. Knights

Game: 7/12/06

Game Time: 2:30 pm

Game Venue: Jack Casagrande Stadium, Norwalk, CT

Referee: Blair Wards

Full Time Score – CT Wildcats 54 def NY Knights 6

Halftime: Cats 26 – Knights 0

Wildcats Try Scorers: Damien O’Malvaney (4), Steve Annunziato (3), Brent Griffiths (1), Doug (1), Mike McGeachy (1), Danny Bull (1)

Wildcats Goal Scorers : Nathan Hollingsworth (5)

Knights Try Scorers: Adam Nable (1)

Knights Goal Scorers: Adam Nable(1)