Teams from the Past: AYR SCOTTISH EAGLES

The AYR SCOTTISH EAGLES

It is hard to believe that it was only 10 years ago when the Ayr Scottish Eagles ice hockey team last took flight on the Ice, and played their final game at the Braehead Arena back in 2002 and Last in Ayr at the old Centrum Arena in Prestwick, South Ayrshire.

The Scottish Eagles were introduced to the newly created ISL (Ice hockey Super League) back in the summer of 1996 where it featured the best teams around at that time and mostly arena sides too. It was hoped and tried that ISL could challenge the popular leagues in Europe and muscle in on the Hockey nations, like the DEL in Germany, the Elitserien in Sweden and the SM-Liiga in Finland.

Ayr was a founder member of the new league which boasted well established clubs already in British Ice hockey circles, with the likes of the Nottingham Panthers, Basingstoke Bison, Cardiff Devils, Bracknell Bees, the Newcastle Cobras formerly Warriors, before they began their constant name changing over the next couple of seasons. Also had the current League and Playoff champions of the old Premier League division the Sheffield Steelers along with Ayr, they were also joined by up starting team in the Manchester Storm.

Ayr played out of the old Centrum Arena which was run by the Barr Leisure Ltd, of which was a subsidiary of the Barr Holdings Ltd. So from the 1^st September 1996, Ice Hockey was played out of Ayr for the first time in 4 years, since the demise of the Ayr Raiders at the old Ayr ice Rink.

The South Ayrshire side would also be sponsored by the Barr Construction Company who which would carry on their sponsoring of the team, till the day the club sadly folded.

The inaugural season of the brand new Superleague, saw the newly formed Scottish Eagles finish an impressive 3^rd place in the table under the experienced head coach of Jim Lynch.

It featured also an ugly incident during their opening season, with Ryan Kummu being suspended for 6 games for fighting Manchester Storm Forward Hilton Ruggles in the Manchester penalty box.  As the pair had clashed prior to the incident and both players had been sat in the box serving 4 minutes for their actions. Kummu wasn`t finished with Ruggles yet and so his actions cost him a chance to play in the B+H Cup Final against the Nottingham Panthers, which they would go onto lose 5-3 because of it.

The season also saw the Scottish Eagles play out an incredible Playoff Semi-final encounter at the Nynex Arena (now Manchester Arena) against their bogey team the Nottingham Panthers. It saw the game head into 6 overtime periods, before finally losing out to a shorthanded effort by future Eagles player Jeff Hoad. It had took  115 minutes and 49 seconds and the Sixth Overtime period for the Panthers to advance to the Playoff finals, this would become something of an immerging pattern to Ayr at Playoff weekend`s.

In the 1997-98 season, the Ayr Scottish Eagles tried to put the disappointment of the agonising playoffs semi final heartbreak out of their minds. But at the same time spur them on for the upcoming season and try to launch an attack on all silverware available to them, as Lynch had strengthen up his team as they looked more solid too than in their first season in existence.

Jim Lynch brought in netminder Rob Dopson, of who had played 4 games for the NHL side the Pittsburgh Penguins and both he and Colum Cavilla would share netminding duties in the Eagles nets.

Jeff Hoad the player that broke Eagles hearts with his strike against them in the playoff semi was signed up in defense, along with Shawn Byram as the Canadian forward more than made his presence felt on the ice.

Dino Bauba from Lithuania signed for the Scottish side from the Kingston Hawks with Dennis Purdie and centre Karry Biette flying in for the Eagles too.

Ayr shown they meant business, when they took the first silverware of the season on offer. When they beat the Cardiff Devils 2-1 to lift the B&H Cup at the Sheffield Arena and also seen they avenge their 5-3 lost to the Nottingham Panthers in the final the previous season.

They then added trophy number 2 to their honours list, as they beat the Bracknell Bees at the Telewest Arena in Newcastle edging their opponents 3-2 to claim the Challenge Cup.

Better things were to come for the men from South Ayrshire, as they added the Super league championship title to their ever growing trophy cabinet up at the Centrum Arena, With the Scottish Eagles beating off a strong challenge by the Manchester Storm to win by Three clear points which saw them lift the league title.

As April came around it meant was playoff time again and a chance for the Eagles to win the GRAND SLAM and erase last year`s playoffs from memory.

The only thing stopping them from a Grand Slam was the Cardiff Devils in the playoff final at the MEN Arena in Manchester. But Ayr was no mood to allow Cardiff to stop them on their quest of the Grand Slam, as ironically it was an Overtime goal by Shawn Byram that saw the Ayr Scottish Eagles complete a Historic Grand Slam for the Scottish club.

The win made up for last year, after losing out to an Overtime winner in the semi finals last season and this year an overtime winner saw their fan celebrate instead.

The Eagles also picked up two awards too, as Jim Lynch was named Coach of the Year, while Player of the Year went to Rob Dopson for his fantastic goal tending over the season which saw him help his side to sweep the board. 

So the Eagles had officially Landed and stamped their authority on British ice hockey for the 97-98 season.

In 98-99 season, the once high flying Eagles had now had their wings clipped, as the league champions finished a disappointing 5^th place in the league table, which saw them also unable to retain their B+H Cup. As once again they were beaten by their bogey team in finals the Nottingham Panthers, as they went down 2-1 at the Sheffield Arena.

They failed also to make the cut for the Express Challenge Cup now Named Challenge Cup, as the Sheffield Steelers pipped them by a solitary point in the group stages to see them lose out on defending their trophy.

It was the same story too in the playoffs, with the Eagles coming up short in qualifying for the Playoffs weekend and seen them miss out for the first time in their short history, as they missed out by 2 points in their playoff group.

It wasn`t all bad news for the men from Ayrshire as they did have a couple of highlights in their European Hockey League adventures.

Especially as the Scottish Eagles beat Czech Republic champions Chemopetrol Litvinov 4-3 and also beat the Russian side AK Bars Kazan both at home and away, with score lines of 4-2 and 3-1 in their group. They did however succumb to the Eagles from the German DEL league, in the form of Alder Mannheim losing 6-3 & 6-5.

Ayr finished for the second season in 5^th place during the 1999-2000 season, The Scottish Eagles had signed up a fellow country man and top British points scorer in the Sekonda Superleague, in the form of one Tony Hand from the Sheffield Steelers.

Also brought in to the squad this particular season, was Canadian trio of Yves Heroux, Eric Murano and Cam Bristow.

Not forgetting also the added muscle they brought in as they signed Enforcer Rob Trumbley, who by his standards had a pretty quiet season in the Penalty Minutes column. As the forwards had posted only 72 penalty minutes in his single season at the Centrum Arena.

Yves Heroux and Eric Murano put up impressive numbers in their first season up in Scotland, With Heroux posting 18 Goals and 25 Assists while his fellow Canadian team mate in Murano had numbers of 18 goals and 15 Assists to his name, as the Eagles also secured a playoff berth with Ayr finishing behind the Sheffield Steelers in their respective Playoff group. The 2^nd placed finish in the group, saw them take on the London Knights of who had destroyed the Eagles previously in the B+H Cup Semi Final inflicting a 7-1 thrashing to Ayr in the process.

Ayr Lost out to London once again, with yet another overtime winner proving the difference and denying the Scottish side a place in the Playoff final for the seconds straight season, as they went fell at the hands of the Knights 2-1.

In the 2000 - 01 season, Ayr finished in their now all too familiar finishing position of 5^th place once again. The league had expanded even more now and this season saw the inclusion of Northern Ireland getting a franchise with the Belfast Giants being welcomed into the Superleague family.

Ayr  had suffered a mixture of fortunes in their Cup runs ,as in the Challenge Cup the Scottish Eagles manage to get revenge on the London Knights. With the Scottish club beating the Docklands Arena club 8-7 on aggregate after they had tied the first leg of the Semi final 5-5 up in Ayr, with them then winning in the English Capital 3-2. The resulting final saw the Eagles take on the Sheffield Steelers, but losing out as they lost 4-2 in the Challenge cup final.

In the B+H Cup they were knocked out at the Quarter-Final stage of the competition, by the Newcastle Jesters. With as the Jesters winning 5-4 overall in the two legs.

Ayr then made it through to the Playoff weekend once again, as they came through their group to finish 2^nd with the Bracknell Bees topping the group.

In the Semi Final thought, they came up against the London Knights and the Knights won 4-1 to condemn the Eagles to yet more Semi final misery in the playoffs finals.

Ayr found themselves playing in an imploding Superleague in the 2001-02 season, As the Cardiff Devils and Newcastle Jesters had dropped out of the league due to money problems and the league was in a complete mess around this time.

However for Ayr it wasn`t all that bad of a season for them to be honest, As the Eagles finally snapped the streak of finishing in 5^th position, with the Scottish Eagles soaring to  ther best finish since 1997 with 2^nd place. Ayr also qualified for the Challenge Cup final, where they overcame the Nottingham Panthers 7-4 on Aggregate in the Semi finals to set up a meeting with the Belfast Giants.

In that corresponding final, the Eagles flown to victory, as they crushed the Giants. Shutting them out them 5-0 to lift some silver wear for the first time since their Grand Slam season back in 1997.

 Ayr`s semi finals curse came back yet again, as this time the Manchester Storm was the side to stop the Eagles reaching the final. The Storm beat the Scottish Eagles in the semis by the score of 2-1 and the following season for both clubs would be disastrous.

The 2002-03 season turned out to be the final season of existence for the Eagles. As the side headed away from Ayr to the new confines of the Braehead Arena in Renfrewshire, just outside of Glasgow.

The owner of the Eagles Bill Barr announced to the media the relocation of the side moving from Ayr to Glasgow. Due to the move the “Ayr” part of the clubs name was dropped and the “Scottish Eagles” name was just used.

The reason for the move was seen as, Braehead had a larger seating capacity and had a bigger catchment area, in which to increase the fan base of the Scottish club.

So on November 14^th 2002, after only Six games played out of the Braehead Arena, the Scottish Eagles hockey side was no more and folded. This saw an end to having a Scottish team play in the top flight of British Ice Hockey, as the league soon collapsed after with only 5 clubs finishing the season off after Manchester folded as well.

It brought down the curtain on the Ayr Scottish Eagles as a club after a 6 year stint, and although short lived it was certainly a roller coaster ride for those fans of the Green & Orange Clan from South Ayrshire, and one side that will certainly not be forgotten either in Hockey circles too.

There was a few downs but a lot of ups to for the Eagles fans to remember, As over their short successful period in the top flight they had big crowds and played in what was the hay day of British Ice Hockey, the likes of which, we will never see again on these shores.

Weather halts Aussies as England "Rain" continues

SCOREBOARD SAYS IT ALL.  via BBC SPORTS

Manchester rain brought an early end to the final day`s play in Third Test match at Old Trafford, as continuous rain overnight and heavy downpours through the day brought the match to a conclusion and saw the match end up a draw.

Australia had the edge in the contest before play was halted as they were looking likely to win the test match, having got England batsmen out fairly cheaply in their second innings as they tried to chased down 332 to take a 3-0 series lead.

It all started with Michael Clarke winning the toss for Australia on yet another warm and baking day in this Ashes series. Clarke had decided on batting first on a hard batting wicket which looked like it would do something for the bowlers too on a traditional test pitch at Old Trafford.

Australia made a couple of changes to their squad in this important test, Mitchell Starc returned to the line up alongside Spinner Nathan Lyon who replaced Ashton Agar in the team.

Also included in this test match was the surprise inclusion of controversial batsman David Warner. This was the first time he had face he faced England and come up against Joe Root since his infamous nightclub brawl, which resulted in him throwing a punch at the Young England player back in June during the Champions Trophy tournament in England.

Australia wanted to show that they were “foes not foils” in this Ashes series and they started off very well as Chris Rogers was hitting the England bowlers all over the Old Trafford pitch, with Shane Watson adding runs slowly as he tried to play his way into the innings.

Watson became the first to depart for the Aussies, after the opener edged to Alistair Cook in the slips from a teasing ball by Tim Bresnan and Watson headed back for (19).

It wasn`t too long before Australia found themselves two down in their Innings after yet more controversy with DRS in this series.

Usman Khawaja was given out on (1) for apparently edging behind off the bowling of Graeme Swann and England appealed to which the umpire agreed raising his finger for him being out.

Khawaja instantly asked for a review and with replays showing he missed it by a good distance and as there was nothing on hotspot to show he had made any contact with it, the 3rd umpire Kumar Dharmasena inexplicably didn`t overturn the decision, much to the amazement of Khawaja as the Australian batsman was not very happy at the 3^rd umpire and was in shock and disgruntled over his decision, as well he might.

 

Michael Clarke came to the crease with the Aussies on 82-2, and with fans of the green and gold hoping that this wouldn`t become another all too familiar scenario of the Tourists losing wickets in clumps and giving England the advantage, for them they would be far happier this time. 

pics via ECB.com

Chris Rogers and the Australian Captain put on 47 runs between them as both players made a solid Partnership to build upon for the innings, with Clarke determined to try and get into form and lead by example in this test as he wanted his men to put pressure on the England Bowlers this time round. 

Rogers then fell on (84) to Swann lbw as a full delivery by the England spinner saw the ball straighten up in line and hit his pads dead in line with the wickets. Rogers walked down the pitch to ask his Captain if he should review the decision, but after a brief talk he walked back to the pavilion.

Michael Clarke was then joined by Steve Smith at the crease, as the two batsmen put on a batting master class which saw the England bowlers looking lost and running out of ideas on how to stop the pair scoring runs. The pair racked up a partnership of 214 as they had the bowlers out in the middle toiling in the heat as they played magnificent strokes to all corners of the ground.

Both Australians passed their Half-Centuries with ease and looked on course to convert their 50`s to 100`s, much was the way they carried themselves at the crease with their temperament.

Sadly for Steve Smith he played a shot that looped right up in the air and was taken by Johnny Bairstow in the field, as Swann bowling had finally removed one of the batsmen and saw Smith head off for (89) as England broke the partnership up, with Australia on 343-4 and finally finding some form with the bat in this series.

England`s pantomime Villain then took to the pitch, as the announcement of David Warner coming into bat was met with loud Boo`s ringing from all round the ground(apart from those in Yellow) as it was safe it say he wasn`t Mr. Popular with the England fans.

via ECB.com

Warner played a little cameo innings as he had gone the way of most of his team mates had, with him given out for lbw. Warner shook his head to claim he hadn`t hit it and then after a little talk with Clarke, saw the Controversial Warner ask for a review on the dismissal.

Replays shown he got quite a bit of the ball and as the replay`s had shown that the locals weren`t very impressed with Warner  at all, as Cheers from the crowd was met with very loud lingering boo`s as the decision came up on the big screen and confirmed he was out, with the jeering England fans booing him off the pitch much like how he entered the fray.

via ECB.COM

Another handy partnership for the "Baggy Green`s" saw Brad Haddin join Clarke and together they pushed the Tourists score along nicely as the only bowler to find any joy for England, was Graeme Swann.

Michael Clarke played a captain`s Innings as he was eventually bowled by Stuart Broad for a magnificent (187) and shown he had made some form in this test match, much like his side had done too. 

Peter Siddle came to the crease and Swann bowled the Australian pace man out with Siddle trying to attempt a big slog , which saw the spin deceived him and sent the bails flying up, as he went for (1).

Mitchell Starc came in and scored a good innings of 66 Not out while Brad Haddin finished on 65, with Michael Clarke declaring his teams Innings on 527 for 7.

England`s response to the Australian Innings was one of a nervous one early on, With the openers playing a cautious game to start with indeed. Joe Root played a very slow methodical start to his innings and we saw an unusual sight of Cook taking an adventurous route to his Innings, as Cook was in his early 20`s before Root eventually got off the mark. 

The careful Innings England was playing, was seemingly overly careful as Joe Root feathered a shot into the gloves of Brad Haddin from a great delivery by Peter Siddle which saw the Yorkshireman go for 8.

Tim Bresnan then came in as Night-watchman to bat the final couple of Overs out for the hosts as they wanted to come back the next day and have a good go.

We then had a bizarre incident when England lost their Second wicket, after Tim Bresnan went for (1) when Bresnan attempted a pull shot off Siddle bowling and as the Australians appealed , the umpires finger went up to signal he was out.

 Bresnan looked lost for a minute and consulted with Cook over whether he should review it or not, in the end the England man decided to walk and as it turned out it was the wrong decision.

Replays shown that he didn`t hit the ball at all and that hot spot shown clearly the ball flicked his trousers and went behind, so England or Bresnan as it was made an error not reviewing the wicket for England and left them in a bit of bother with the score at 49-2. 

Jonathon Trott was the next victim with Ryan Harris removing him, thanks to his Captain taking the catch as he edged to Clarke at slips as the Warwickshire man went for (5).

via theguardian.com

Alastair Cook carried on his Innings, as he went past his Half Century and looked to have helped England on the road back to recovery, as they were 71-3.

England then suffered a blow as Cook was out, as he got a little nick down leg side and Haddin took a flying catch one handed and in the process put England Deep in trouble now, with Cook returning to the changing room after scoring (62).

Kevin Pietersen was coming into form now as he was playing beautiful with this pitch being deemed tailor-made for the batsmen to score on on the batting strip at Old Trafford. 

Pietersen went into one day mode as he made a couple of sixes in succession as he slogged two sixes off the bowling of Nathan Lyon and seen him bring up his 50 and 32nd Test Match Fifty of his career.

Shane Watson was bowling and one of his deliveries flicked Pietersen on the pads a long way down the batting track, Australia didn`t know whether to appeal to not. In the end they didn`t and it proved to be costly as the replay showed it was hitting Pietersen stumps and should have been out.

Clarke looked up to the Australian changing room and saw coach Darren Lehman walk to the balcony and give the finger to say he was out after he saw the replay. The look on Clarke face said it all, as he looked dejected from the news and the Tourists became frustrated over it with, Watson showing that publicly.

As a blocked delivery came to Watson in his temper picked it up and threw it past Pietersen and drew a reaction from the England fans as it showed the Aussies had been temporarily put off their game plan as sarcastic cheers also came from the England faithful in the stands.

pic from yahoo sports

England then lost Ian Bell for (60) after Ryan Harris bowled the Warwickshire batsman, dislodging his stumps and resulting in England losing their 5th wicket as they were 225 for 5 and trailing by 302 runs, Bell had looked comfortable at the crease and assured too until that point.

England was thankful that Kevin Pietersen was still out in the middle as without him and his big hundred, England would be in complete disarray. 

Johnny Bairstow was partnering Pietersen in the middle, yet the Yorkshireman never looked settled at all at the crease and his dismissal came as no surprise.  Starc had been bowling well for the Aussies and his rewards was met with getting Bairstow out, as he just chipped it up in the air as he gave his wicket away cheaply for (22).

Then at 280, a Mitchell Starc ball trapped Pietersen in front of his stumps as he missed a straight one going on and as soon as the ball struck him, he knew he had to review the decision as he was the last of the recognised batsmen in the side and was the most valuable player too.

Replay`s shown the ball was hitting his middle stump and meant that England were 7 down and were 247 behind now, England needed to scored 328 still as they looked to avoid the follow-on being forced on them, as it was a certainty that Michael Clarke would enforce it on the hosts if they didn`t reach the target.

Stuart Broad and Matt Prior combined to make sure England passed the Follow on score and then they guided England on a bit past that total, before shortly after Broad fell on (32) as he feathered a Lyon delivery behind to Haddin who took it in the gloves and Broad walked with England on 338 for 8.

Graeme Swann survived a dropped catch, but that was brief let off as not long after that he edged one behind as he went for (11) and England were 9 down for 354 and 173 runs behind.

Peter Siddle then got rid of Matt Prior on (30) with a top edge by Prior as his shot looped up high in the air for David Warner to take the simplest of catches and bring an end to the England 1st Innings , as they were all out for 368 and Australia had a lead of 159 going into their 2nd Innings.

BEER SNAKE by the England fans !! pic from yahoo

Australia played a fairly aggressive Second Innings, as they hoped to build a big total that could tease England into chasing down the total. Michael Clarke and Australia also had to be wary of the Weather too, as the reports for day 5th were looking very gloomy indeed as it was predicted bad weather would dominate Day 5, So they knew they had to knock the runs fairly briskly and put England into bat. 

Australia in their 2nd Innings found themselves 99-3 after Rogers edged to a diving Matt Prior behind for (12), David Warner went for (41) after he tried to hook a Tim Bresnan bouncer and the ball was caught by a diving...JOE ROOT of all people!

Usman Khawaja was then bowled around his legs by Swann for (24) as England were taking finally taking wickets on this pitch, but it also had a bit to do with the way the Aussies were batting too. 

Shane Watson went for (18) as he tried to take on Bresnan and managed to direct it down to third man where Kevin Pietersen was waiting and caught him out, as the score now moved to 103-4 with a lead of 262.

Four became five as a mix up between Michael Clarke and Steve Smith brought a run out, as Tom Craddock a substitute fielder collected the ball down at third man and threw it towards Matt Prior, he then saw Smith and Clarke mess up for a single and Prior threw the ball down the other end where James Anderson collected and smashed the wickets as Smith was run out for (19). 

England continued to pressure the Australian batsmen, as the Aussies tried to pile on the runs ahead of the England run chase and saw Brad Haddin go for (8) as his effort went high up in the air and saw Broad take the catch.

gloomy weather at Old Trafford   via yahoosports.

Mitchell Starc became the Seventh wicket to go down for Australia. As he connected on the toe end of the bat and saw it loop up to Swann for the easiest catch of the game, as Starc went for (11) and Australia was 172 for 7 with a lead of 331.

Then came another incident involving the umpires, as the two officials got together and had a word with Alastair Cook and made a spinning movement to him to say that where they going to use "Spin bowling or fast bowling?”.

Cook wasn`t going to play spin, so the umpires took the players off the pitch for bad light much to Michael Clarke dismay and anger at the sides going off.

Clarke remonstrated with the umpires about the decision and was fuming with the decision as despite the floodlights turned on and it not that gloomy.

Play was abandoned as the Manchester rain poured down on and off for the rest of the 4^th day and so we headed into an interesting Day 5 of play. 

Day 5 came and due to the terrible weather overnight and early morning rain around Old Trafford it led to Australia declaring and setting England 332 for victory.

There was a tinge of blue sky just above the ground before the first ball was bowled and it seemed it would help England with the sunshine trying to come out.

In the first over Disaster struck England as Cook was out lbw.

Cook decided to review it though it was pretty much certain it was going on to hit as it was plum in front of the wickets and it wasn`t a great start at all for the Hosts.

Things got worse as Trott tickled a ball down leg side off Ryan Harris and it nestled into the gloves of Haddin as Trott headed back for (11) with England struggling at 15-2. 

VIA yahoosports.com

The Aussies were in complete control of the game now, Michael Clarke dropped a Root which could have been a crucial point of the game, as England were in trouble and the players seemed to have a half hearted approach to it. The England side seemed to have consigned themselves already to not playing due to the weather before the days play and so struggled to get their game heads on. 

We then had yet another incident involving the umpires and DRS.

The incident revolved around Kevin Pietersen being given out by Tony Hill after Brad Haddin appealed following a Siddle delivery to which Haddin took.  Pietersen stood firm as the umpire raised the finger to Pietersen dismay, he then asked for the dismissal to be reviewed as the England Batsman was not impressed at all with the decision.

After replays showed no evidence of being edged on hot spot, however there was a noise on the microphone on the stump. Yet the 3^rd umpire thought there enough evidence to keep with the umpire’s decision.

via BBC SPORT

Decision came up on big screen and much to the joy of the Australians the umpire gave Pietersen out and the England batsman was absolutely furious with the decision as he muttered and vented his anger as he left the field, shaking his head and muttering in frustration over it too, That meant England were 27-3 as Pietersen departed for 8.

The match then descended into a stop start game as the rain came down and continued to fall as the side took lunch while the rain fell and continued to fall. Play lasted 3 balls as on the third ball, Ian Bell took a nasty hit to his right thumb from the bowling of Peter Siddle as the Warwickshire man got the ball loop up at him as it evaded the slip catchers and Bell ran for 2 runs, before getting treatment and then the rain fell and unfortunately would continue to rain for the rest of the afternoon session and with the weather as it was. It looked highly unlikely we would get much play in at all.

Ecb.com

Time passed by and at 16:50pm, the news filtered through to the media that the game was called off for rain and in the process saw England Retain the Ashes for this series at least, and England will know that they were let off massively by the British weather.

As this test shown Australia look to have found their batting mojo again and England`s Top order batsman desperately need to work on their batting to rediscover their own form, as they have let the side down in this series as the bowlers have got them out of jail too much over the past couple of series.

We now travel up north to the North East of England and in particular Chester-le-Street in Durham for the Fourth Test Match, as England will hope to make amends for their performance and try to make the series 3-0 and not stop their opponents from having any chance or letting them in the series and draw the series too.

England lead series 2-0 & retain the Ashes.

CHANGING web Address in next couple of days.

I will be changing website name from http://petercookieboybrads.blogspot.co.uk/  to the BRAND NEW Address peterPhoenixacebrads.blogspot.co.uk 

Audi Cup 2013: City punish Milan, But Lose out to Bayern in final

 Last week saw the AUDI Cup played over a two day tournament, with all games being played out of the Allianz Arena in Munich. The tournament featured the Champions League winners Bayern Munich hosting with fellow teams, Sao Paulo from Brazil, A.C Milan of Italy and Manchester City of England in this pre-season tournament.

Opening match of the 2013 Audi Cup pitted Italian Giants AC.Milan against Manchester City. This would be Manuel Pellegrini first taste of top class opposition after their recent Victory in the Premier League Asia trophy.

City went with a 3-4-3 formation against Milan as Stevan Jovetic was given his first start in a Manchester City shirt.

 Pellegrini played his whole squad in this tournament, as he played one half for this game and the other half in the 2nd game, against whoever it may be in the 3rd/4^th playoff or the Final.

Edin Dzeko was the main striker for Man City, as he had played well so far in these pre-season games and hoped to continue his form on in this pre season tournament ahead of the Premier League season in 3 weeks time.

The men from Manchester started off very strongly against their opposition, As Milan were missing key men in their sidem, But take nothing away from City;  they were very dominate in the opening 32 minutes of the first half as they torn and shredded Milan apart.

It took City just 3 minutes on the board before they scored, as ex-Fiorentina striker Jovetic volleyed the ball towards Spanish midfielder David Silva and the Spanish midfielder put home for 1 - 0 lead to the side donning a new Black and grey halved shirt.

Milan were struggling to deal with City`s pace and power in attack as they were made to look stupid, as City jumped on ever single mistake that Milan made in midfield or in defense.

Stevan Jovetic had a chance to extend the lead for the Blues, as he was given possession by the AC defense and the striker just flashed a shot wide of the far post as they were looking the far more potent side in this match than AC were.

Via: mcfc.co.uk

City was breaking down Milan with ease as they were getting round the back of Italian defense far too easy for AC Milan liking.  Jesus Navas, David Silva and Stevan Jovetic were the men pulling the strings in attack for City, as Milan looked all at sea at the back and in midfield too.

City was being constantly given the ball a lot by their opposition and City wasn`t making it fully count, till when in the 19th minute Micah Richards scored his own rebound from close range to make it 2 - 0 for the English club and three minutes later it was 3 - 0 City, As Aleksandar Kolarov latched onto a weighted pass by David Silva inside the area and he struck a powerful finish to the far post past goal keeper Marco Amelia in the Milan net.

via Eurosport yahoo.com

City were pinching themselves now as Milan looked in freefall as it was becoming more like a training match now. With chance upon chance falling to City they were terrorised the Italian team side and soon enough Edin Dzeko made the pressure pay as he made it 4 - 0 for City, when a lovely ball cut through the Milan defense by Silva was run onto by fellow Spaniard Jesus Navas and the new recruit from Seville, put a fizzing ball across the area which eluded the goal keeper and Dzeko was on hand to score at the back post for City`s Fourth.

It could easily have been double figures for City in the first 33 minutes of the game, as Jovetic had a chance to make it a bigger score line. Some good play by Navas and Richards down the right wing saw the defender whip in a great low bending cross in the penalty area and the ball just evaded the Montenegro Striker as it was inches away from making it five.

They didn`t have to wait long though Pellegrini`s men, As a minute later Yaya Toure chipped a ball into the penalty area and found Bosnian Striker Edin Dzeko, who controlled it fantastically on his chest and spun round to strike in one go as he scored another great goal in this pre season for an incredible score line of Manchester City 5  AC Milan 0! after just 35 minutes of play in the first half. 

Less than a minute later though, Milan with their first meaningful attack of the game, pulled one back through striker Stephan EL Shaarawy. El Shaarawy had been linked in the summer with a move to the Blues and his finish wasn`t the most cleanest of strikes but the Italian striker scuffed shot went goal wards towards the far post as Hart was caught flat footed and saw the ball go in for 5 - 1. 

El Shaarawy then made it 5 – 2 in the 39^th minute as he scored his second of the game, when Kolarov brought down Petagna in the area, but City players expected a whistle to come that never came and the Milan striker carried on playing and picked up on the loose ball and beat Hart who was on his backside to reduce the lead to 3 now. 

City manager Manuel Pellegrini will not have been happy with his side defending at all and will have been furious with the third goal conceded in six minutes, as Milan carried on this comeback and when Muntari kick up field, it wasn`t dealt with by the defenders as they were caught ball watching, however only Andrea Petagna made any effort to get to it and as he collected the ball he slotted coolly through the legs of Joe Hart in goal for 5 - 3. 

Milan had a couple of chances for 5 - 4 but none of them came to anything as both sides had time to sit down and wonder the hell was going on at half time. Second half saw Milan look the better side, as City seemed to have stopped playing after the 5 goals they had scored.

Muntari tried a curling shot but his effort found the corner flag nearly, Samir Nasri came close to making it 6 – 3, as Amelia came running of goals and went without the ball and fell nicely to Nasri who tried a quick curling shot, but missed the target froma tight angle.

Joe Hart made a good save off Prince Boateng to deny him scoring for the Italians, Javi Garcia came close to scoring for the Blues from a corner as he was unchallenged and had a free header in the penalty area, but headed a bullet header right at Amelia in goals and was cleared only as far as Micah Richards, who tried a blast but the ball was saved by the keeper.

Referee blew for full time and the match ended 5 - 3 to Manchester City and saw them in the final of the Audi Cup after a crazy first half.

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The following day action , saw Manchester City take on the host`s Bayern Munich in the Final, as they beat Sao Paulo 2 - 0 in the second semi final, with Mario Mandzukic and Mitchell Weiser scoring for the Bavarian giants.

City hoped to go one better than their neighbours’ did previously in this tournament, as Manchester United had lost to Bayern Munich on penalties in 2009 in the final.

City played a much different side to the one that played in the game the night before, as Pellegrini made a few changes to his line-up as in came Costel Pantilimon for Joe Hart, a completely new line of defense in Pablo Zabaleta, Captain Vincent Kompany,Gael Clichy and Dedryck Boyata. In came Midfielders James Milner, Gareth Barry and Samir Nasri all came into the side for the final.

Bayern with newly installed coach Pep Guardiola at the helm, hoped to bring the Champions League holders their first piece of silverware of the season, as they had  lost out 4 - 2 in the German Super Cup to Runners-up in the Bundesliga and the team they beat at Wembley in the Champions League final back in May, Borussia Dortmund.

The Game was played almost mainly in the City half as Bayern was dominant early on, with Franck Ribery being stopped by Pantilimon in goal for City. Philipp Lahm nearly scored as well, but dragged his shot wide as the German side controlled this game early on. 

City`s defense was holding firm with a solid base at the back, with Vincent Kompany and Dedryck Boyata making a very impressive pairing for the Blues. Bayern were knocking down the City door all game and when they did get past the defense, then they found Costel Pantilimon in good form as the shot stopper made a few good saves to keep the score goal less. 

Arjen Robben went close when he cut inside and fired at net, but found Pantilimon alert and Kompany too as he cleared away any danger.

Javi Martinez headed over from close range and Bayern were getting frustrated as they were creating great chances and had all the possession, but they weren`t converting the chances into goals, much to Guardiola and the Home fans displeasure.

In the 31st minute City finally had something of note as Stevan Jovetic launched a strike from 20 yards out and just missed the target and shown Bayern that it wasn`t just one team in this.

Ribery then found room to run into and he fired a cross across goals, but no one was on hand to convert for the home side.

Boyata was then shown a yellow card by the German match official for a tackle on Ribery outside the area, when the young Belgian defender slid in and won the ball as replays shown, but the referee thought otherwise and gave him a yellow card. City had a chance when Clichy put a low cross in for Negredo, but the Spanish striker couldn`t divert on target and could only find the side netting.

Negredo again had a chance, as Samir Nasri put a cross in the area and Neuer saved from his effort with City were coming more into the game now.

Alvaro Negredo wasn`t capitalising on these chances given to him, as right before half time he headed over from a great cross by James Milner and the ex-Seville forward headed over the bar.

Half time came and both sides were probably happy with City the more so, as they were under the cosh for most of the half and were lucky not to be a few goals down at the break .

City started like they ended the first half, as a lovely ball from Gael Clichy was played into the gap for Nasri to run onto and the Frenchman was denied by Neuer as the goal keeper came off his line.

Bayern were frustrated and shown it, as they were shooting from distance as City were making it hard for them to make any inroads what so ever on City goal, the Blues looked to have taken the lead as Nasri had latched onto a Navas pass and put home, but was denied a goal as the flag went up.

City created yet another chance for Negredo, as again the forward headed right at Neuer when untroubled and let Munich off the hook when he should have done a lot better.

Then at long last..Negredo finally scored for the away side, as Nasri put a through ball for the forward to chase and get onto. And despite Martinez efforts to put the Spanish striker off Negredo put it far post to open his account for his new club and put Manchester City 1 - 0 in the Audi Cup final after 61 minutes. 

The lead lasted all of 5 minutes, when a extremely harsh decision went against Pablo Zabaleta. The Argentinian defender had gone up for a header with Muller and as the ball bounced off the Bayern player shoulder it hit the stray hand of Zabaleta as he was turning round in mid air  and hit his hand unintentionally and the German referee spotted immediately to the spot for a penalty.

via Getty images

Thomas Muller stepped up and sent Pantilimon the wrong way to equalise making it 1 - 1 after 66 minutes.

Bayern then took the lead after a cross came in down the right flank and Mario Mandzukic, much like he did in the match the night before against Sao Paulo. Just got ahead of Boyata and headed home past the City Keeper for 2 – 1 score line in the 73rd minute. Pellegrini changed his forward line as Negredo came off for goal scoring machine for City in this pre-season Edin Dzeko, as the Bosnian striker looked to add to his goal tally. 

Mario Mandzukic then struck the post with an effort to nearly put the German side up 3-1.

Dzeko came close to drawing City level in the 87^th minute, as he ran onto a ball and his effort was partially stopped by Manuel Neuer in the Bayern nets and was cleared away.

Final whistle came and City could rightfully feel robbed, as the referee awarding a spot kick for an accident hand ball was the turning point in this match. Plus had Negredo took his chances then result may have been different.

However City now continue their build up with their final pre-season game before the start of the Premier League season as they face Arsenal next Saturday in the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki Finland.