Rebels earn first win of the season in Ottawa

It took a 5 hour trip and a sea of video cameras for the Rebels to open their account for the 2011 season....well and some great team work!!

Round 5 saw the Toronto Rebels travel to Ottawa for a huge game for both clubs looking for their first win of the season. There were a few new faces in the side this week with Wade Osborne and Stewart Evans joining the fray and Chester back on the park for the first time since his broken ankle in the winter.

The game started hard and fast and the Rebels were forcing the ball forward with regularity but were not capitalizing on these opportunities. The Swans were playing solid defensively and after a furious first quarter Ottawa held a 2 point lead. Morgan King was creating a lot of contests up forward with Pete Bormann and Monty doing their part as well.

The Rebels broke forward and struck early in the 2nd Quarter and thus took the lead, but it was at a cost as moments later Morgan rolled his ankle quite badly. The back line was holding strong with veteran Paps and Alex bruising style of play and Will, Massimo and Ozzy fighting hard in every contest. After an even second quarter of footy the Rebels headed into half time with their noses in front. The midfield had worked tirelessly with no real rotation, Fabs, Turtle and Cam getting a well-deserved rest at the main break.

The Rebels came out firing in the third quarter with Morgs being strapped up and sitting in the goal square. The boys sensing an opportunity were pumped up and they banged three goals home in 5 minutes to take a handy break. Again it was a tough quarter with Ottawa never giving up and getting a couple of late goals to keep themselves in the game.

It needed to be a big last quarter for the Rebels with Cianan out injured for the second half, Chester's ankle not too good, Lethal with back problems and of course Morgs on one leg. With two on the bench everybody had to dig deep and put in a huge 20 minutes. That's exactly what the Rebels did with Morgs a powerhouse up forward marking anything that came his way, and Monty and Mex fighting hard across half forward. Drago, Turtle and Paps reaped the benefits of some smarty play and had a ton of footy in the last quarter. Big Mike provided something for the highlight reel with a spectacular one had mark and then goaled after a 50 metre penalty to seal the win for the Toronto Rebels.

22 players made the long trip and pulled the jumper on and everyone made a contribution to the win, it was a solid four quarter performance which is a fantastic sign going forward. Rogers TV named Cameron Stark as Best on Ground, but it really was a victory based on team work.

Get to training this week guys and keep the momentum going forward, with hard work the results will follow.

Final Score: Rebels 10.4.64 def. Swans 6.6.42
Goals: Morgs 7, Monty 1, Crackers 1, Big Mike 1.
Best Players: Cam Stark, Morgs, Fabs, Massimo, Drago, Turtle.

Next game: Rebels vs. Gargoyles, on Saturday June 18th at 3pm in Hamilton