Meadow Cup Musings / Round Two
Thill Brenner – Correspondent for TSS
Here are the relevant numbers, save two. Two weekends ago, 64 teams began their quest on 32 scattered meadows to win 1 Meadow Cup – twelve teams competing from the Farm League, 12 others from their lower neighbor. After 47 matches, 1,312 points, 2 overtimes (both occurring in the Castles portion of the bracket), and countless divots created by scores of Centers, Schleissmen, Farmhands and Gates, there remained one club each from those neighboring divisions.
The pride of Sölden, the Ötzi played host to the Anras Bishops, fresh off their less than refreshing 5-hour train ride under the bright sun and through some of the loveliest, most awe-rendering hills and dales our nation has to offer, and full of vim and vigor – and confidence – following their impressive, albeit somewhat surprising, 17-3 victory at the Rectory, home of the Original 8 brethren Aggsbach White Canons. The Canons, as happens during many of the annual Meadow competitions, were playing without several of their star lads. This June, a handful had committed their weekends to shoring up sections of the Danube where rains and time had eroded the banks. Last summer, it was helping to repair and replace roofs on many of the barns that were in disrepair. Thus, the brawn that is Bastian Eisl, and the creativity of Christian Riedl, were not available to penetrate the back line of Kur Habeler and his fellow Breadbaskets. The result? Advancement to the Round of 32 for Anras, a destination they had not reached in 9 years.
On the home side of the Meadow awaited Sölden, who have now won their opening round match 7 years running, and have played in every Meadow Cup but the first, seeking their second Cup, having won their first a mere 8 years ago. In their first match, a stifling 28-11 win over Eisenerz, which was essentially decided before the 43 began as the Oresmen trailed by 19, Erik Peiper did his best Paul Lackner impersonation, running in skots from where a lesser Center or Hand wouldn’t even consider. His two scores just before halftime seemed to break the spirits of a squad that Gate Hugh Mandermann described as, “lacking our usual gusto and punch.”
And now, the final two relevant numbers that carry the day – 17 and 4. That was the final score of the 48th and final match that left us with 16 deserving teams one-third of the way to glory. To the delight of the 4,500 fans wearing their home gear with the Ötzi mummy prominently displayed, the 17 belonged to their boys. Erik Peiper made sure of that, just as Klammer Oberlander (named after his dad’s legendary hero, the 1976 gold medalist Franz Klammer) used all 6’3” of his burly frame to limit the Bishops to 4 harmless points.
And so, a Barrel League team has survived to play a third match. Sure it happened last summer, but before that it had been 14 years. And awaiting the Icemen are the Zurich Tirggel, averaging a tournament best 27 points per game. But if they surrender 20 points for a third match in a row, and struggle in the slightest to break the goal line, the Biscuits may find themselves on the short end of the final score.
MEADOW OF THE WEEK
Match 35 of the Meadow Cup pitted Munich against the Lucerne Cheesemakers near the shores of Lake Lucerne, only minutes from the mesmerizingly beautiful River Reuss. Despite the god-like efforts of Jurgen Hawksteader, Ule Unger, and their counterparts wearing Lucerne blue, Philipp Vogel, Niels Bowen, et al, the eyes of this correspondent, and those of most of the visitors, could hardly be averted from the “Queen of the Mountains” looming beyond, Mount Rigi. With the crispness of the sky, the distant sparkle of the Reuss, and the patches of snow decorating the Queen, her loveliness rivaled the best that any maiden could offer. Marry that with a scintillating 2-point margin scored by Lucerne, the best cheese within a day’s drive, and the welcoming pats of hundreds and hundreds of enthusiastic hosts, and this unbiased observer is left grasping in his memory for a better day spent.
MEN OF THE WEEK
3] Xaver Bach, Schleissman, Spittal Schuhplattlers.
Bach led a defense that not once but five times stopped Passau within yards of scoring, a feat they accomplished only by way of the kick. His diving tackle to return the ball back to his side with the score 0-0 woke the sleeping giant of their offense and spurred his mates to score 3 consecutive skots before halftime in their 14-2 victory.
2] Karle Angler, Center, Bad Ischl Salzkammer.
Angler is younger than most of his opponents, and the least tenured of his fellow ‘Kammer Farmhands, but that hasn’t stopped him from scoring 24 of his team’s 51 points. His dominance in the 43 against Füssen may have surprised even himself, for it surely caught the attention of those left in his wake.
1] Tim Bogen, Schleissman, Scheibbs Lamplighters. Much has been asked of Bogen in two matches of opposite play. He dug in as the Lock in Scheibbs’ opening defensive struggle, and ran amok in their 21-point display this weekend against a Mettmenstetten squad that appeared for well into the 43 to be more than capable to match Scheibbs skot for skot, before bowing by five.