The Chicago United Football Club ventured into unchartered waters yesterday with a hard fought away win yesterday against the Columbus Jackaroos in Columbus, OH. A game played in the true spirit of the game and what was also pleasing from a coaches point of view was the overall umpiring effort, well done to the umps.

A relatively new look United team had 10 guys making their debut. Jason W., Pedro, Brandon, Tyler H, Tank, Simon, Ben, Jack and the twins Jason & Nolan played like rockstars in their first game. Pedro added a lot of bite in the forward line and applied fantastic defensive pressure, he also managed a great snap for goal and helped create others.

We knew that we were going to come up against a home side that has improved and will be a tough side to beat come Nationals time in October. They really held sway for the first three quarters and if it only had been a pinch of luck going their way the deficit at three quarter time might have been more than 2 points.

Effectively this enabled United a sniff. And in the end the talls don't get any smaller in tough battles and it was the likes of Roofy, Crackers and the irrepressible Haysey who continued to marshall the troops and get us over the line by 20 points.

The mug award went to Big Jason, a revelation this year in the ruck. I have no doubt in my mind that in the next year or so that you will see him in a Revo jumper. All in all, everyone had their job to do and one that resulted in a very satisfying win. One that was savored throughout the night!

Our focus now turns to Milwaukee in a couple of weeks at home. Let's get out on the track and get ready to take it up to the Milwaukee team that has not beaten us for a couple of years. Remember lads this is only the first win for the year there is a long road ahead of us.

Chicago United 10 6 66
Columbus Jackaroos 7 4 46 

Best: Crackers, Roofy, Haysey, Jason W., Frank, BJ
Goals: Oscar, Hayes 3, Roofy 2, Pedro, Nolan Mc 1