North Shore Takes 2nd in B Division @ Bull Moose 2004

June 12-13

It was another excellent trip up north for NSRFC, with some better rugby than last year and perhaps, not coincidentally, less stories of people sleeping in closets and generally actin the fool.

In the first game we jumped out early against Middlesex, with Martin Mahoney making one of his patented breaks through the gain line and downfield, before dishing to Scott Marcoulier in support. Less than ten minutes gone and a 5-0 lead for North Shore.

Things settled down after that with back and forth play and neither side really able to break through for the big play. I suppose it doesn't really matter which happened first, but I think Middlesex scored in the second half to level the game at 5, with a bunch of phases near our try line finally resulting in a score.

To seal the deal, a mishandled kick bounced into the path of the onrushing Trevor Maz and no one was about to catch him on his way to the try zone. The game ended at 14-5 and set up a game against Seacoast, or so we thought.

After a few hours it was almost time to take the field when we were informed it would be South Shore rather than Seacoast as our next opponent, and we'd be playing on the big field which was just fine by us.

To hammer home this point, we came out flying and camped out in South Shore's (dusty) end of the pitch for nearly the whole first half. The scores came early and often and when the dust settled (oh come on, I had to use that phrase) we had jumped out to a 24-0 lead thanks to support, phasing, and keeping the ball moving. Punching in tries during the flurry were Martin Mahoney, Jesse "Precious" Brewer, and Scott Marcoulier.

It might have been that we were stunned by losing Scott to an inury near the start of the second half, but we came out flat and made some mistakes and bad decisions which allowed South Shore two early tries. After we settled down a bit, the short halves worked in our favor as the game would end 24-12.

Our opponent in the final was the Rhody Old Cocks, who had narrowly beaten Seacoast to get into the final. We knew they had a crafty fly half but we apparently weren't prepared for their overall experience and skill level. They jumped out to a 5-0 lead early and looked to be clearly in command.

However, after a deep kick into North Shore territory, ill-advised fullback substitute Rob Moran managed to get around a defender (gasp!) and dish off to Jesse Brewer, who then bounced off a would-be tackler and pass off to Martin Mahoney, who had the good sense to run across the field to the general vicinity of Trevor Maz, who promptly took a short pass and flew in for a try. (run-on sentence?)

Halftime came almost immediately, and in the second half, good things didn't keep on happening for us. After some penalties, kicks for touch, and a lot of mauling, the Old Cocks had possession near our try line when one of their forwards reached through the bottom of a ruck/maul to barely reach the line and was awarded a try. Not long after, some try-line miscues led to a loose ball retrieved by Rhody for another score. That accounted for all the scoring for a 17-7 final.

All in all it was both a learning experience and something to build from. We took home some hardware and hopefully figured a few things out.

The North Shore crew consisted of (in no particular order): Mike Magee, Damien Bamberg, Liam Brady, Dave Shannon, Jesse Brewer, Vudu Matt, Gus del Puerto, Martin Mahoney, Mark Swan, Matt Thibault, Ken Spinale, Rich DePiero, Reade Morrison, Jesse Dole, Dan Donato, Ross Arnold, Trevor Maz, Kevin Donovan, Rob Moran, Tony Buonogaurio, Scott Marcoulier, Andy Kerr, social/supporters Keith, Barry, Liz, Hilary, Kerry, Alicia/Meredith, Mary/Mikey, John Magazzu, Jimbo, and hopefully no one else I'm forgetting.