North Shore RFC 24 Mad River 52

NSRFC traveled to Vermont after scraping together most of a side. The bus trip itself was very interesting, with the bus threatening to stop working on several occasions in remote stretches of highway. In any case we made it all the way to the field, only to have a near-death experience when the bus had to cross over a narrow strip of land above a creek. Apparently the driver misjudged the angle, and suddenly the back tire was dangling over the creek while the bus nearly tipped over. After the tire caught hold of the drainage pipe, the driver gunned it and got us through to safer ground. Very anxious moments, but crisis averted.

As for the game itself, we traveled thinking we'd be able to come close to a full side, perhaps borrowing a player or two. As it turned out, we were about two players short, and Vermont-based North Shore boys Matt Willey and Zac Cook came up big and gave us a full 15. However...having 15 guys does not necessarily mean a cohesive unit or an ideal situation. With all of these excuses laid out I'll get on with the match details.

North Shore got on the board first, when a loose ball popped out of a breakdown into the hands of Rob Moran, who beat a Mad River defender to the outside for a score. The try was not converted and the game soon swung in the home side's favor. Holding most of the possession, Mad River put in a score after the NSRFC defense was unable to cover across and stop an overload. Another two scores would follow from scenarios I can't remember, but they made the score 17-5.

Not willing to let the game get away, North Shore drove deep into Mad River territory and gained a 5 meter scrum. The ball was shipped out to the backs, and with visions of his second try, Moran tried to cut in between the Mad River centers but was held just short of the line. In support was the captain Matt Thibault, who ripped the ball and lunged forward for a score. The try was converted and left the score 17-12 at the half, and us not feeling too bad about ourselves.

In the second half, more or less the wheels came off. Mad River just kept finding ways to score, with their ball movement stretching our defense and exploiting our poor coverage and tackling. Their Fijian center had us chasing quite a bit and their entire team seemed to find space to run. Our side had some good bits of play but couldn't really hold anything together. Chris Linder made some good hits, as did Frank Chung on the wing. Chad Horn made the hustle play of the year, when a Mad River backline player went back to touch the ball down in his own try zone but took his time, and Chad flew in from nowhere to touch down for the score. That score was converted and was our last points of the day.

Any rugby is good rugby, and hopefully we learned some things from the game and got some experience for some of our young guys. Thanks to the traveling members Kevin Donovan and old friend Sammy Benson as well as Bill Foye who hoped to play but reaggravated an injury. Thanks to Mad River for a good, hard match and solid drinkup. Tough timing with the bachelorette party...