April 19, 2003 - Lynn, MA

NSRFC 10 - Middlesex Barbarians 8     

In a game that was hard fought throughout, NSRFC got their first win of the spring over a feisty Middlesex side.

The game opened with hard inside play and quickly Middlesex threatened to score, within five meters of goal. However, in a show of defensive discipline and determination, North Shore kept them out several times and eventually gained a scrum.

That stand quickly translated into offensive momentum when Martin Mahoney found a gap in the defense and rumbled downfield before dishing off to forwards Tony Buonaugurio and Chris LeBlanc-Smith who quickly found a streaking Trevor Maz for the game’s first try.

The game remained a defensive battle until late in the first half when the Barbarians broke through the defense (cough… me) to pull even at 5-5 after a missed conversion.  That score would hold until the second half as both teams threatened but were unable to break through.

In the second half, a penalty within North Shore’s 22 resulted in a Middlesex 8-5 lead on a penalty kick.  Both sides continued to crash the ball into the pack with North Shore’s entire forward group making their presence felt. As always the captain showed how tackling is supposed to be done, with others following suit such as Mark Swan.

The backs had their moments, but were never able to break clean until the forwards gained possession and shipped the ball out through Martin Mahoney to Matt Thibault who cut back inside and eluded would be tacklers on the way to the go-ahead try.

The last twenty minutes of the game featured more stifling defense and hard play. Despite some scoring opportunities for both teams, the score remained 10-8 and a much-needed, well deserved victory went to the home side.

The results of Des’s focus on fitness and tackling could be seen as North Shore never relented, as the defense held and loose play was much cleaner and harder than in past matches. Even though the ref took a try away from us (who was that as%^ole anyways?!!?) a win is a win!

Starting XV:

1-      Tom Moloney

2-      Reade Morrison

3-      Danny Forsythe

4-      Kevin Donovan

5-      Mark Swan

6-      Chris LeBlanc-Smith

7-      Tony Buonaugurio

8-      Ken Spinale

9-      Wes Darwin

10- Martin Mahoney

11- Matt Sawyer

12- Matt Thibault

13- Dan Hemmerly-Brown

14- Trevor Mazarura

15- Rob Moran