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We went down with only 13 players, and had to borrow a few of theirs just to play. Only 3 of our usual backs were able to make the game today, and one of them was forced to play out of position. We had to make a lot of changes in our lineup just to get 15 guys on the field. With our usually talented back line low on numbers and shuffled around, we had a lot of adversity to overcome from the very start.
Despite the lineup problems, we played a good game against a tough opponent. Tony and Cisco made great tackles all day long. When the forwards got to the ball, they did a good job stopping the runs on defense as well. The pack did a decent job in the scrums, never losing any of their own, but not stealing any from Happy Valley either. Near the end of the half, Danny O'Hara made a great play by blocking a punt and recovering it to run for a try. Cisco Jimenez made the conversion to bring us up to 7 points; all the points we managed to score on the day. After a tough first half, the score was 7-12, Happy Valley.
In the second half, Happy Valley passed the ball out to the backs a lot more often, possibly to stay away from our forwards tough defense. Possibly to exploit our makeshift backline. With their big backs taking on our considerably smaller line, they had an advantage in crashing the ball outside. To shore up the defense in the middle, Cisco made a good decision by switching into the center spot on defense, and moving Happy Valley player Cedric into the fullback slot. This got the tackles closer to the gain line and slowed Happy Valley's scoring opportunities to a crawl. The final score of the game was 7-26, Happy Valley.
Upsides:We played hard, and with our full back line, the score could have been much different. Everyone played hard for the whole match, despite the score. Several players stepped it up, even playing out of position, to help out the team. The consensus seemed to be that this was a winnable match if we'd had our full team available.
Downsides:Numbers and fitness. While those of us there played hard, we had to borrow 3 players to have one inexperienced sub. We have got to get more people at practices and especially games. Fitness also seemed to play a big part in this game. It was a close game at the half, but once again, 15 minutes into the second half, we had a hard time keeping up the pace. Everyone needs to be doing some extra training outside of practice to improve their fitness.
Bonus: Congratulations to our Man of the Match, Danny O'Hara! Special thanks to the Happy Valley guys who stepped up to play for our team in the match.
Next Match:
This Saturday we play the Renegades at home (1:00 pm kickoff). It is time to forget anything and everything you have heard about this club. Here
is the real deal: This club is 1-3-1, they beat USUHS and tied Winchester this past Saturday (10/10). They are well coached and have a motivated
group that is sick of being thougt of as the doormat of the league. While this is another winnable game, it is also a very losable game if we don't
take them seriously. We need everyone to turn up at practice this week so we can plan well for our game.
Pictures, courtesy of Ginny Bach, will be coming soon.
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