Queen City vs Northern Colorado Flamingos Match Report

QUEEN CITY VS NORTHERN COLORADO FLAMINGOS MATCH REPORT – 3/5/16

It was a beautiful day for rugby for the first match of the season. It was warm and slightly overcast. No wind to speak of and the field was fast. The men in Orange and Black were raring to go after 5-weeks of training and hitting each other. Time to play some "footy" against the Northern Colorado Flamingos. The decision between the two teams was to play four (4) 30-minute periods so that an adequate amount of playing time could be established to assess players.

City won the toss and elected to receive moving north to south. The men in Orange and Black were immediately called for obstruction on the kick-off by Referee Jim Bramley. The boys from the North kick to touch immediately putting City under pressure. Great play from Flanker Hayden Kinnear in the ensuing lineout thwarted the onslaught and City was able to clear. Poor handling by the men in Pink allowed City to go on the attack. A stable scrum established a good platform to launch an attack. However, City was called for hands at the ensuing ruck. Northern Colorado took a quick tap behind the back of Referee Bramley putting City on the back foot. Eventually, City was called for another ruck infringement. Northern Colorado elected to take the points and the men in Pink had the early lead (0 - 3) at 5 minutes into the match. The men in Orange and Black came storming back putting relentless pressure on the opposition. Finally, a ruck infringement was called on the men in Pink and Inside Center Scott Trench split the uprights to tie the score at 3 - 3 at the 9th minute. The men in Orange and Black continue the offensive pressure. A poor clearing kick from the men in Pink saw Fullback Ryan Clemons take the kick on a full run and preceded to dart in and out of the Northern Colorado defense to dot down for the 5-pointer. Center Trench added the extras to extend the City lead to 10 - 3 at the 22nd mark of the first period. The men in Orange and Black thought they had another try. A Northern Colorado lineout was spun out to their backs, a good defense stance by City produced a knock-on, and the pill was picked up by Flyhalf Dorian Bunn who sped off towards the try line. It appeared that he had the downward pressure; but, Referee Bramley deemed otherwise. A 5 meter scrum ensued. Great scrum pressure was applied by the City forwards; but, the men from the North were able to clear. The relentless pressure continues by the men in Orange and Black until a free kick was order by Referee Bramley. A quick tap was taken by Captain No. 8 Dan Herr who drove forward towards the Northern Colorado line. A brilliant offload was made to Hooker Steve O'Malley who powered the rest of the way for the try. The conversion kick was wide right; but, City had the 15 - 3 lead at the first break.

The second stanza saw City drive the Flamingos deep into their territory. The men from the North attack the City line with fervor; but, stout defense kept the men in Pink at bay. Finally, the Flamingos were called for a ruck infringement and Scott Trench who had moved into the Flyhalf position kept the scoreboard ticking over as he split the uprights for another 3-pointer to extend the City lead to 18 - 3 at the 7th minute of the second period. Sloppy ball handling and robust defensive stances by City kept the Flamingos at bay. Several sorties at the line were made by the men in Orange and Black; but, to be denied as well. A couple of more tries could have been realized in the period had the ball been able to go to hand and one more pass was realized. One such attack saw Outside Center Alex Vivier make a break up the middle from a lineout win. The support was slow to catch up. The Flamingos picked up the ball from the tackle; but, threw it back into the in-goal. Winger Grant Fabian alertly fell on the ball for the try. However, the Flamingos sideline convinced Referee Bramley that there was a knock-on; therefore, the try was disallowed. So, the second period ended with the scoring line at 18 - 3.

The third period saw the Flamingos come out on the front foot. The kick-off saw good pressure by the City forwards; however, the men in Pink were able to maintain position to spin the ball out wide to their backs. The Flamingo Center sold a perfect dummy and burst through the City defense to take the pill to the house for the 5-pointer. The conversion was missed and the men in Pink had cut into the City lead at 18 - 8 in the very first minute of the third stanza. Northern Colorado had City on the back foot; but, for some sloppy ball handling and poor decisions. Play continues to be disjointed and sloppy until the 21st minute of the third period. A penalty was called against the men in Pink and Flyhalf Ryan Clemons drove the ball deep into the enemy territory. A driving maul ensued from the lineout. The maul was halted and the ball was tossed out where Inside Center Dorian Bunn burst through the line to cross the line and not to be denied on this possession assuring solid downward pressure on the pill to score the 5-poointer. Fullback Steve Vickers added the extras and City extend their lead to 25 - 8 to close out the third period scoring.

Once again the Flamingos came out showing that there was no quit from the men in Pink. Lineout saw two not straight calls resulting in a scrum to Northern Colorado. Pressure from the City forwards produced messy ball for the Flamingos. A kick ahead by the Flamingo backs result in a line out. City mishandled the lineout throw and the Flamingos mounted an attack. The Northern Colorado back sliced through the City defense to cross over for the 5-pointer. The conversion was missed which set the score at 25 - 13 at the 4th minute of the fourth period. Play was back and forth for the next several minutes. A penalty for a ruck infringement was called against the Flamingos. A booming kick by Flyhalf Scott Trench drove the ball deep into the Northern territory. An offside was called against the Flamingo backs at the ensuing lineout. A quick tap was taken but the ball was lost at the ruck. Sloppy play by the men in Pink gave the ball back to City until another penalty was called against Northern Colorado. The ball was marched 10 by Referee Paul Johnston (who took over the officiating at the end of the third period). The ball was kick to touch and a driving maul was the order. Another penalty for collapsing the maul was called. Driving forward play until another penalty was called. Second Rower Bryan Gustafson took the quick tap to dive over the line. However, Referee Johnston was already venturing to the center of the post for the Penalty Try. Flyhalf Scott Trench was true on the conversion to extend the City lead to 32 - 13 at the 20th minute mark of the fourth stanza. On the ensuing kick-off Lock Gustafson fielded the pill and rambled 75 meters to an apparent try. However, Referee Johnston deemed him held up. City was called for holding on from the pick and go from the base of the scrum to relieve the pressure on the Flamingos. The men from the North closed out the scoring. From a driving maul that gained some great yardage saw a Flamingo back break up the middle and some poor tackling saw the back go 50 meters for the score. The conversion was made to make the score 32 - 20 as the waning minutes were ticking off. The final stood at 32 - 20 as Referee Johnston blew the final whistle.

Good day of rugby. The coaches and I were able to look at a lot of people in different positions. Adequate depth will be realized during the season. I would like to congratulate three players who played their very first rugby match; Matt Boyer, Nate Skold, and Forest Parks. All of you job well done. There were several good things that occurred on the day and there are several things that will need to improve as we get into our league play. The evening social at Nallen's was a success as was the after match drink-up at Dr. Proctor's. Overall, a good day and see everyone at practice on Tuesday. Three cheers to City for a very successful first outing.

Coach