September 18, 2004
The Pigs took on the Feeders in the first league match of the Fall 2004 season as part of the All Minnesota tournament at the NSC in Blaine. Unlike many of our games the last couple seasons, we came out ready to go and took control right from the opening kickoff. Pressure on St. Cloud led them to lose the ball, and then commit a quick penalty. The decision was made to go for posts, and Jason Naber’s kick from 40 meters was good, giving the Pigs the early 3-0 lead. We kept up the pressure from the ensuing kickoff, and pushed the ball deep into the St. Cloud end of the field. A tough run by Mike “Buca” Lundberg took the ball to within site of the try line, and following some fine rucking by our forwards, Zac “Skillet” Bauer crashed through the defense for the first try of the match. Naber’s conversion was good, and it was 10-0 in favor of the Pigs. After this score, some costly penalties and defensive lapses set in, as the Feeders moved down the field, and eventually pushed in for a try of their own. The conversion was no good, and the score stood 10-5.
The rest of the first half would belong to the Pigs. Solid all around play, quick ball movements, and good supporting runs helped us open up a bigger lead. Next on the score sheet was Brett “Pebbles” Carter who scored an unconverted try to make it 15-5. Not long after, Philip “Psycho” Wagner broke several tackle attempts on a tough run up the middle and picked up the third try of the match. Naber’s conversion was good – 22-5 for the Pigs. The final try of the half came off another run by Buca that was quickly recycled through the hands out wide to Grant “HGSM” Dietrich who centered the try allowing for the easy conversion and a 29-5 half time lead.
The second half of the match was a different story. St. Cloud started to shore up their defence as well as setting up some good offensive moves, and soon began a fierce come back. 2 quick scores were somewhat offset, however, by Pebbles’s second try of the day, off a quick tap from a penalty and great supporting play by a number of Pigs players. At this point it looked like we had calmed things down and gotten our heads back in the game. Once again, though, penalties and a lack of discipline cost us. Buca was sin-binned for 10 minutes for a couple of allegedly high tackles, leaving us a man down. This was followed by a stretch of poor tackling, more penalties, other miscues, and still more penalties, all of which St. Cloud wisely took full advantage of. Their furious comeback continued with 2 late converted tries that put the score at 34 – 32 with just a few minutes left.
At this point, we finally showed a bit of resolve and managed to hang on to the ball for a while. Finally, after winning a number of tough rucks to maintain possession, St. Cloud conceded a penalty which we were able to kick out of bounds to end the game. All in all, it was a great match and a hard fought effort by both teams, and for the Pigs, a good way to start off the league campaign with a victory.
Lineup:
1. Ben Hanson 2. Luke Utting (Alan Martin) 3. Troy Midboe 4. Ryan Backman 5. Jason Naber 6. Zac Bauer 7. Mike Hankee (Captain) 8. Jake Hodgson (Joe Huberty) 9. Jason Rombalski 10. Steve King 11. Brett Carter 12. Mike Lundberg 13. Philip Wagner 14. Bill Bridgeman 15. Grant Dietrich
Scoring:
Tries: Bauer, Carter (2), Wagner, Dietrich
Conversions: Naber (3/5)
Penalties: Naber (1/2)