October 2, 2004
The St. Paul RFC made the long trek up to Thunder Bay to take on Lakehead in another league match, and returned home with another victory. The game started well, as some good possession by our forwards was followed by strong running from our centers. The pressure continued, and we were finally able to break through a tough tackling Lakehead defense with a try from Psycho for the game’s first points. Naber’s conversion was good, and it was 7-0 for the Pigs. We then maintained possession and threatened to score again, before a single defensive lapse came back to bite us, as the Lakehead winger got a ball from a broken play and sprinted 50 meters to score. The conversion was good, score tied at 7. After this score, the Pigs pack took over and began to dominate. A number of rolling mauls off of lineouts on the right side of the field brought us all the way down to the Lakehead end. Trying to hold on, they touched the ball down in their try zone for a 5 meter scrum to us. Off this scrum, Naber took the 8 man pick, then passed to Ponch, who passed it out to Billy on the wing, who darted in for the score. Conversion no good, 12-7 Pigs.
That score stayed until half time, and into the second half. After some initial Pigs pressure, a series of penalties against us pinned us deep in the Lakehead half of the field. Stout defending kept them out for a while, but after a long spell of continued pressure inside our 22, they finally were able to break through for a tieing try. The conversion was missed, and the score stood at 12 all. Following this, the Pigs seemed to wake back up and throw the pressure back at Lakehead. Several penalties brought us into their half, then a series of tough runs and good support brought us inside thier 22. Having committed nearly all their players to stop our centers and forwards crashing on the left side, the ball was spun quickly from a ruck by Ponch out to Steve, then Billy, then wide to Grant who eluded the last defender to touch down for the try in the corner. Naber made a tough kick from the sideline against the wind, for the 19-12 lead. Following this, we had several opportunities to punch in another try and earn a bonus point, but all were thwarted short of the line. We were able to maintain possession, however, and when Lakehead was called for one last penalty, Naber kicked the ball to touch, the whistle sounded, and the victory was ours.
Lineup:
1. Ben Hanson 2. Luke Utting (Alan Martin) 3. Troy Midboe 4. Ryan Backman 5. Grizzly Malchow 6. Zac Bauer 7. Mike Hankee (Captain) 8. Jason Naber 9. Jason Rombalski 10. Steve King 11. Brett Carter 12. Mike Lundberg 13. Philip Wagner 14. Bill Bridgeman 15. Grant Dietrich
Scoring:
Tries: Wagner, Bridgeman, Dietrich
Conversions: Naber (2/3)
B-Side
With both sides having extra players who wanted a game, a shortened B-Side match was arranged. Grant Dietrich scored the lone try for the Pigs in a 5-5 tie that saw some good work from a mix of old and new players.
Lineup:
1. Ben Hanson 2. Luke Utting 3. Troy Midboe 4. Ryan Backman 5. John Nelson 6. Philip Wagner 7. Alan Martin 8. Zac Bauer 9. Mike Hankee 10. Bill Bridgeman 11. Eric Anderson 12. Mike Lundberg 13. Kris McCoy 14. Jason ?? 15. Grant Dietrich
Scoring:
Tries: Dietrich