April 9, 2005
It was a beautiful day for rugby as the Pigs took the field against our old rival, the East Side Banshees. Due to a number of unfortunate injuries, a mixed lineup started this match, our last chance at preparations before next week’s playoff matches. The changes were highlighted by the recall from retirement of Mark “Repo” Erickson, who came on to play fly half during this match.
Having a strong wind behind us in the first half, the Pigs took advantage to place some kicks deep in the Banshee end and pile on the pressure. This led to an early try as Grizzly Malchow burst through after a line out from five meters and touched down a loose ball for the score. Bill Bridgeman’s conversion was good for a 7-0 lead. Keeping up the pressure, we continued to play almost exclusively in the Banshee half, and soon scored a second try off a five meter scrum. The ball came out on the Banshee side, but their players were slow to react and flanker Mike Peloquin dove on the ball for the score. Bridgeman’s kick was again good, 14-0 to the Pigs. This was soon followed by a Bridgeman penalty for a 17-0 lead, and it looked like the Pigs might run away with the match.
The Banshees kept battling, however, and aided by a series of Pigs penalties and some poor tackling, were able to pull back a converted try of their own and cut the lead to 17-7. Shortly before halftime, though, Jake Hodgson picked up a loose ball and rumbled through the Bansheee defense to score from 35 yards out and restore the lead to a 17 point margin – 24-7 at the half.
The second half saw a strong Banshee rally, as they used the wind advantage to take over possession and chip away at the Pigs’ lead. A converted try soon after the half cut the lead to 24-14. The miscues continued to pile up for the Pigs, as dropped balls, missed tackles, and still more unneccesary penalties hurt us and helped the Banshees hold the ball and eventually go on to score two tries (one converted) and take a 26-24 lead with around 10 minutes remaining. In a fine show of resolve, however, the Pigs kept fighting and finally broke through when after a long series of possession just meters from the Banshee line, a quick tap penalty was handed off to late sub Matt Sonnek who used his fresh legs to power through a number of would be tacklers and touch down for the try. After Bridgeman’s conversion, his 5th successful kick in 5 attempts on the day, the Pigs were able to run out the clock and hold on for a hard fought victory.
Lineup:
1. Troy Midboe 2. Danny Kieffer 3. Rich Cerasini 4. Grizzly Malchow 5. Ryan Backman 6. Mike Peloquin 7. Zac Bauer 8. Jake Hodgson 9. Jason Rombalski (Captain) 10. Mark Erickson 11. Jason Benson 12. Jesse Struve 13. Jamarr Johnson 14. Jeff Zweber 15. Bill Bridgeman
(Didn’t catch all the subs. Sorry.)
Scoring:
Tries: Malchow, Peloquin, Hodgson, Sonnek
Conversions: Bridgeman (4/4)
Penalties: Bridgeman (1/1)