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Jersey Cup Winners 2002 & 2004Morris Rugby Masters Fall 2004 Schedule
Morris Masters is under new Management, a picture of our illustrious new Leadership Team is shown above so that you can buy them a beer in the futile hope of getting selected. All forms of bribery are encouraged. If you were wondering why Morris Masters is under new Management, last year's Management is pictured below. Doesn't take a genius to figure out, does it?
Previous Seasons:Spring
2004
Gentleman of NY show up 19 strongFinal 35/13 Morris, but game was closer than the score shows
The mighty Masters rallied at
Mennen this Saturday for their third match of the fall season. Despite
injuries, vacations and family obligations they were able to field a side of
14 at kickoff, which soon grew to 16 when late running children's hockey and
soccer finished for some of the missing Dads. The Gentlemen showed up 19
strong much to Mike Guzzio's credit.
Two 30 minute halves were
agreed to, with free substitutions, and referee Mark Kinney called the sides
to center for kickoff.
Aggressive pack play dominated
the first half, with the Gentlemen and Masters fighting for meters between the
twenty twos. Eventually an overload on the Gentlemen's wing presented Tony
with the opportunity to split the defense and sprint 35 meters into their try
zone. The conversion was missed, and the Gentlemen answered with a try and
conversion of their own. The melee continued with two penalties kicked by
Jones enabling the Masters to retain their lead at the whistle. For those of
you who keep track of these things, it should be noted that this referee is
very strict regarding off sides, and over the top in the forward play rucks
and mauls. This cost the Gentlemen, whose aggressive style is admired, six
points while defending from within the their twenty two.
The second half was even more
frenzied, with support and grinding forward play at the breakdown and
brilliant defenses by both teams within the 5 meter mark. Eventually Omar was
able to dummy around the wing for the Master's second try in the weak
corner, but with a strong wind blowing from the wrong side, the
conversion fell short..
The Gentlemen were also able
to take advantage of Morris mistakes while the Masters were defending their
offensive attacks, and scored two penalties to grab the lead midway
through the second half.
Undaunted, and taking this
sudden turn as a warning, Morris disciplined itself and began to rely on
Eddie, Tony, Neil and Steve's boots to put some wind back in the forwards
sails. The kicking on both sides was excellent, as was the follow-up and
pressure from the backs. Eventually Ted forced a lose ball in the Gentlemen's
end and Tony was able to grub kick it back into the Gentlemen's try zone. An
aggressive defender, brought Tony down, preventing him from chasing and the
referee awarded a penalty try. Tony easily converted, bringing the Masters
ahead.
The fast play continued, with
Ted, breaking through a lineout at 4 man, was able to recover a bad pass from
the Gentlemen's scrum and sprint down for an unconverted, corner try. The
Gentlemen refused to surrender and play continued unabated as both sides
kicked, rucked and mauled themselves into a frenzy. Paulie was able to block a
Gentlemen's kick from behind their 22 meter and Gamer, lurking about at
flanker, was able to spring on it for the final try of the game.
Mitch showed up in the final
minutes (with barrels of Shmitts and Schaffer) to practically seal his bid on
the Golden Shorts award this season. We later retired to the Rose to watch the
Blue Bulls and drink Guinness under Dawn's hospitable pour. Someone left a
"Coach Tom" jacket and a pair of boots behind that Laundry Boy Eddie
now has. I still have Joop's boots as well and will not return them until he
shows up for another Master's game.
Thanks to all for a great
time, and remember we have Old Japan in two weeks. Below is the roster for the
game...
Roster
Morris Masters @ Connecticut Greys RFC 09/25/2004 Morris Masters Help Celebrate CT Grays 25th Game ends in a 13 to 35 loss for Morris Chapman and Gamer salvage some pride for the Pride winning Testiclees
Pulling up in a dark green,
15-man van with tinted windows, the Masters cut an imposing figure at Polish
National Alliance field in Wallingford this Saturday.
Barreling into the parking lot
- the Morris van suddenly went into a power-slide, dust
storm raging in its wake. When the fury had settled and some visibility
restored, the van was seen to be perfectly parked: parallel to a Honda Accord
and 1985 Toyota Camry. The dark doors opened and the Mighty Masters, all eight
of them, piled out with their game faces grimacing.
Several more Masters showed up
on their own, soon swelling the ranks to 14. Frightened by our imposing
presence, several of Connecticut's best players jumped rank and volunteered to
play for Morris, bringing the roster to a full sixteen. It was decided to sit
Andy out for the first period, as he had just "lubed" with a Tylenol
and Advil cocktail and we wanted to give the drugs some time to take full
effect.
It was an excellent Rugby day
and the 3, 20 minute halves (or thirds) seemed too short. Morris began the
attack immediately at kickoff. Paul, at tight head, stormed down the field for
a large gain. Things seemed to go downhill after that...
The backfield, never having
played together, had some problems with ball control and the forwards were not
supporting them at the breakdown. This resulted in two unanswered tries in the
first period. Some modification of our original strategy (running the ball
down the middle rather then trying to overload at the sides) yielded better
results in the second period with a Morris try being scored by by one of our
"borrowed" CT backs. The conversion was good, but Connecticut
stormed back with two more tries.
The third period followed much
the same as the second, with Andy scoring from about 7 meters on a
breakdown initiated by Alex. Great support from the pack enabled the lumbering
63 year old to waltz in the second Morris try. The conversion attempt,
however, went wide. Alex said a fat guy fell on his leg earlier (which
was true). Connecticut managed to answer with their final try and the
game ended too soon with a final of 35/13 Grays.
The party afterward was a
blast and Connecticut proved themselves to be gentleman both on and off the
field with an excellent, catered spread and fine wines and ales. The
accompanying Morris families also had as good a time as the Dads, with kids
running themselves sick and Moms enjoying the Autumn sunshine (as both they
and the Connecticut wives complained about their husbands well into the
afternoon).
On the bright side, Chappy and
Gamer were able to beat the Grays at their own game, Testiclees.
The object of which is to score 11 points by wrapping a bolero made of golf
balls around PVC pipes. Gamer seemed to be a natural at it - and
considering his homophobia - surprised us all with his talent.
One small special note should
be made about Dean from Ct, who seems to have developed a touch of MyMy
syndrome. During the short speeches and presentations he took the
field with the majority of talking time. He also made a special effort to
explain the game of Testiclees in horrid detail, causing Gamer to curl up into
a fetal ball and rock himself in a corner.
On the ride home, it was
thought that Mike needed to come out of his shell a little bit, so a
conspiracy was hatched and an inadvertent detour was taken down the Sawmill
River Parkway. The plan worked to perfection (especially after the 1/2 hour
traffic jam) as Mike turned his caustic wit and humor on everyone in the van
indiscriminately. It was very humorous, as long as he wasn't focused on you.
As a reward, we made him the laundry boy for the next game. Young Sammy was
voted "best traveler" as he was the only one who didn't give the
driver a hard time.
All in all, if you missed the
outing, it was your loss. This Saturday was what Masters Rugby is all about.
Final Roster:
Morris Masters @ Union RFC 09/11/2004 |
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