Brevard Old Red Eye Rugby Football Club

Brevard at Ft. Lauderdale

For the third game in a row, the Red Eyes spotted their opponents a large, early lead then staged a gallant comeback, however, this time they came up short, suffering their 2nd loss of the Spring. In the match Saturday at Tradewinds Park, the Ft. Lauderdale Knights took an early 19-0 lead then held on to defeat the Red Eyes 38-29. The scoring consisted of 6 trys and 4 conversions for the Knights to 5 trys and 2 conversions for the Red Eyes. Gavin Curtis did a fine job officiating and Danny Dugan was awarded Man-Of-The-Match.

Ft. Lauderdale, playing at their new home pitch with tall, regulation posts, had a generous crowd on hand enjoying the cloudy, breezy yet warm weather. With their Division II side idle, our 2nd side played against a seasoned pack and very quick backs and endured a 50-5 pasting for their first loss of the year. Chris Reohm was the referee and our sided was also honored to debut the Madland brothers and RJ on the pitch. Man-Of-The-Match ended in a tie but a late recount, upheld by the US Supreme Court, awarded Bob BuchanAn the honor. Trouper Green won the jersey lottery. Joe Pearce won the ‘Wrong Way Feldman’ award for his tour of South Florida prior to the match. And can anyone explain why Santa Claus was at the ‘world famous’ Parrot Lounge after the match?

The scoring in the first game began fast and furious. A clearing kick was run down by the Knights and 3 quick phases later they held a 7-0 lead. The ensuing kickoff was controlled by the Knights and led to a lineout which the opponents also stole. Their Fly took advantage of a staggered defense for a long run deep behind the Red Eye forwards, leading to their 2nd converted try as they dominated the resultant phase play against the outnumbered Red Eyes. The Knights, with their backrow consistently in the backline, then turned the right corner for a long run down touch where the Red Eyes were penalized for killing the ball within 10 meters of goal. A forward rush later, the home team held a 19-0 lead with 25 to play in the half.

To that point, the Red Eyes struggled to control their 1st phase possessions as the opponents wheeled the scrum and the lineout ball was consistently overthrown in the gusty breeze. Phase play was no better as the opponents successfully broached the gain line with hammers against the flat footed defenders and tackled our runners aggressively; poaching or spoiling most of our possession.

Mid way through the half, the tide began to turn as the Red Eyes woke up and began to control and spin the ball. A poached possession midfield led to a ruck/maul/whatever sequence which was finally settled and spun wide to Josh Gruner who turned the corner and beat their fullback to the flag for our first score. Minutes later another overload opportunity was muffed but the weakness in the home teams’ defense was clearly exposed. Then from scrum center 60 out, a well executed 8-man pick was supported by both the flanker and inside center and the clearing pass was taken by Matt Henderson for a score under the posts. Just like that, it was a 19-12 game.

Then another kickoff, deep, muffed, dispossessed, resulted in a quick and easy 7 for the home team - is this sounding familiar yet? But the Red Eyes responded with heart, taking the final possession of the half down for a 5 meter scrum but a costly penalty in the loose was subsequently cleared by Ft. Lauderdale and ended the threat and the half with a score of 26-12 against.

With additional adjustments at half, the Red Eyes took the field and Steve Williams quickly scored in the right corner off some nice ball movement along the whole backline. Chandler Wilson converted a tough kick from the right sideline and the score was 26-19. But the Red Eyes gave it back again as an offside penalty inside our 22 was pounded in by the Ft. Lauderdale forwards for another try. Some minutes later, a kick was misplayed by our deep defenders and the home team scored again to hold a commanding 38-19 lead with about 20 to go. A subsequent 2nd phase possession from a scrum in our half was spun wide left to the fullback in the line and Chandler sliced through the defense for a long, well executed try. Another attack to the left almost succedded as Josh Gruner kicked ahead and gave chase, tackling their wing in goal for a 22 drop. Their fullback foolishly came over and raked Josh, drawing a red card, and awarding the Red Eyes a penalty 5 meters out. Danny Dugan took a quick tap from the penalty and scored the final points of the game as the Knights were able to hold off the Red Eye surge for the victory.

The B-side match was a mis match. The clearly more experienced home team creatively attacked our defense using deft plays and more than abundant speed. Still, our 2nd side played tough, tackled hard, and competed well, especially in tight and in the sets. The try pounded in late in the game by Joe Pearce demonstrated to all present the no quit attitude and heart of these young players.

Posted by Pedro at February 8, 2004 01:14 PM