May 22: Lions v NRU U23s
Posted on Thursday May 27th, 2010 @ 09:10:04 pm

On Saturday, May 22, the Leonas had their final home game of the season, taking on the Northeast Regional Union’s Under-23 Select Squad at home on Randall’s Island. There were a good number of players out, and the weather was warm and sunny, very nice conditions for the game, if a bit hot out on the turf fields. The NRU team had a couple of size-able women, but pound-for-pound, the Lions were a larger team, which was something of a relief after the previous week’s match-up.

A relief at first, but once play had started, it became clear that the NRU players’ smaller size coupled with their quickness would make it a difficult game for the Lions. Prop Kelly Rogers noted that, “it was a very fast paced-game for the forwards, that’s for sure.” The Lions got caught up in the frenzy, and didn’t manage to settle into their own more orderly pattern of play.

The Lions’ disarray led them to concede more penalties then they otherwise might have, and the fit NRU ladies did not hesitate to take advantage of the territory gained. In the first half they scored 2 early tries, both resulting directly from penalties given up by the Lions. A further blow resulted when flyhalf Kim Dacres was sin-binned for high-tackling. It was the second such infringement by the Lions, and as the ref had already issued a warning, Kimbo was sent to the try zone for 10 minutes.

The Lions did manage to retain possession for several runs of play, and before the half this resulted in a try. The ball got out the line quickly from the breakdown, and fullback Kath Ryan burst through the defensive line. Scrumhalf Becca Asser looped her, running wide of the last defender, and touched the ball down in the corner. When the ball went out to the backline quickly and the play was run with precision, a try resulted.

At halftime a number of players were subbed in to have a run, and the Lions re-focused their efforts on playing at their own pace and to their own strengths. Megan Collins, captain and Woman of the Match, observed that, “There were moments where we played Lions rugby – smarter and more disciplined, however we just couldn’t string together these moments as often as we needed to to pull out the victory.”

The NRU players were playing their first game together, and while there was, “a lot of room for improvement,” according to coach Tony Brown, “their performance was very encouraging.” The NRU ran in 3 additional tries in the second half, and notched one conversion, for a total of 27 points.

Leona Jackie Finlan shimmied in for one more try before time was up; after receiving the ball from a switch midfield, she used her trademark dummy pass to work her way past 2 defenders and touch the ball down in the try zone. It was a glimmer of captivating play in a game where, for the most part, the Lions just weren’t firing on all cylinders.

WOM Collins summarized the experience: “Saturday’s game was frustrating, but once again it shows the team and coaches areas we need to concentrate on in the off-season to help prepare for the transition to D1 in the Fall….. As a team we need to move forward and use these past few games as learning experiences. As always, we dominated the social!”

Collins and Silent Force Kimbo Dacres (Collins + Kimbo = Combo!!) were powerful and consistent on the field, and also came strong for the social. Kimbo’s dress even matched the Silent Force belt! Declining to comment on the match, Kimbo preferred to state that she was, “looking forward to our fall season. And, hoping that 7′s gives the backs a lot of opportunity to maintain our speed and ball handling.”

Score: 10-27

Tries: Asser, Finlan

Lions: 1 Taryn Goodman 2 Meredith Harmon 3 Kelly Rogers 4 Sharon Berger 5 Jess Houser 6 Sari Warren 7 Tricia Stanley 8 Meg Collins 9 Becca Asser 10 Kim “Kimbo” Dacres 11 Caitlyn Colman 12 Erin Martschenko 13 Jackie Finlan 14 Sarah “Svetty” Landry 15 Kathleen Ryan 16 Stacey Weidaseck 17 Maggie McNicholas 18 Rebecca Mulder 19 Emi Okamoto 20 Mandy Fischer 21 Cerra Cardwell 22 Ros Anderson 23 Kim Salem 24 Katy Nishimoto