Match 1 vs Princeton AC
March 3rd 2007
Troop travelled to Princeton, NJ to open up their Spring campaign. With the weather having restricted the team to one
indoor practice it was always going to be an interesting day of rugby. With new players, returning players, and
experienced players everyone got their chance to play and the day was a success.
In the first 30 minute period it was obvious that it had been a while since both teams had played! Plenty of turnover
ball and simple mistakes were made. But the effort from both teams was there and the defences were definitely on top.
After the initial 30 minutes Princeton had the lead with a last minute try from a blocked kick. With the successful
conversion they had a 7-0 lead.
As the second period started, Troop appeared to be more settled. With different players coming on, and the starting
players more comfortable, they began to exert some control. With a consistent supply of ball from the forwards, the
backs were adventurous and ambitious. The ball handling was far improved and the overall pressure was excellent.
From a Princeton lineout, the ball was messy and Ben Glauser was able to turn it over and drive his way over for
Troop's first try of 2007. The tough sideline conversion was missed. With the positive feeling that was now evident,
Troop moved the ball around and became more adept in contact. As the period was nearing its end, great forward
play led to good ball, Matt Weaver found Ben Glauser who threw a delightful (for a forward) 15 yard pass to David
Codell who showed excellent finishing to score from 20 yards out. Again, the sideline conversion was missed. At the
end of the period the score was 10-7 Troop.
The third period was more controlled and Troop were on the front foot. There was much better ball retention, excellent
discipline and fantastic defence. The forwards began to dominate and the backs made good use of the ball. After
veteran thinking by Lenny Borcky at a lineout saw him break into the open and link up with Jake Frechette, Matt
Weaver took the pass and hit a great angle to burst through the defence and score from 20 yards out. The
conversion was added by Eli Pearlman-Storch for a 17-7 lead. Troop continued to go forward, and shortly afterwards,
and at the end of 5 phases from the forwards, Pete McCallen, on his Troop debut, powered through a gap from 10
yards out and with the conversion added Troop were home at 24-7. Unfortunately, tiredness and strong play from
Princeton led to a late conceded try but at games end, Troop had come away with a very satisfactory 24-14 victory.
Some strong play from many players was shown. Man of the Match was David Codell with excellent performances also
from Charlie Catalfano and Brian London.
Next week, Troop travel to West Chester for two games against a West Chester U side. Kickoff 1pm.
SQUAD
Ben Glauser, Rob Greco, Ari Jasper, Steve Dart, Gary Kribbs
Cris Mathew, Mark Stonis, Brian London, Tommy Richards
Nick Cottone, Lenny Borcky, Jake Frechette
Chris Lebendig, Matt Weaver, Eli Pearlman-Storch
Pete McCallen, Sam McCallum, David Codell
Charlie Catalfano, Bryan Giran, John Mulreaney
Match 2 vs West Chester U
March 10th 2007
Troop travelled to West Chester to take on the students. Arriving at the Matlack St field, they were informed that there
would be a change of venue due to a very waterlogged pitch. A few miles later, Troop arrived at the new field and
prepared to play 2 games on a field that appeared to be akin to a small mountain range. Nevertheless, both teams
had to endure it.
With the ability to mix and match players, Troop looked to gain more knowledge about themselves against a young
and hungry West Chester team. Although with a decent size advantage, Troop had to deal with the pace and direct
play from West Chester. In a start that would be mirrored by the entire 80 minutes West Chester scored after fine
interplay down the sideline and minutes later Troop answered with a driving maul from which captain Lenny Borcky
scored. From the next passage of play, and after a dreadful kickoff return from Troop, West Chester attacked in
Troop's 22 when suddenly Larry Lamaina read the attack, intercepted the telegraphed pass and sprinted 80 yards
for a birthday score. And when Matt Weaver stretched the lead in the twentieth minute Troop seemed to settle.
As was the case for the remainder of the game, the students rushed back into the game. Three more first half tries, in
large part due to multiple midfield breaks, and one further score from Troop, saw the game enter the half time break
poised at 24-24. Not a particularly good performance from Troop but credit must go to the students for a large
amount of the mistakes.
The second half was more of the same. Troop opened up playing a more controlled style of rugby and stretched out
to a lead only to become complacent and allow the students to fire back. The common theme was the amount of
unforced errors Troop made, and every time there seemed to be a gold shirt to pick the ball up. As the half wound
down and with 10 minutes left Troop had a slim lead of 34-31. The relentless effort, and indeed very borderline play
of the students, had Troop unsettled, but a veteran moment from Borcky saw him steal through for a try. Again, the
students refused to quit yet this time they finished the job. Two clean breaks led to two tries and a disappointing, yet
probably deserved 41-39 lead. Despite efforts by Troop , the ball would not go to hand and the students ended up
with the victory.
In the second game, changes were made, and many forwards took a well deserved rest before coming back into the
game. Due to the chippiness of some parts of the first game, it was a tough start to the second game, and the young
referee had a difficult job. Although to his credit, he did a finer job than the first referee. Late hits and stray boots
again led to a loss of composure from Troop , before Jake Frechette stepped in, read the team the riot act and told
them to concentrate. No doubt that saved the game. Troop regathered themselves and went about their business in a
controlled manner. The forwards, led by Cris Mathew and John Duncan showed excellent ball control and it was clear
that in this game the size difference was going to be used. Ball was clean and plentiful, and with Bryan Giran on the
wing, having a huge physical impact Troop opened up and scored plenty of points.
The less experienced students suffered the backlash and were totally dominated. All credit should go to the forwards,
many of whom played two consecutive games, and to Eli, who was constantly cheap shotted and hit high all day and
yet managed to complete most of the day's minutes.
Series after series of driving mauls from the forwards led to tries or excellent possession for the backs. With Craig
Stonis and John Mulreaney also out wide it was always going to be difficult not to score points. Among the scorers
were Bryan Giran with 3. The final score for an exhausted Troop side was 50-0. Eight tries scored with 5 converted.
Next week Troop are off as they prepare for the Four Leaf Tournament in NYC on March 24th.
Game 1 scorers : Tries - Borcky (2), Lamaina, Weaver, Lebendig, Pearlman-Storch, Glauser
Conversions - Pearlman-Storch (2)
Game 2 scorers : Tries - Giran (3), Duncan, Murray, Richards, Greco, Stonis.C
Conversions - Giran, Codell, Murray (3)
SQUAD
Ari Jasper, Rob Greco, Ben Glauser, Gary Kribbs
Cris Mathew, Steve Dart, Tommy Richards, Lenny Borcky
Eben Healey, Jake Frechette, John Duncan
Chris Lebendig, Matt Weaver, Eli Pearlman Storch
Pete McCallen, Charlie Catalfano, Kevin Sethi
Bryan Giran, Larry Lamaina, Craig Stonis
John Mulreaney, David Codell
Match 3 - Village Lions Tournament
March 24th 2007
With wake up times starting as early as 3.30am, Troop set off for Randalls Island in the hope of playing 4 games at
the Four Leaf Fifteens Tournament. With a squad of 21, and games of 40 minutes, it was imperative that as much
rugby as possible was played, and the team performed well enough to earn the four games.
With the first game being 8.30am (which was strange with the other two teams in our pool both being in NY!!) Troop
had the opportunity to start strongly. But as was the case in each game, they started off slowly. Lansdowne, the MET
NY Division 3 champions played a grinding game to go into half time with a 5-0 lead before excellent backline defence
and good finishing saw Troop end the first game victorious 17-5. A slow start in the first 20 but an extremely strong
finish with excellent work form the loose forwards.
The second game of the day was against the host club, Village Lions. Again a slow start and by half time, Troop had
dug themselves a 15-3 hole. It seemed that the intensity and the concentration was not there at the start of each
game and the hosts capitalized. But as before, Troop came back. It was 20 minutes totally dominated and with ball
control and pressure defence saw the team spend almost the entire half knocking on the door. Unfortunately all they
could muster were 2 further penalties and the final score was an 18-9 defeat.
After much watching of other games and hoping Troop qualified as the wild card team for the knockout stages. And
so they went up against a strong Providence side. And a Providence side who had no interest in playing rugby. Aided
and abetted by the officials they played the illegal line and despite having a player sin binned went into half time with
a 21-3 lead. The score was not indicative of the game and Troop continued to play well and in the second half gained
some of the bounces. The forwards absolutely dominated their opponents and the backs put pressure on. 2 tries
were scored to draw close but time was just not our friend. It was an excellent performance under fairly difficult playing
circumstances, but the halftime deficit was just too much to overcome. Final score 24-15 defeat.
The final game of the day, saw a tired Troop side play an equally tired Montclair side. From start to finish the game
was scrappy and the quality of rugby was not the best. Sadly all 30 players were let down by the referee who quite
obviously would rather have been at home. But to their credit, both sides struggled against the hill, and against the
wind for the entire game. Montclair dominated the first half to go into half time with an 8-0 lead, but again Troop came
back. It just was not quite enough. Despite a greater amount of ball and territory, Montclair was able to stick in and
come away with a 15-8 victory.
Overall the day was a success. The aim was to play well enough to get all 4 games. And with the way Troop played
against Providence there is much to be very positive about. Starting strong has to become second nature but the
team made steps forward.
Scorers
Game 1: Tries - Glauser, Pearlman-Storch, Lamaina
Conversions - Pearlman-Storch
Game 2: Penalties - Pearlman-Storch (3)
Game 3: Tries - McCallum, Frechette
Conversions - Pearlman-Storch
Penalties - Pearlman-Storch
Game 4: Tries - Pearlman-Storch
Penalties - Pearlman-Storch
SQUAD
Glauser, Greco, Dart, Jasper
Mathew, Lavin, Richards, Cottone
Frechette.J, Borcky, Healey, London, Lamorgia
Lebendig, McCallen, McCallum
Pearlman-Storch, Lamaina, Codell
Catalfano, Mulreaney, Frechette.E
Troop host North Penn RFC next week in the final warmup game before the playoffs.
March 31st 2007
Vs North Penn
In the final warm up game Troop entertained North Penn at VFMA. As always, North Penn came with a competitive
team and a good attitude. Troop were in a good frame of mind and the game looked set to be a useful one.
In the first half, Troop had the benefit of a slight slope. With the obvious momentum advantage the forwards were
able to set a solid and frenetic pace. Points came freely. With the pack relentlessly driving down the slope and the
backs picking up good yards it seemed that Troop would sprint away with the game. Among the try scorers were Cris
Mathew, Ben Glauser and a great solo effort from Chris Lebendig. North Penn battled hard into the slope to gain a
score and at half time Troop lead 34-5.
In the second half North Penn used the slope as Troop had in the first. Momentum quickly changed sides and it
became increasingly obvious that it was going to take every bit of effort Troop had to stay in the game. Fortunately
the effort was there! North Penn drove down field time and again, using the slope to their advantage. Troop had to
manlfully defend and on many occasions looked like breaking. But lead by some extremely staunch backline defence,
and the all over the field efforts of Jake Frechette and Rob Greco, Troop were able to put in just enough key tackles
to hold the opposition at bay.
At full time, despite a huge disadvantage in scoring in each half, Troop had pulled out a 34-33 win.
The B game saw a huge amount of weary players take the field. The slope became a mountain and the effort on
display was excellent. Which ever side had the slope advantage was able to pull away in their half, but thanks in no
small part to the tries from Charlie Catalfano, wildly celebrated by his band of travelling supporters (Bam Bam), Troop
were able to pull out a second win.
All in all it was a good day. Both teams struggled hard in tough conditions and came out with a great deal of credit. It
should be a good meeting between the two in the Fall.
April 14th
MARFU Playoff vs Blacksburg
Troop entertained Blacksburg in what was to be a day of disappointment. Full of confidence and ready to play Troop
came together to face Blacksburg RFC. From the kickoff it was clear that it would be a physical game and be closely
contested. Blacksburg were well organised and well drilled and clearly were the better side early. Pressure was
exerted early and often and it was difficult for Troop to gain a foothold in the game. Blacksburg used their forwards
effectively and attacked in waves. Despite clearly killing the ball all half, the visitors were able to survive any Troop
opportunities and take a lead into half time.
The second half was much of the same. An early score from Blacksburg put Troop firmly behind and despite
concerted efforts all game it just was not enough. Penalties killed Troop and with the experience of the Blacksburg
halfbacks they were able to control territory and eat away at the game clock.
There was no shortage of effort from any player in green, but on this day it just was not to be. Blacksburg fully
deserved their victory, which was hard earned. Troop finished off strong with a deserved score from Craig Stonis who
had a fantastic game on the wing.
It was a difficult day for the Troop side but there was absolutely no disgrace in the result. Blacksburg simply played
better on the day. End result 5-24.