DARC defeats Denton: 22 - Nil
DARC and Denton faced off on Saturday. We managed three tries in the first half. The first was from some nice attacking pressure on the far side - the forwards won some ball and it was sent out wide to our backs, with Mark W. scoring it.
The second try was from a lot of pressure again. My memory is a bit vague here, but I think we were close to the Denton line and a small kick was dropped by a Denton player, just inside the try line, and then there was a scramble for the ball the DARC dotted down. (I'll have to check my notes on who got that one).
Late in the first half, the forwards walked in a scrum from five meters. There was some confusion at first, with two DARC players competing for clear possession but our hooker Josh finally released the ball so that the referee could clearly see that scrumhalf Timmy still had possession and had touched it down. Good on ya', Josh.
The angles were too steep for Voss's attempts at conversion, but he may have been more focused on tackling and rucking, which he did well, especially for a winger.
The second half was a much dryer for DARC scoring. Denton came back fairly strongly keeping the ball with DARC's 22 for a solid 15 minutes. DARC wasn't able to get clean possession or clear the ball effectively. Our rucking got sloppy and Denton was able to turn rucks their way a couple of time. Rucking was clearly Denton's strength on the day. From the sidelines, I was worried because their rucking looked great. Every ruck, two black shirts driver over low showing clean ball to their scrumhalf. If our scrappy loose forwards and centers hadn't done a great job of spoiling their passes and crashes, it might have been a much different outcome. As it was, DARC's tackling was much improved overall. Lots of nice low tackles by committing to the tackle instead of trying to grab the ball. Particularly effective was the pressure from the backs on defense: Philip, Red, Tommy.
Denton's second half pressure was hard but DARC was able to exploit a crack for a try. I forget how it started, but it was some loose forward play on the near side, then the ball got out wide for a phase. Then Amir wound up with a nice 30 yard run or so, dishing it to Rashaad who finished it between the posts. Jesse gave us the conversion and the final: 22-0.
Our fitness appeared to be generally improved a bit. A lot less of the 'herd of tired' forwards in the middle of the field (but a lot of that might have been careful pacing and decision making by Timmy and Cardell). And the scrums were solid, several won against the head at key moments. Also several lineouts spoiled by Drew and Captain Nick.
Denton brought out a tremendous amount of support, showing up one of DARC's failings. It's embarrassing to have more of the opponents at your bar. Nonetheless, a few of the old guard made it out: Dave Morgan, JT and Meskunas.
There was a rumor that Gonzo played but I don't remember seeing him.
The second try was from a lot of pressure again. My memory is a bit vague here, but I think we were close to the Denton line and a small kick was dropped by a Denton player, just inside the try line, and then there was a scramble for the ball the DARC dotted down. (I'll have to check my notes on who got that one).
Late in the first half, the forwards walked in a scrum from five meters. There was some confusion at first, with two DARC players competing for clear possession but our hooker Josh finally released the ball so that the referee could clearly see that scrumhalf Timmy still had possession and had touched it down. Good on ya', Josh.
The angles were too steep for Voss's attempts at conversion, but he may have been more focused on tackling and rucking, which he did well, especially for a winger.
The second half was a much dryer for DARC scoring. Denton came back fairly strongly keeping the ball with DARC's 22 for a solid 15 minutes. DARC wasn't able to get clean possession or clear the ball effectively. Our rucking got sloppy and Denton was able to turn rucks their way a couple of time. Rucking was clearly Denton's strength on the day. From the sidelines, I was worried because their rucking looked great. Every ruck, two black shirts driver over low showing clean ball to their scrumhalf. If our scrappy loose forwards and centers hadn't done a great job of spoiling their passes and crashes, it might have been a much different outcome. As it was, DARC's tackling was much improved overall. Lots of nice low tackles by committing to the tackle instead of trying to grab the ball. Particularly effective was the pressure from the backs on defense: Philip, Red, Tommy.
Denton's second half pressure was hard but DARC was able to exploit a crack for a try. I forget how it started, but it was some loose forward play on the near side, then the ball got out wide for a phase. Then Amir wound up with a nice 30 yard run or so, dishing it to Rashaad who finished it between the posts. Jesse gave us the conversion and the final: 22-0.
Our fitness appeared to be generally improved a bit. A lot less of the 'herd of tired' forwards in the middle of the field (but a lot of that might have been careful pacing and decision making by Timmy and Cardell). And the scrums were solid, several won against the head at key moments. Also several lineouts spoiled by Drew and Captain Nick.
Denton brought out a tremendous amount of support, showing up one of DARC's failings. It's embarrassing to have more of the opponents at your bar. Nonetheless, a few of the old guard made it out: Dave Morgan, JT and Meskunas.
There was a rumor that Gonzo played but I don't remember seeing him.
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