40th Anniversary Club Day Round-up
It was a gorgeous day at Webster on Saturday as the club celebrated it’s 40th Anniversary with Club Day. Nearly all Dolphin sides were in action and the first games kicked off at 8:45 and final game started at 3:45.
The U-14, U-16, & U-19 squads were all in action on Saturday as the curtain raisers for the senior sides. If we are able to keep these kids in the system, and get them back after college, the future looks tremendously bright. All teams played expansive, fast rugby and were filled with very skilled individual players.
The senior sides started with the Fighting Kelp. The Kelp were able to sneak in a first half try and an early second half penalty before opening the flood gates and finally unleashing their full potential on an opponent. Captain, Brian Dargan, lead the forwards throughout the day on offense and defense and kept the boys moving forward. Flyhalf Alex Rylance took control of the game in the second stanza with a very deft display of tactical kicking that kept the OC Bucks on their heals. It was the Kelps most complete game of the season, and their first victory.
The Old Boys took the field against Back Bay’s Old Boys and put on quite an offensive display of their own. Riaz Fredricks, Shawn Lipman, Carl Siebert, and John Ruud stole the show and ran rough-shod through a shocked Shark defense. One of the visitors was overheard saying after the game, “I don’t really know where I’m at right now, but I know I wish that I wasn’t here.”
The Barracuda were next to take the field, and laid an egg in their worst performance of the season. Injuries and unavailability have hampered the side. A large number of Kelp came into the side in the second stanza and stemmed the tide, but the damage had already been done.
Following a picture of the entire club the firsts took the field for their second tussle with table toppers Belmont Shore. The Dolphins were fielding the healthiest side we’ve had since the season opener, and looked to claw back toward the top of the table.
Both teams felt each other out for the first quarter of the match. Neither team seemed to be able to get the upper hand despite playing significant time in side the others 22. Then at the 20 minute mark a Dolphin gaffe during a counter attack ended up in enemy hands and 50 meters later in the corner for the games first try, 0-7.
Santa Monica looked to answer when Danny Carpio broke through a Belmont tackle and skittered down the sideline. He passed to center Kelly Serfoss who looked to have the angle to the corner, but was ruled to have a toe in touch before dotting the ball down. Sustained Dolphin pressure kept the home side on attack and they were eventually rewarded with a Brian O’Shea penalty at the 30 minute mark, 3-7.
As the half drew to a close a clever Belmont attack left them with an odd man attack. Despite the best efforts of the Dolphin-D the ball was passed to the open man who dashed into the try-zone for the visitors second, 3-14 (half-time).
The second half started with the Dolphins kicking off, and the deep O’Shea kick found the Belmont blindside who streaked seemingly untouched through the defense. Fullback Padraig Cremin was able to coral the streaking beast, but the home side was ruled to have hands in the ruck leading to a Shore penalty, 3-17. The visitors kept the Dolphins on their heals and earned another penalty in the 49th minute, 3-20.
The Dolphins were down, but not out and in the 60th minute after a long barrage on the Shore goal line, referee Tim Day awarded the home side a penalty try. O’Shea’s conversion was true, 10-20. The comeback was short lived however as Cremin was shown yellow in the 63rd minute for trying to escape the grasps of a forward in a ruck a bit too aggressively. Playing a man down proved to be difficult as the visitors added to their tally in the 70th minute with their third try of the afternoon, 10-27.
The last 10 minutes proved to be a contentious affair as 3 more yellow cards were handed out (two for SMRC, one for Belmont) keeping the home-side with the man disadvantage. Despite being a man down the team kept their chins up and were rewarded for their efforts with a late try to lock Ien Ashcroft-Leigh on full time, 15-27.
The Dolphins remain in third place following the loss and head to Back Bay next Sunday, April 1 for two matches against the Sharks.
Dolphins- 15
Tries- Ashcroft-Leigh, penalty
Conversions- O’Shea
Penalties- O’Shea
Shore- 27
Tries- 3
Conversions- 3
Penalties- 2
1) Scott, Will (Knox- 70) ; 2) King, Pat; 3) Nasser, Keaton; 4) Winter, Zac (Manavian- 73); 5) Ashcroft-Leigh, Ien; 6) Woolley, AJ (Seeman- 45); 7) Kelley, Chris; 8) Aseme, Ken (Williams 45-50); 9) Carpio, Danny (Cooley- 45); 10) O’Shea, Brian; 11) Pypers, Sean; 12) Milford, Loa; 13) Serfoss, Kelly; 14) Ross, Ali (Morales- 50); 15) Cremin, Padraig (Clay-73)
