Burlington report

Nothing tests a side like a trip to Burlington. Not that there's anything wrong with the city itself. In fact, if you happen to like life on the crunchy side, then this is the town for you. But trust me, it's no day trip.

Somewhere just south of Canada was another team struggling at the bottom of D2, and they had the honor of hosting the Portland boys this weekend. At this stage of the season it would be safe to say that wooden utensils are being discussed, and both sides are looking for the positive signs for next season. From the Portland perspective it was good to see a couple of brand new faces; proof positive that even a little bit of recruitment can pay dividends. Hopefully more of the same can only serve to swell the ranks for next year.

The match itself was an all too familiar story, with Portland failing to translate guts and determination in to points. Compounding this was the inevitable road weariness that took some time (and one score) to shake off, the growing list of injuries, and the fact that no ref materialized and the match was instead officiated by one of the Burlington coaches. Seemingly the refs hate the drive up there even more than we do. Whether an impartial ref would've made any difference to the outcome is doubtful, but the fact this bloke was handing out yellow post-it notes (offering a free trip to the sin bin) to Portland players faster than a secretary on speed gives you some idea of the distractions we had to contend with.

As usual, a tight half-time score gave way to a widening gap in the second half. The Burlington kicker was in the groove, and was able to punish pretty much every penalty we gave up. Final score was in the neighborhood of 30-10, with the Portland boys scrapping both literally and figuratively right up to the end. Man of the Match for Portland was Jeff Keating, who showed up and played with his ribs barely held together, and helped to set up at least one of the Portland tries.

The B game had little to commend it, other than the presence of our roving reporter, Chris Joob, who stepped out from behind the notebook to lace up some boots and get a taste of the game first hand. Credit to Chris for giving it a try, and hopefully it's not the last time we'll see him in a scarlet jersey. Thanks go to all those who made the trip and left it all out there on both games.

At this stage we have just two home games left in the season. Most of the regular players in the club are carrying at least one injury, and those still standing don't need to be playing two games every weekend. If you ever pulled on a Portland jersey, we need your help for the next two weekends. Even if you think you've only got half a B game in you, we need you to shoulder the load and help out the club. Who knows, you might even find out that you miss the game.