Anyway, that's probably not the point. Saturday dawned grey and drizzly, but that didn't seem to dampen the spirits of the many college sides who were already plying their trade at the Fairgrounds by 8:30 in the morning. Among other things the day proved that the college rugby game is in robust health, with our two public colleges producing some of the most physical rugby witnessed in a long time.
An early shout should go out to Portland Women's team who started the day off right with a win in a 10-aside game against Hudson Valley Women. I'm not sure of the score, but no doubt a write up of their own will soon appear on the site, so stay tuned for the blow-by-blow account.
So, on to the Headliner, which kicked of in cool and damp conditions, yet with a warm throng of supporters on the sidelines. It was soon apparent that the HV side were to play a very similar style of game to Portland, with a strong pack, efficient at keeping the ball to themselves and man-handling it upfield. Thus the game started with an initial testing out period as both sides looked to assert their physical presence on the game.
After about 10 minutes Portland were able to open the scoring which Tom Zabriskie intercepted a midfield pass from the HV backs to run it back the other way and touch down under the posts. Carlos made the conversion, and it was 7-0 Portland. Not long after that Portland followed up with a more deliberate score, taking the scoreline to 12-0, and it looked as though the home side might be able to engage cruise control.
The Rebs had other ideas however, and proved themselves to be no pushover, putting themselves back in the game with a quickly created try. Unfortunately for them their kicker had a bit of a 'mare on the day, and pushed the conversion wide. These were not to be the last extra points that went begging for HV.
One of the recurring themes for the day was that whenever HV was able to score, Portland were able to score one right back, making it difficult for the visitors to create any momentum. Sure enough, after the first Rebel score, Portland were able to march right back down the field and put away another try, wresting back control of the game. Half time came and went, with the scoreline somewhere around 17-12. With weather conditions improving the Portland backs were able to begin the second half with some fine running rugby. Soon enough a fine breakaway effort by Evan Harding was capped off by Fred Hayman to get the scoreboard ticking over again.
Portland did not have it all their own way however, as HV mounted their own counter attacks and proved that their own backs had some skills of their own. At one point the scoreline closed to 21-17, proving the value of those extra points, but as mentioned, Portland were always able to turn the screw a little tighter and maintain control.
A late score from the Rebs just at the stroke of full time made the final score 32-21, closing out a strong, if perhaps less-than-clinical performance for Portland. Known try scorers were Tom and Fred, already mentioned, a brace for Hannes, and one mystery score who no doubt will be in touch with me shortly.
Thanks to the Hudson Valley lads for making the trek up to Maine and for sticking around to enjoy the rest of the day. We wish them the best of luck for the rest of the Spring and their future Fall campaign.
For the efforts, Portland now gets to make the trek up to Syracuse for the D3, NRU Final 4, where they get to take on Syracuse Chargers, and the Superleauge and D1 cast offs from Old Blue and the Wolfhounds. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose, eh?
After the break, news of a strong B side performance against Bull Moose...
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